An idea to help the newbies to the forum

Hey Paul and the gang of hard workers who make this place happen.

After posting the thread of how to post pics on permies for someone who was new and didn't know how. I had an idea that making some sort of friendly button for the newbies to get all the resources on how to work the site could be a decent idea. I didn't know where exactly that thread was so just did a quick google search for it since I knew it existed. found it and posted it.

For someone new to the site, there is a lot to learn and figure out. I know there is a great link at the top of the Tinkering with this site forum. But honestly I didn't even know what button to click to find that section. I rarely come here to post and peruse and tend to only participate in the discussing if they are in the recent list. I had to guess a few times till finding the permies.com button took me to a place I found tinkering.

So my thinking is that a simple button in the UI to take the new folks and even people who want to get better at using the site to the resource page, could be a good idea.

Now that my idea is said, how difficult would it actually be? I know people toss out ideas and suggestion and just think "make it happen it sounds simple enough" but I am aware what sounds simple often isn't and it can often break other things. So I am just making a suggestion that you good folks think about my idea, that you kick it around. Maybe improve it. If it makes sense and is feasible, it might make entry into the forum a bit easier.

Thanks to all who work behind the scenes and hope you know even if it is not said enough you are appreciated.

Hey just checking in to see if the good folks who run this site have any input on this idea?

Was it just not feasible?

Thinking about it and discussing it behind the scenes?

Ok but needs development?

Awesome and your working on it?

I think a wiki explaining everything in brief to newbies would be a great idea. All that would be necessary would be the links to the right pages, and a brief summary of each. At that point, having a "newbie button" would be a great idea, I think.

-CK

Chris Kott wrote:I think a wiki explaining everything in brief to newbies would be a great idea. All that would be necessary would be the links to the right pages, and a brief summary of each. At that point, having a "newbie button" would be a great idea, I think.

-CK

There is a great wiki already built. https://permies.com/wiki/34193/permies-works-links-threads

The hard part for newbies is finding it. The link to it is at the top of the tinkering page, but finding the tinkering page you have to first go to permies.com page, then tinkering subforum. For someone new to the site, that can be less than intuitive. Heck for me who has been here a few years it took a few tries to find it, and I knew it existed somewhere.

Devin Lavign wrote:Hey just checking in to see if the good folks who run this site have any input on this idea?

Was it just not feasible?

Thinking about it and discussing it behind the scenes?

Ok but needs development?

Awesome and your working on it?

I think it's a great idea (I mean, when I came to the forums 5 years ago, one of my first posts was to ask for a Intro to the Forums thread).

I have NO IDEA how to make a big link to our wiki or the intro thread. Where would be the perfect place for it? Up at the top next to Search | Home | PIE | Recent Topics | etc?

What should we call it? "How-to use Permies.com"? "About our Forum"? "FAQ"? "Helpful Info"? "About Our Site"? something better? I think half-the battle with these things is figuring out what to name them!

Nicole Alderman wrote:

Devin Lavign wrote:Hey just checking in to see if the good folks who run this site have any input on this idea?

Was it just not feasible?

Thinking about it and discussing it behind the scenes?

Ok but needs development?

Awesome and your working on it?

I think it's a great idea (I mean, when I came to the forums 5 years ago, one of my first posts was to ask for a Intro to the Forums thread).

I have NO IDEA how to make a big link to our wiki or the intro thread. Where would be the perfect place for it? Up at the top next to Search | Home | PIE | Recent Topics | etc?

What should we call it? "How-to use Permies.com"? "About our Forum"? "FAQ"? "Helpful Info"? "About Our Site"? something better? I think half-the battle with these things is figuring out what to name them!

Thanks for the feedback Nicole,

I don't know how either, nor do I know how much work it might take or what it might break if tried. Thus I suggest the idea with knowledge it might be a much bigger task than it might seem from this side of things. I can understand if it isn't possible without major work and so too difficult to do just for one button and might have to wait until implementing other changes. Or it might not be doable at all.

But running under the assumption it might be doable.

Placement I would suggest either the very top of the buttons off to the right, or as you suggested at the top. Both seem the most logical places for someone new to the site to look for a quick link to helpful info.

Naming, yep that often does end up being the sticking point. I like all your suggestions, while I think something with the word newbie could help get the attention of those new, it also shouldn't be limited to new folks so something less specific for new people for the name might go over better.

My favorites of your suggestions (in no order) would be:

How-to use Permies.com
About our Forum
Helpful Info (maybe add "& links")

Some other name suggestions might be:

forum how-to resources
guides to use this forum
everything you need to know to post
All about permies.com
intro to using THIS forum
Lost? Find help here.

Or some mash up different arrangement of a couple or several of the names suggested.