i’ve been trying to figure out why so many first time posters ask help
questions in chit-chat (with that chat listed SO far down on http://forums.opensuse.org/)
15,000 at Google
967 at search.aol.com
604 at askJeeves.com
23 at bing
15 at dogpile
12 at excite
1 each at allTheWeb, altavista, locos and yahoo
and after looking and thinking, i want to suggest that because of the
nature of the discussions therein, these two areas be stuffed into a
robots.txt in the root of opensuse.org
+1 vote
When I do openSUSE searches in google ask jeeves & just answers I get page after page of general chitchat and soapbox before even one help forum listing shows regardless of topic/keyphrase
Problem I can summize is because many search engines don’t respect the robots.txt dis qualifier this may not totally stop the problem. Second problem, what is already out there in search engine listings will continue for centuries. There doesn’t seem to be any active desire by robot users to remove dead or inaccessible links from the grand listing. It seems to be just an add only topology.
@palladium: It didn’t get a flag from the Global Mods.
I’ve been thinking about it. Seems to me that this search term in Goolde that you used DD:
<phrase>http://forums.opensuse.org/general-chit-chat</phrase>
Seems to me that’s not a useful phrase on which to base conclusions because no one uses it (ever).
Have you done the experiment with real-world search phrases like
opensuse help
opensuse forum samba printer
etc
When I do openSUSE searches in google ask jeeves & just answers I get page after page of general chitchat and soapbox before even one help forum listing shows regardless of topic/keyphrase
Can you give a couple of examples of search phrases that do that in Goole?
well, see…you use that as a search phrase to find where that link
exists on the net…that is: where on the net can a person click and
link directly to THAT forum, without seeing all the other forums
listed (above it)…
today, google finds 13,700 places on the net that anyone can go
directly to chit-chat from those found links…and ask any question on
their mind…without ever seeing there is an application, boot/etc,
hardware, multimedia, wireless etc etc etc forum
for example, since you asked: say a Kbuntu person has an Asus Eee PC
and is unhappy with how fast the battery goes flat when using KDE4 so
searches:
where the still looking for answers user can EASILY go directly to http://forums.opensuse.org/general-chit-chat/405800-kde3-v-kde4-laptop-power-consumption-figures.html
read a little, decide to ask a question, link directly to register, do
so and come back and ADD to the technical discussion…OR begin a new
thread (though i agree that that takes standing on ones head…and, i
STILL don’t know how they do that, without being blind!–but we do
sometimes get "How do i start a new thread? inside an existing
thread, and this is probably HOW the poster got inside that thread)…
but, for you hypothetical string
opensuse forum samba printer
turns up 25,200 hits including this one with an embedded link to
chit-chat:
I have to admit egg on my face. I remember the frustration of searching for drivers, programs, and documentation on topics. During these frustrating times I recall going through pages upon pages trying to find even one applicable reference to my queries. When I installed 11.1 last in january 2009 I abandoned search engines altogether and just go immediately to opensuse forums.
I tried now for close to 5 hours every concievable topic phrase and keyword and could not come close to the experiences I had endured back at the time of my 11.1 install (jan 2009).
Since I can not replicate even a single instance where opensuse-topics do not show up for pages, I don’t know what I was doing back then.
this is not so unique to you (so no egg-on-face deserved): when you
first came here you used the lingo you knew (and knew darn well)…a
specialized lingo which was very useful in finding and dealing with
‘problems’ in The Dark Side…
today, you have a new language…one useful in searching for solution
to ‘issues’ in the system of Light, Justice, Freedom, etc
i mean, try searching on:
double clicked RPM but nothing happened, so linux sucks!
If new to Linux that may be true… But … I think I probably used a very broad search param to get as much choice of topics possibly relating to my quest and now just refine the hec* out of them or go straight to forum. I’ve used Linux for over 10 years but used opensuse only since jan 2009.
Maybe of note here … in the other distro’s, when I encountered problems with hardware or software I never signed up for their forums as I found too much negativity, especially junk like “Linux is NOT ready for prime time … if you can’t get it working on your system stay with windose or go back to windose”. So for a step towards sanity, I would try and find local how-to’s which unfortunately were always dated text, and search for what I could thru engines. When I decided to download/install opensuse 11.1 I came across pages of general chit-chat and soap entries in an attempt to obtain wisdom from those who had already found/resolved issues. Finally in june I actually decided to sign-up to participate using the forum link in firefox. So it’s not that I am new to Linux ways, it’s more a point of overcoming the mantel of “If you have trouble go back to Windose … which is destructive in my view to building a better Windose-trap” (pardom the pun).
I just finished creating a set of PC’s for family and created a full video presentation on DVD 2hours introducing the transistion from windose to Linux opensuse, key features like the CLI and it’s power, KDE and it’s use, and openSUSE-Forum. Just need to get it on-line so others can watch a start to finish of desktop and netbook transistion from windows to dual boots.
It still doesn’t address how to get people to not sign-up from a chit-chat to post their questions… hmmmm, what if the sign-up screen for new sign-ups lists 2 lists of links like:
techwiz03 wrote:
> hmmmm, what if the sign-up screen for new sign-ups lists 2 lists of links like:
i like that idea…
as it is now (i think, i have no idea since i signed in so long ago)
if a new one comes in though a link to a particular forum/thread and
decides to participate, it is just a click ‘Login’ and when the
process is complete i guess they go directly back to the initial
thread visited…
perhaps, instead the first thing seen after completing the process
should be a welcome screen with the BASICS you outline…
and, direct easy access back to chit-chat/soapbox/forum
feedback/questions and other non-help areas could be thereby made less easy…
