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Someone tell me this.

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novella said:
In my view the level of discussion about books has generally improved over the past couple of months.
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It has but the tone has also become a bit more rough and does not encourage the people who are not litterary geniuses to post. I'm not saying the level of the discussion should go back to what it was but it would be nice if there was a more friendly tone.
 
Zolipara said:
He is just asking for people to follow the etiquette common to most forums on the web. Simple things like using the search function before posting does not require much from the user. Sometimes its enough just to look at the first page of the specific forum you wish to post in. When there is already 3 threads on Dan Brown its not really needed to open a 4th.
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Yes, I understand, Zolipara. Stewart excels at being clear and concise. What I'm failling to communicate is that often enough, it's not the message, but how it's delivered.
 
Zolipara said:
He is just asking for people to follow the etiquette common to most forums on the web. Simple things like using the search function before posting does not require much from the user. Sometimes its enough just to look at the first page of the specific forum you wish to post in. When there is already 3 threads on Dan Brown its not really needed to open a 4th.
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That’s true, but it's important how we respond to people, particularly if they are new posters. For them the initial exchange of posts will determine if they wish to stay longer or not. Sometimes we need to make a little extra effort for newcomers to make them feel welcome, and part of that is understanding that whilst we may be answering the same question for the twenty-fifth time, they have asked it only once.
 
lies said:
Is it rude though to provide a user with links to threads that might have some useful information for them? I'd love to be welcomed like that, instead of having my thread be empty and my question unanswered. And I personally haven't seen anyone being rude to a newbie yet... Only if they start talking shit themselves first. (And even than, it's all still pretty civil.)
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Maybe you're right. I'm just imagining what I would think if I was a newb here and rec'd that response, especially if I was new to forums in general. I'd like to hear what the mods view of this is, and I guess I would go along with that.

And, hay, I take your point. Also I don't see what purpose there is in critiicizing someone else's preference in reading. It's rude, I think, and doesn't account for why different people read. It's really nobody's job to police and ridicule people because of what they read. It's mean and pointless.
 
lies said:
So when can't you use it?
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Ok suppose you're looking for specific comments on a book or author. Well, a typical search might find a couple dozen or more responses. There might be posts found under book the of month, Suggestions and voting, recently finished, recently purchased, currently reading, Author discussions, The fiction section. You might find comments about an author in a thread for another author because there was some comparison done. Same with fiction section. After a thread is located, then it's often necessary to do a search on the thread. It can get very time consuming.
 
You can switch from returning threads to returning posts in the results. This gives you the chance to preview each post to find if it's what you are looking for.

vBulletin 3.5 is almost here. Maybe they've updated the search function to do all the manual work for you.
 
Stewart said:
You can switch from returning threads to returning posts in the results. This gives you the chance to preview each post to find if it's what you are looking for.

vBulletin 3.5 is almost here. Maybe they've updated the search function to do all the manual work for you.
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Thanks, Stewart. That's a nice piece of info to have.
 
Plus you can search in specific subfora, specify the date, search by user, etc., etc. The options are endless.
 
lies said:
Plus you can search in specific subfora, specify the date, search by user, etc., etc. The options are endless.
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Thanks, lies. I have found that feature very useful.
 
Robert, sorry, I was thinking it was some obscure English saying or something. Didn't know if I should be offended or not. ;)
 
lies said:
Robert, sorry, I was thinking it was some obscure English saying or something. Didn't know if I should be offended or not. ;)
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No offense taken, lies. It was a harmless little typo.
 
Kenny Shovel said:
That?s true, but it's important how we respond to people, particularly if they are new posters. For them the initial exchange of posts will determine if they wish to stay longer or not. Sometimes we need to make a little extra effort for newcomers to make them feel welcome, and part of that is understanding that whilst we may be answering the same question for the twenty-fifth time, they have asked it only once.
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Sure you dont have to call them idiots for posting it again. But as a newbie in a forum i would prefer it if someone had pointed me to a good thread discussing the same, rather than seeing the thread disappear unanswered because most of the posters are already finished with the topic in another thread. You might get one answer from a newbie friendly poster but overall if you start a topic thats already discussed to death you rarely get much response. If you get pointed to a similar thread you will at least understand the reason for it. Everyone should learn the common forum etiquette, so why not start learning it once you start posting.

Novella said:
Also I don't see what purpose there is in critiicizing someone else's preference in reading. It's rude, I think, and doesn't account for why different people read. It's really nobody's job to police and ridicule people because of what they read. It's mean and pointless.
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Some people here should learn the difference between criticizing a book and criticizing the reader. But it goes both ways. If someone hates a book its not meant as a personal insult to a reader that liked the book.
 
With forum growth also comes in a more diverse group of personalities. We run the gamut, from all out jerks who have nothing useful to say, to naive youngsters who are just getting their feet wet. There are many variants in between these two extremes. Some of us are abrasive fellows who know favorite authors inside and out, some have a wicked sense of humor paired with an acid tongue, some are goofballs, some are soft-hearted intellectuals who have a hard time expressing themselves, some are new to reading, and so, read what is on the bestseller list until they work up enough nerve to tackle something unusual. We are all subject, as well, to everyone's (and our own) particular moods, some may be in a jovial mood, while others are just cranky, and when the two mix, sparks can fly (no one's fault in particular, its just oil and water). And to top it all off, there is something major missing from our chosen form of communication- body language. How you say something is often times more important than what you say. It is not difficult at all take a simple sentence and in one moment say something constructive, encouraging, or even nice, and in the next, make it rude and ugly. We all need to take these things into consideration when posting.

In my opinion, the all out jerks don't last long, they tend to get themselves banned quite quickly, and the naive youngsters tend to get scared away by the rest of us. ;)
 
Funnily enough I agree with Martin, I have noticed the atomsphere here are changing. I come here about 3 years ago as same time Martin comes here. That time, the forums were friendly, fun topics and discussion about books alot. We know some members well like Watercrystal, Raven, Ashlea, PhilT, and Litany, many more are disappeared. Possibly they can't cope the forums are changed and there are newbies we don't know. Honestly I prefer old members but remember I don't point to newbies, This forum are open to anybody to come here. I accept that old members are gone now as I don't go away. I come here to looking around especially books. I found some topics in general unenjoyable, because of the hostility and heavy topics I found which I can't bother to read. I don't go in general forums much . Before there were light topics to makes everybody welcome and makes them laugh especially Martin and PhilT's forum which were good.How I forget that. Also one person put me off with nasty comments that reason I didn't come here much. Some people have no respect to us as I do respect to all and forums. I can see some people say something nasty to make bigger and it went out of control that I lost respect over this. It's really shame. We know we can't bring old forums back. Time changes, same with society changes. We have to move on. That's my point of view.
 
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