Thread

I agree with everything Sean said.  However, sticky posts may not have the desired effect.  Mod_rewrite is in the user guide.  People who don’t read that and don’t search, probably won’t go looking for stickied threads.

The one rule I’ve been trying to follow, is that if I can’t comment positively on thread, I don’t comment at all.  Occassionally I slip up, but it’s something to strive for.  The community is CodeIgniter’s biggest asset, it would be very sad to see it fall apart because prospective members are scared off by plain rudeness.

One thing I could see as helpful is a ‘How to Post’ or ‘How to get help’ announcement, like the one in the bug reports forum.  There are far too many posts where you have to ask for a reduced code sample, the error message, or the 404 page (ci vs server).  Heck, I would be willing to write it if no one else is.

I joined about a month ago, and the overall vibe here is probably the best i’ve ever encountered in any forum. I’ve been blown away at how friendly and helpful the community is.

I’d try to look for alternative solutions to sticky messages and announcements. When i visit a forum for the first time and see a stack of stickies at the top, it sends a message that the community might not be in great shape and everybody needs to be told what to do to behave. It’s like when you visit a park and there are signs all over the place telling you not to dump trash. You see the signs and you immediately know there’s a problem, and that you’re probably going to find a pile of trash somewhere in your journey. The lack of stickies and imperatives when you first visit the CI forums is a refreshing change.

A solution may be to add a quick list of links to the top 10 or 15 most common questions that have already been answered (either here or in the user guide), above the new topic form for any new user that’s only got a few posts. That way it doesn’t disturb the feeling of the community and veteran members don’t need to see them.

I’d try to look for alternative solutions to sticky messages and announcements. When i visit a forum for the first time and see a stack of stickies at the top, it sends a message that the community might not be in great shape and everybody needs to be told what to do to behave. It’s like when you visit a park and there are signs all over the place telling you not to dump trash. You see the signs and you immediately know there’s a problem, and that you’re probably going to find a pile of trash somewhere in your journey. The lack of stickies and imperatives when you first visit the CI forums is a refreshing change.

A solution may be to add a quick list of links to the top 10 or 15 most common questions that have already been answered (either here or in the user guide), above the new topic form for any new user that’s only got a few posts. That way it doesn’t disturb the feeling of the community and veteran members don’t need to see them.

There is another thread in the lounge about voting on posts. This could be the base of a highest useful list. Voting combined with search would also make the search more powerful.