Everyone seems to be asking what the best merchant account etc.. so my idea is to have a sticky on the top of the forum, where everyone posts about the merchant account of their choice? Or just a long list of all of the merchant accounts (user contributed) to the forum where people can do a little research.

Not sure, just an idea. ;)

Keep up the good work :)

I think a better idea would to be sticky a thread with links to a few "which merchant account" thread as well as other things such as tax info, different types of businesses. The same can be applied to other fora, such as "how do I calcualte bandwidth/how many gigs in #mbps?" and things like that. Call the thread "Please read my first" and have a different one at the top in each fora. Each would have links to common questions asked in that fora. Almost like the FAQ idea that was suggeseted a while ago.

I honestly don't have an opinion on a FAQ either way, however just the other day I was looking for the bandwidth caluculation threads as I knew they were posted and didn't have to use brain power to reinvent the wheel. Used search, found them easily.

FAQ is fine, but needs manual, human interaction. Search is current and works well for those types of questions.

People don't search though. That's why the threads keep coming up. Maybe (I know its a long shot) if there was a thread that said "Important" next to it and it was called "Read me first" someone might check it out. Plus instead of saying "use the search next time", we can say "read the FAQ". ;)

what if we create a sticky that says "Please Search First" That way we don't have to keep updating a thread that has outdated information and the user is reminded to search.

If we made stickys for every repeated question, the first page in forums would be a sticky.

But, then, you could just skip to the second page if that happened.

Originally posted by akash
what if we create a sticky that says "Please Search First" That way we don't have to keep updating a thread that has outdated information and the user is reminded to search.

There is some information that is never out dated. The search is at the top of every page (oddly, right next to the rules which no one seems to pay attention to either) yet isn't used. A sticky telling them to search isn't going to help much. People just don't search.

Do the following questions ever get out dated:

What benefits are there to incorporating?
What is the differences between the types of businesses?
How do I calculate bandwidth?
How much bandwidth does a game server use?
What are the stong points and weak points of using a Windows based solution or a unix based solution?
How do I use ipchains/iptables?
Where can I find tutorials on html, dhtml, xhtml, css, css2, java, java script, php, cf, sql (various), asp, perl, python, c. c++, etc etc?

And you don't have to link to just WHT, but other places on the web.

Originally posted by SoftWareRevue
If we made stickys for every repeated question, the first page in forums would be a sticky.

But, then, you could just skip to the second page if that happened.

No.

The concept was to create 1 sticky thread that looked something like this:

This is a list of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) that pertain to this fora. Please read these first before posting as you might find the answers right here.

1. What benefit does a dedicated server offer over a shared server?

Thread 1 (http://wht/thread1/link/)
Thread 2 (http://wht/thread2/link/)
Thread 3 (http://wht/thread3/link/)

2. Why would I need someone to manage a server for me and what is the diffrence between unmanaged, semimanaged, and fully managed?

While the first is easy to answer, the second is more difficult to answer as it varies from host to host, so your best bet is to ask exactly what they offer. For reference, please see these links:

Thread 1 (http://wht/thread1/link/)
Thread 2 (http://wht/thread2/link/)
Thread 3 (http://wht/thread3/link/)
Thread 4 (http://wht/thread4/link/)

etc etc etc

I just thought of this....

Do you expect people to actually read something that says FAQ or "Answers to the most commonly asked questions"?

I expect the roughly the same amount of people who use the search feature will be reading the FAQ. I know its a scary thought, but FAQ's are nothing new. Look at usenet archives from the 80's and even before than.

Posted a few posts up in this very thread
Maybe (I know its a long shot) if there was a thread that said "Important" next to it and it was called "Read me first" someone might check it out.

First time someon asks a question in the FAQ, you link them to it and say there's your answer. The thread should die unless they are asking something outside the scope of the FAQ.

Redundant information (the irony is this thread) is never a good thing. That applies to forums as well as all other sorts of information models.

Originally posted by Acronym BOY
I expect the roughly the same amount of people who use the search feature will be reading the FAQ. . . . . . That about answers it; doesn't it?

If your intent is to make something to replace the search because no one uses the search, and you're pretty sure no one is going to use the FAQ; what's the point?

Let's try changing that. Let's encourage people to search (and refreence the FAQ). Maybe eventaully some will get the hint. ALl it takes is a few threads where people point out the question was answered in the FAQ and for the thread to be dropped 100% than and maybe people might start looking at it. Just a thought.

Than again if the community as a whole would rather just post away, reguradless of content or redundancy, than that's the community. Which is why online forums are all differet, some are more mature than others. The sign of a mature one is that it is usualy devoid of 1 ord posts and it has a well used FAQ.

Public image and overall atmosphere.

You also have to consider that a FAQ can spawn new threads as well. The answers to the questions given here as an example are for the most part matters of opinion -- which is why the threads that answer those questions can be so long. So what happens, from what I've seen at other forums, is that each thread that refers someone to the FAQ can still become a debate about the value of the FAQ answers to that particular question.

But maybe that would get people to read it! :)

[off-topic addendum]
singular: forum
plural: forums or fora

Therefore, phrases like "each fora" and "this fora" drive me crazy!!!
[/off-topic addendum]

Now I alwasy thought forum was the bigger set of the whole, for example "The WHT forum" or "I browse net forums a lot as well a usenet". Now fora is a sub-forum, for example "I rarely read that ad foras at the bottom" or "Do you visit this fora often?".

What do I know? :D