'Unhelpful posts' ??
- Thread starter JohnW2
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Very valid posts I think.
Poor posters come on here for some times basic advice and people decide to have a pxssing match over minutia that simply doesn’t add to the post or is particularly helpful to the op. Or future readers of the threads
Happens time and time as my posts above demonstrate.
With this op being the main culprit.
Start a thread along side the original and then you can post away at infinitum in your parallel universe
Poor posters come on here for some times basic advice and people decide to have a pxssing match over minutia that simply doesn’t add to the post or is particularly helpful to the op. Or future readers of the threads
Happens time and time as my posts above demonstrate.
With this op being the main culprit.
Start a thread along side the original and then you can post away at infinitum in your parallel universe
If you can't beat them, join them
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I can see why it would be off-putting to those seeking advice. Certainly not likely to encourage posters to follow up later with what the outcome was, etc.
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Unhelpful to whom? If I ask on this tread why they bother giving a smart meter monitor to people who have solar panels and batteries as most of the time it just flicks between two screens
and does not show any import or export valves it would be completely off subject and may not help @JohnW2 in the slightest, however it may help some one else.
When I went to tell the University authorities I was dyslexic, I got the answer most engineers are, it is the thinking out of the box which makes us good engineers, and which is furthest away from the subject, me asking about a smart meter on an electrical sub forum or @JohnW2 asking about unhelpful posts? At least the silly question I have asked is electrical in some way.
Unhelpful posts going off the subject can be annoying, but unhelpful by giving wrong answers are very different.
and does not show any import or export valves it would be completely off subject and may not help @JohnW2 in the slightest, however it may help some one else.When I went to tell the University authorities I was dyslexic, I got the answer most engineers are, it is the thinking out of the box which makes us good engineers, and which is furthest away from the subject, me asking about a smart meter on an electrical sub forum or @JohnW2 asking about unhelpful posts? At least the silly question I have asked is electrical in some way.
Unhelpful posts going off the subject can be annoying, but unhelpful by giving wrong answers are very different.
If you mean different from other forums, in most senses I don't think I really agree.
For over 40 years (since long before 'The Internet', as we know it, existed) I have been involved with countless 'on-line' discussion groups, both as a participant and as part of the 'management'. Thread 'drifts' and 'jumps' are almost universal in such environments (just as they are in 'face-to-face' discussions) and, particularly in technically-related forums, there are nearly always some people who want to discuss 'minutiae' at length in a manner that probably doesn't interest the majority of the forum members.
However, one significant 'difference', which might partially explain your comment, is that in many forums the 'staff' ('moderators' or whatever) are pretty vigilant/quick in 'splitting' threads which have drifted or gone off at tangents - so one does not see the drifting or jumping within threads, with the 'discussion of minutiae' shifted into 'minutiae threads'
. Such 'thread splitting' very rarely happens here.Indeed, in some of the forums I'm involved with, I would guess that around half of the threads which are active at any particular time are, in fact, ones that have been 'split off' from the thread in which they originated. However, identifying and dealing with the need for such splitting can be a fairly arduous process (it's part of my role in some forums), so one can understand unpaid volunteers not being too enthusiastic about doing this - and the ease with which it can be done varies according to what software the forum is using.
Even though it relates to a discipline far divorced from anything in my background or 'real life', this one is certainly in my 'top 10 favourite forums', probably not far from the top of that lists. Despite the shortcomings, I think it generally provides a fairly good service to those who come here for advice, as well as serving as a 'debating chamber' for some of the regulars - and, as you say, there are a good few here who 'know what they are talking about'.
Kind Regards, John
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I meant within diynot. There aren't as many in depth discussions in the plumbing forum, or elsewhere, not as many long posts and I can't remember the meaning of words being discussed. Maybe I'm wrong.
Ah,I see - thanks for clarifying.
You may well bee right, since I have very little experience of other DIYnot forums - a very small amount in thee plumbing forum,and even less in three or four others, certainly not enough to get any feel of what goes on in those places. In fact, I've just had a quick look at the plumbing one and, so far this year, there's been just one 10-page thread, but the great majority have not gone beyond one page.
Other than the fact that the groups of individuals involved in different forums are largely different, I wonder why this apparent difference exists. Thinking about it, a fairly high proportion of the lengthy discussions, and 'tangential discussions'here result from the fact that the regulations relating to electrical work are extensive, pretty 'technical' and very far from perfect. Is the situation perhaps different with plumbing,or maybe perhaps people are less concerned about (or interested in) plumbing regulations than electrical ones? Furthermore, in many of the other DIYnot forums, the issue of 'regulations' is of little or no relevance/importance.
As for 'the meaning of words', that's primarily down to one individual, and I suppose it's just by chance that he is a regular in this forum,rather than some other one.
Kind Regards, John
The polar opposite of General Discussion then
GD is typical of countless sites out there. I avoid it like the plague
That's different. I don't think that there is any doubt about the meanings of " can't " and "shouldn't " - I was merely pointing out that the wrong one had been used - i.e. that the statement posted was factually incorrect.
Of course it is.
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I must admit I find English is a politician language, it is so easy to say some thing, and the reverse being perceived. You don't want that cake, is answered as yes which means you don't want it, however many think the are saying the reverse.
The BS 7671 seems to have small changes, traditionally and historically for example, one needs to be an English student to work out what it means.
Decimate I think of as being kill one in ten, derives from the Latin, when if a battle was lost, one in ten were killed to ensure they fought harder at the next battle. OK kill is dropped to get rid of, but even dictionaries now seem to think it means get rid of nine in ten. OK this is an extreme case.
However what does
I take it to mean there is no requirement to update, and the regulations are not retrospective
However I am sure most would agree knife switches with exposed live parts are no longer permitted. I remember using them on the Queensferry bridge (Wales not Scotland) and plunging the village into darkness as had overloaded the supply, the base of the bridge had concrete in, and was now too heavy to lift, I said nothing at the time, and no one seemed to work out all down to me. But point is around 1970 and still had knife switches. Shocking I know.
We still have the problem, how far back can we go? When I started the front loading video player was still not invented, so no switch mode power supplies. Today they are the norm, so now good reason why we need the SPD, however not having them does not result in danger, so desirable but not essential.
So with the required/desirable question, we are always going to have differences in option. I hope I have an open mind, and can see how as time goes on we need to change. But this will likely produce some debate, and so what may be considered as unhelpful posts, electrics is a complex subject, so debate is good.
The BS 7671 seems to have small changes, traditionally and historically for example, one needs to be an English student to work out what it means.
Decimate I think of as being kill one in ten, derives from the Latin, when if a battle was lost, one in ten were killed to ensure they fought harder at the next battle. OK kill is dropped to get rid of, but even dictionaries now seem to think it means get rid of nine in ten. OK this is an extreme case.
However what does
mean?
I take it to mean there is no requirement to update, and the regulations are not retrospective
which has been repeated in every edition, so if it complied when installed, it still complies.
However I am sure most would agree knife switches with exposed live parts are no longer permitted. I remember using them on the Queensferry bridge (Wales not Scotland) and plunging the village into darkness as had overloaded the supply, the base of the bridge had concrete in, and was now too heavy to lift, I said nothing at the time, and no one seemed to work out all down to me. But point is around 1970 and still had knife switches. Shocking I know.
We still have the problem, how far back can we go? When I started the front loading video player was still not invented, so no switch mode power supplies. Today they are the norm, so now good reason why we need the SPD, however not having them does not result in danger, so desirable but not essential.
So with the required/desirable question, we are always going to have differences in option. I hope I have an open mind, and can see how as time goes on we need to change. But this will likely produce some debate, and so what may be considered as unhelpful posts, electrics is a complex subject, so debate is good.
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