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Being Lost In The Community? - Page 2

I do not understand how topics overwhelm navigation, maybe it is just me, but a Community like this is similar to an encyclopedia of knowledge and opinions. One does not read an encyclopedia like a book, so unless one really knows what they are here for they can be engulfed with a lot of information, but the FAQ Board should take care of that.

I can agree with this, because it is all a matter of desire. If someone is really interested to gain knowledge and / or share their opinion then they will invest the time necessary to learn.

In all honesty, I found that three types of users get lost:

1. Teeny boppers looking for arcade style responses
2. Senior citizens who are very impatient
3. Non-intellectuals who do not like to read and really have no purpose here.

Community The Lost Being

Very true. While I do agree with the three you suggested I've found there is one more. Non-forum type of users would find a forum like this daunting. I know, I've tried to get intellectual people to participate on forums but they could never figure out how to get around even though they had the desire to communicate and participate. It perhaps is just how some people operate, some people, no matter how intelligent do need step-by-step instructions while others can do it on their own. It all varies person to person.

Being Lost In The Community? Feedback & FAQ News Community

Lets take my father for example. Very smart man, can tell you everything plus some about cars and what gadgets make them work. Now hand him a computer, twenty minutes later he might figure out how to turn it on. Now spend the three days it would take to get on the net and point him to this board. Then ask him to reply to this comment. See how long it takes.

This statement is true in so many ways it isn't even funny. Some will even step on others to get them the knowledge they seek. I hope you don't find the "Help me" type message's to annoying for some really do need their hand held to learn the internet.

Page 2 Community The Lost Being

I understand and agree with a lot that has been said. I personally think is just a matter of time and get used to it. I stick with the Winter White theme and is very easy to me, yet when I tried to change to the Executive I got really confused and I did not want to be looking everywhere to find the things I nornally know where they are, so what I recommend for now (Until you all get used to the site itself) is just to stick with one skin and master it.

Community The Lost Being

That is true, I have experienced users saying they have never used a Forum before, but again, if they take the time to read the FAQ Board which even has picture illustrations they can quickly get integrated.

We get some of these here. Most of the time it is based on them posting a message without checking their spelling or writing in all common letters, no matter how much you tell them they do it over and over. However, that really is not much about navigating as much as not respecting our policies, but that is another thread.

I only find it annoying if the answer is obvious or located in the FAQ Board. For instance a question like how to make the quote tag is explained in a lot of detail there. To try and explain that every time someone asks would become very irritating. A lot of users get a Bot to welcome them with a list of links that helps them immediately, but I doubt anyone really has a look at these links and therefore they become lost. There is also the Site Map link which if used is impossible to become lost. Again, the Phone Home link is actually designed for new users.

Being Lost In The Community?

I do not know how the site used to be but right now it is very easy to navigate. I do use a combination of my own bookmarks and the notices to get around but its fairly easy to find what I want.

Being Lost The Community - Page 2

I have found that this place a lot easier to navigate than other places I have been. I like the layout and ease of use.