A STICKY IDEA FOR THE MODS TO PONDER

[Opiyum]

So I thought I'd run this Idea past the moderators of ophile to see if you guys think it's worth doing.
In an attempt to keep people from posting threads and asking questions that have been covered many a time on the site I was thinking of creating a sticky thread that has links to older thread on the site that answer questions that commonly come up around here and have links to threads that in general have a lot of useful information on them.
So basically in the thread there would be a list of FAQ's and general information and next to each item in the list we could pick one, two or three of the threads that best covered whatever that question or topic might be.
I realize that the search engine and the ability to search the forums already severs this purpose but this would be a quicker more user friendly way for people to get to some of are best threads. We could even suggest to all newcomers, upon registering, to access this thread and read it over before they create a thread asking a question or even just direct them to it for the simple fact that it contains some of our best work here and that it contains great info when it comes to harm reduction and standard info that any user should know.

The idea was spawned from Moviebuffs list of things everyone should know.

If you guys agree that this could be beneficial to the site than I will take it upon myself to put it together. And if anyone wants to help find some of our more informational threads, threads with the least amount of BS and the most fact than we could work together on it.
I think's its just a swell idea and I hope you do too.

[SuperJunky]

I think this is an interesting idea and could have potential. Maybe it could be an actual faq page or similair instead of a thread.

[devilsdrug]

sounds good to me

[youwonhundred]

This actually sounds like a great idea, in theory, but I am worried that two problems will arise. First, and most importantly, new members won't read it and will post their question anyway. Secondly, I am worried that it will lead to even more, and harsher use of UTMFSE (or some variation of same). For example, if the information is already there, in plain sight, organized in a perfectly coherent thread, and a new member disregards it, and posts their question anyway, the "assholes" as HoM put it so succinctly recently, will see that as justification to unload on the member in question. I may be wrong, it happens sometimes, but it is possible.

It IS a good idea, in theory, and should probably be done. My only concern is the vehement UTMFSE's that will likely follow will cause the thread to degenerate to a pointless flame war, and will create needless animosity. Like I said, I might be wrong. At the same time, I might be right, and we don't need, and I am sure the mods/admins do not want, seething hatred and needless anger to erupt, from a seemingly good idea. Sorry for rambling a bit there, but I am STILL wired as shit from yesterday. I was informed that it was coke, so I snorted it.

It wasn't coke. And I STILL cant fucking sleep. On the upside, the wife and I had some amazing, mind blowing sex, followed by an hour of really pleasant cuddling and conversation. I guess I can't complain about that.

[robojunkie]

I think its a good idea and I have one suggestion I think may help as well. When I come on the site I almost always use the "new posts" feature and occasionally the "active topics" one but rarely do I start from the forums page. I tend to imagine most others do as well. Because of this stickies are often never seen. So...I think it would be very helpful if there was someway that this sticky could be made into a "super sticky" that would always come up at the top of the new posts list, even though there would be no new posts. And, that way no one could say they missed it because they don't open threads via the forum page.

[SuperJunky]

Thats exactly why I was thinking it should have a link on the main bar, maybe right smack dab in the middle of the Active Posts and New Posts links. We already have a FAQ but this is a little different. Any suggestions on what to call it?

[nick]

What's going on Opi?You didn't disagree with yourself.I hope it wasn't one of those moments of "clarity"-I never trust them.If I'm not in some kinda doubt-I'm wrong.


Nice idea though bro.

[Sumocat]

Sounds like a great idea, but to address the question of getting maximum exposure to the information, why not do this:

1. Compile the information into an 'e-book' (just a pdf file) and give it a nifty title like: "The New Opiophile's Guide to Euphorization" (drawing from site headline) ;)

2. Place a link to download the book in whatever spot on this site gets the most eyeballs. Could be a permalink on front page w/o registration, or deliver the download link to new members in the welcome message they receive upon registering.

Just a lil marketing to catch people's attention ;) Any thoughts?

[youwonhundred]

^^^^ Why not take it one step further, since new memberships are locked out at the moment anyway, and make it required reading? A condition of membership, if you will. Maybe give em a quickie test (only a couple questions, this aint school, after all) that they would be unable to answer without reading the material.

God, can anyone tell I was an English major, all those years ago?:D

[Sumocat]

Ahhh, youwonhundred, that's brilliant!

That could be set up so that x number of questions wrong, the quiz script stops and tells the person they need go read the book/thread/whatever and try again once they're better informed. Then, retake quiz and upon gettng all answers correct, be directed to the (hidden) registration page.

[The Lurker]

Thats exactly why I was thinking it should have a link on the main bar, maybe right smack dab in the middle of the Active Posts and New Posts links. We already have a FAQ but this is a little different. Any suggestions on what to call it?

And u100, not trying to bust your nuts but I just found another thread where you tweaked on some one for asking a dumb question. I've been guilty to but we all need to watch it. A lot of these people dont have the slightest clue how many times we've seen the question.


How about something simple like 'Read This First' ? or 'Read this or You May Die!' or 'Solve the Riddle Inside and get a free OC80!' (j/k) Something to catch the eye.


I've been hangin' around here on and off for a couple o' years myself, never got around to registering until I decided to respond to keep a newbie from doing something stupid. First thing I learned was to UTSE. I get as tired as the next person with some of the endless first-timer questions to ad nauseum (and yes, some mentally challenged folks visit from time to time, and yes, it can be frustrating)

And, I like to remember why I personally am here. Seen a lot of people come and go. Hopefully, the good ones stay (or get what they needed (i.e get clean, through a rough patch, or whatever) and move on), and the rest - well, they don't tend to hang around too long. Don't want to close things up here, otherwise people start dropping off and new people don't get what they need. And making the reading of certain things mandatory or the process too difficult before allowing access may be counterproductive and not reflect the mission statement of this board. Just the way things are, and human nature.

It all comes down to community (can ya feel the love, my brothers and sisters! Hallelujah!), and getting people the (hopefully) right information in a timely fashion that just might help to keep them from becoming just another statistic. And hope that whatever response someone new does receive doesn't scare them away before that can happen. If we've helped at least one person, at the right time, then we've made a difference.

If someone asks a question I don't particularly care to see - yet again, I feel the best solutions are to either 1) not respond at all, or 2) politely provide them enough to find it on their own. Maybe a nice cut n' paste link to the Mother-of-all FAQs we're talking about here. Teach a person to fish, and.......


-TL

[Opiyum]

I'm not sure that forcing people to read it is necessary nor do I think turning it into a PDF though they are both good ideas. I think simplicity is key with this thing. I also am stongly opposed to any sort of test given afterwards. That's really not what Im trying to accomplish here. It shouldnt be thought of as a filter but more as guide for those who are already here and for the new people that come each and every day.
However I do think it should be something that, upon registration, people should be directed to and or made aware of.
I was thinking of simply titling it as "The Essentials" and the fact that it will be "supersticky" will make it something that everyone is aware of.

Apparently there was a bit of an arguement in here that got started over U100's concern with the creation of this thread only causing more UTSFE type shit. I dont know cause the posts were deleted but anyway I thought the same thing and its a valid point but at the same time that's no reason not to do something and when someone does act like an asshole to someone that can be dealt with the same way that that kind of behavior is dealt with now.

Im gonna start getting some of this stuff put together on monday since it seems that most people like this idea. I have a good idea of what I want to do and appreciate all the suggestions that have been given. I will keep them in mind but for now I'd like to put this whole thing together as I see fit and will submit it to Bi11i and HOM to see if it jives with them.
Robo your help would be much appreciated I will get in touch with you via PM soon and we can start working on compiling some of the threads that will be included in the thread.

Thanks again to everyone for your ideas. I just hope I can create something that everyone here is pround of.

[nick]

How about something simple like 'Read This First' ? or 'Read this or You May Die!' or 'Solve the Riddle Inside and get a free OC80!' (j/k) Something to catch the eye.


I've been hangin' around here on and off for a couple o' years myself, never got around to registering until I decided to respond to keep a newbie from doing something stupid. First thing I learned was to UTSE. I get as tired as the next person with some of the endless first-timer questions to ad nauseum (and yes, some mentally challenged folks visit from time to time, and yes, it can be frustrating)

And, I like to remember why I personally am here. Seen a lot of people come and go. Hopefully, the good ones stay (or get what they needed (i.e get clean, through a rough patch, or whatever) and move on), and the rest - well, they don't tend to hang around too long. Don't want to close things up here, otherwise people start dropping off and new people don't get what they need. And making the reading of certain things mandatory or the process too difficult before allowing access may be counterproductive and not reflect the mission statement of this board. Just the way things are, and human nature.

It all comes down to community (can ya feel the love, my brothers and sisters! Hallelujah!), and getting people the (hopefully) right information in a timely fashion that just might help to keep them from becoming just another statistic. And hope that whatever response someone new does receive doesn't scare them away before that can happen. If we've helped at least one person, at the right time, then we've made a difference.

If someone asks a question I don't particularly care to see - yet again, I feel the best solutions are to either 1) not respond at all, or 2) politely provide them enough to find it on their own. Maybe a nice cut n' paste link to the Mother-of-all FAQs we're talking about here. Teach a person to fish, and.......


-TL

Couldn't have said it better myself-thank you Lurker.

Bro,Try not to mention anhydride too much and we'll respect and love you forever.

[kyuss]

stickys are
forum billboards,
they peel quickly
in the summer sun.

[Opiyum]

stickys are
forum billboards,
they peel quickly
in the summer sun.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

[RoadHead]

....In an attempt to keep people from posting threads and asking questions that have been covered many a time on the site I was thinking of creating a sticky thread that has links to older thread on the site that answer questions that commonly come up around here and have links to threads that in general have a lot of useful information on them.

So basically in the thread there would be a list of FAQ's and general information and next to each item in the list we could pick one, two or three of the threads that best covered whatever that question or topic might be.

this sounds like a good idea opi and one that will hopefully be beneficial to both new and old members alike.

too many links might be as bad as too few links so you may need some help to edit it if it gets too large. last thing you would want would be for people to say fuck it, i aint reading all that shit, so you may have to have 3-4-5 or so stickys.

good luck and if you need help on it, holler and i will be glad to help.

[Opiyum]

Its going to be relatively small. I dont want peopel adding to it so it will be closed meaning no posting in this thread and it wont be overbearing i dont think cause with it divided up into different FAQ's I think it should end up being relatively easy to use. I could be completely wrong on that one though. We'll see what happens i guess.

Since you and Robo want to help im gonna get started on this tonight and I will "assign" ( i use that word lightly) you each to a few different topics that you, if you are up to it, can then find five or six threads that you think cover the topic well without to much BS then the three of us can eventually pick the top two or three. Maybe it will only take one thread to completely sum up any particular topic. Who knows.

I was thinking that another thing we could do to make it even faster of a process is to list the numbers of the posts that best cover the topic that the user is interested in.


Ill be in touch very soon. im glad some of you guys are showing interest in this project of sorts,

[AWOL]

That's a good idea, and the fewer threads you keep listed is a good idea because it will be a lot easier for mods to keep those thread free of unrealted crap and just keep it down to buisness.

[kyuss]

I know
what you mean
like having greasy fingers
after eating a bucket of chicken

[roxi*stardust]

What I'm working on right now is a sticky for the Oxy forum, it will have just about all the info about OxyContin and Oxycodone that one could what. It will be like a commonly asked question thing covering abosorption, time release, pharmacology, interactions, side effect, etc. I figure people could read over the sticky and probably get the answer before they ask the question.

[flipside]

Great idea Opy, sounds like you've got a good handle on how to proceed. Do you have a list of topics or most FAQ's that you are going to start with? Holler if u need any help.

[OxyContinuously]

My apologies, fellow mods as I got to this a bit late

But, yes, Opiyum, that sounds like a good idea to me.

[roxi*stardust]

My apologies, fellow mods as I got to this a bit late

But, yes, Opiyum, that sounds like a good idea to me.

I just posted that over in the OC forum, we will see how it works out. If it goes well I don't mind doing it for the other forums. It took me about 5 days to compile and type all that out in a nice format so if no one uses it I don't want to waste my time doing the others, ya know?

[OxyContinuously]

I just posted that over in the OC forum, we will see how it works out. If it goes well I don't mind doing it for the other forums. It took me about 5 days to compile and type all that out in a nice format so if no one uses it I don't want to waste my time doing the others, ya know?

Most def., roxi. I hear that, and most certainly agree with ya!

[Opiyum]

Well I ended up getting everything together but it was deemed unnecessary. I havent been here all month and probably wont be here for few more.
Just letting you all know that I actually did do it.

[nick]

Well I ended up getting everything together but it was deemed unnecessary. I havent been here all month and probably wont be here for few more.
Just letting you all know that I actually did do it.

Oh bro,that sucks.I've been deemed unnecessary all my life.So,I can sympathise.

Good idea though and come back soon.