New Member Questionnaire!

Hi guys,

I had a little time to think over the weekend, and was wandering about the similar questions asked over and over again about the same things, and how we can save everyone's time.

I thought of the idea of maybe having a questionnaire, it would be apart of the joining process when a new member wants to become apart of LPF, basically they have to score say 80% or more to join the forum.

I'm not talking ridiculous stuff like "what happens when you jump into a black hole?" but simple basic knowledge you need to get into lasers, such as:

"What current should you run a PHR @ for reasonable life span"

I guess a multiple choice would work well, or allowing a certain variance in the answer. This means when they first start posting they already have the basic knowledge to start building or whatever. It would also help to filter out spammers

Dunno if this is a good idea or not, just want to hear your thoughts

Nah dude, people are here to learn about lasers, what would be the point if they already knew everything before joining? And where would they learn all those "basic facts" if not at LPF?

how do you expect someone who comes here for first time to know

What current should you run a PHR @ for reasonable life span

Click to expand...

bad idea IMO

Yours,
Albert

I think he means.. they can read the posts at LPF but to join and become a member you must finish the questionnaire... In one way I can see what you mean.. it will force them to read stickies, FAQ's etc.. but like said before, people are here to learn about lasers, we shouldn't stop people from joining cause they don't understand the diff between 100ma or 300ma for a PHR. Now if we can some how get rid of the spammers... Your on the right track!

-Adrian

some people just wants an advice to choose between 2 lasers, why do they need to know about diode currents?

Guess that idea's down the drain

bob got the idea though, you can still browse LPF without being a member, it just means you can't post and it would force people to get familiar with the search feature before they become a member.

Even a general quiz on the sticky's would work well enough

and Hallucynogenyc, the diode current was just an example question... But do we really want members that just join, ask a question and leave and give nothing back to the community ? :d

We could charge them fitty cents per every common 'already asked and answered' question -add it to lpf donation fund----J/K.===== what about waterboarding all blatant spammers. or tie them up and tattoo them (like laserboy).. Or (in PeeWee Herman voice) ' I say we let him go'....... Hardy Har Har

I think it should be the opposite. If you think about it, the current FAQ is a bit obsolete. What we need to do is have the new members ask the questions. That way we can make a new FAQ database with actual questions the newbies need answered.

I think it's a good idea, just needs some tweaking. For example maybe have a basic knowledge quiz before you can post, not to join. I wouldn't included anything as involved as PHR current because many people are not even interested in the building side of things. I for one have no idea what current to set a PHR at. Maybe more along the lines of a basic safety quiz before you can post? The basic dos and don'ts of lasers, goggles, etc. That I could see being quite useful. Could make the forums appear much more professional if we were see to be seen taking such a proactive stance on newcomers learning the safety rules of high power lasers.

Yeah... like what is DPSS and where can I buy a Green Laser Diode...
and how do I pot mod my laser...

Jerry

Unfortunately, infuriatingly lazy NooBs are a fact of life for a forum. We do pretty well trading off when one of us gets too frustrated with them.

Some stay. Some go. So what?

I think that the success of the forum shows that the basic system works fairly well.

Is it perfect or easy? No. Is it alive and vital? Yes.

Do we need to keep asking these types of questions? YES!

Peace,
dave

daguin said:

Unfortunately, infuriatingly lazy NooBs are a fact of life for a forum. We do pretty well trading off when one of us gets too frustrated with them.

Some stay. Some go. So what?

I think that the success of the forum shows that the basic system works fairly well.

Is it perfect or easy? No. Is it alive and vital? Yes.

Do we need to keep asking these types of questions? YES!

Peace,
dave

Click to expand...

You were one of the first people to help me out.

daguin said:

Unfortunately, infuriatingly lazy NooBs are a fact of life for a forum. We do pretty well trading off when one of us gets too frustrated with them.

Some stay. Some go. So what?

I think that the success of the forum shows that the basic system works fairly well.

Is it perfect or easy? No. Is it alive and vital? Yes.

Do we need to keep asking these types of questions? YES!

Peace,
dave

Click to expand...

Plus the FAQ does indeed have a lot of information. Even if we updated it (which we shouldn't, all info is in the RT, DT (not complete yet) and FAQ, plus other stickies), most newbies won't read them. They just want specific questions "of their own" to be answered by a human being.

In addition, I am 100% against this questionnaire idea. I was a noob once, I didn't know ANYTHING about lasers but "they are red and they're like 10 pesos in Argentina, nice cool looking red spot".

I still believe that there should be a way to force new members to go through specific threads before being allowed to post. (Of course anyone can just lurk without having to login). For example: I lurk for 10 days, decide to register to post something -> Register --> Login --> Only section available is "Welcome Section" or "Read First Section" (Must read to be allowed to post); there are 3 threads in there, the user must click on those three threads at least ONCE to have the posting and other sections unlocked. You can make one of those threads the FAQ, etc.

Come on, really?

This idea is a classic case of a know-it-all forgetting that at one time, he did not know the answers, but now wants to limit access to those who already do. I doubt that the 1st person he asked told him that he couldn't have the answer unless he took a quiz first.

Take a quiz to join a forum? If, when I perused these forums and decided to join, I had seen a quiz requirement, I would have hit my back button. I may not have learned about good and bad vendors, and may not have gotten a good laser. I wouldn't be sharing my excitement, fun and photos with new friends who share my interests. I wouldn't be here a month later, learning about things. I still don't need to know what a PHR is (or how much current it needs), as I am not yet interested in building my own laser.

Forgive my saying so, proponents of this idea, but that is the most arrogant and selfish thing I've read here. LPF wouldn't need a veterans section, reserved only for people with 1000+ posts, all the members (the few that passed a quiz) would be experts before they joined.

Niko has a better general idea that might address noobs asking before searching.

Then, if noobs wanting to get into a new hobby are that big a problem, just ignore their posts, or reply with a curt and arrogant "Read the FAQs, stupid".

Let's be glad that Asherz isn't a mod :knight:

They did this on one of the forums I modded. You HAD to seek out answers, and have some small amount of general knowledge to join. And it worked great. It also got them in the habit of using the search button, and give them the answers to many small general questions.

To be honest I dont care either way, but it did work well. You can add to the list that they introduce themselves first, ect. This way it weeds out all the general spammers, and idiots that are to lazy to do a basic search.