New Members Creating Topics Survey

[garmon757]

Hello fellow members, we have been receiving rants and raves about new members creating new topics, in which some are duplicating the original topics. I'm conducting this survey to see what can we (@garmon757 @MetroShadow and @Kevin) do to neutralize this minor issue in order to keep this forum running smoothly and maturely. If anybody have any comments or questions then please feel free to pm one of us at your earliest convenience. Thanks. 

[Busjack]

However, my suggestion was number of posts, as it shouldn't be solely a popularity contest, but maybe as combination is o.k.

[garmon757]

25 minutes ago, Busjack said:

However, my suggestion was number of posts, as it shouldn't be solely a popularity contest, but maybe as combination is o.k.

Somehow, I thought about that. 

[Pace831]

I'm not going to vote because I don't think there is a "magic number" for number of posts and/or reputation points. There is a lot of ambiguity in how reputation points are given which doesn't make it a reliable measure of a member's contribution. Similarly, someone could have 10 excellent posts while someone else has 1000 meaningless ones. I do realize that this would cut down on annoying duplicate topics, but some new members have also made great contributions such as maths22's bus tracker. What do you think of having new members fill out a quiz to make sure they understand the community guidelines, in which it is emphasized that you should make sure a topic is not already being discussed before you post a new topic? I feel that is the only way to accomplish that goal without imposing arbitrary restrictions.

[MTRSP1900-CTA3200]

I don't know what was discussed, but I'm not sure if having a reputation limit is the way to solve the problem. Sometimes new members create accounts to start topics to ask questions. If there's a reputation limit, it prevents someone with a potentially good question from asking it or contributing in another positive way, just because they are new.

Maybe there should be more emphasis on the forum rules/guidelines, especially about duplicate posts.

[Busjack]

21 minutes ago, MTRSP1900-CTA3200 said:

I don't know what was discussed, but I'm not sure if having a reputation limit is the way to solve the problem. Sometimes new members create accounts to start topics to ask questions. If there's a reputation limit, it prevents someone with a potentially good question from asking it or contributing in another positive way, just because they are new.

Maybe there should be more emphasis on the forum rules/guidelines, especially about duplicate posts.

The issue is essentially in your last sentence. New persons were creating topics when either memory of continuing users or a quick search would indicate that the topic was already covered, or doing stuff like creating a new topic for each reclaimed Metra car or proposed Pace bus route they saw.

Also, what I contemplated was not that the person couldn't create the topic, but that they would get a message similar to that on chicagonow.com that the administrator had to approve it. That was the alternative to some other member reporting the topic to the moderators.

[MTRSP1900-CTA3200]

8 minutes ago, Busjack said:

...Also, what I contemplated was not that the person couldn't create the topic, but that they would get a message similar to that on chicagonow.com that the administrator had to approve it...

That could work, and it would have the added benefit of automatically holding back spam posts and topics should this forum ever get any.

[Pace831]

14 minutes ago, MTRSP1900-CTA3200 said:

That could work, and it would have the added benefit of automatically holding back spam posts and topics should this forum ever get any.

Agree. There was spam about a week ago, about 30 of the same topic posted with a title in some language I don't understand. With that in mind, maybe a new member can only have one or two new topics pending approval at once.

[Busjack]

2 minutes ago, Pace831 said:

Agree. There was spam about a week ago, about 30 of the same topic posted with a title in some language I don't understand.

I thought it was Chinese, but Google Translate said Korean, but it sure looked like a cyberattack.

[MTRSP1900-CTA3200]

5 minutes ago, Busjack said:

I thought it was Chinese, but Google Translate said Korean, but it sure looked like a cyberattack.

They all look a little different to an extent. I've seen enough train destination signs to start noticing the difference. 

Chinese (Traditional): 香港地下鐵路 (Mass Transit Railway of Hong Kong)

Japanese: 小田急電鉄 (Odakyu Electric Railway)

Korean: 한국 고속철도 (Korea Train Express)

13 minutes ago, Pace831 said:

Agree. There was spam about a week ago, about 30 of the same topic posted with a title in some language I don't understand. With that in mind, maybe a new member can only have one or two new topics pending approval at once.

So I guess if the approve post method isn't set up, at least the moderators can delete posts entirely.

[sw4400]

2 hours ago, Busjack said:

The issue is essentially in your last sentence. New persons were creating topics when either memory of continuing users or a quick search would indicate that the topic was already covered, or doing stuff like creating a new topic for each reclaimed Metra car or proposed Pace bus route they saw.

Also, what I contemplated was not that the person couldn't create the topic, but that they would get a message similar to that on chicagonow.com that the administrator had to approve it. That was the alternative to some other member reporting the topic to the moderators.

Quick search doesn't always work, Busjack. I was telling garmon in a PM about a topic of New Flyer D40LF Rosters that I done sometime around 2006, when they started to roll in, and when I did a search "New Flyer D40LF Rosters", I got everything under the sun except that topic. So, in order for me to find it, I'd have to search 46 pages and 1,100+ topics to locate it. In the meantime, I might forget what I wanted to post.

Sometimes, a duplicate is done on accident because we can't remember if the topic was created, or can't find it using the search engine if it was. It's not intentional, but what if the forum has the power to merge a topic if we find out where it belongs(e.g: you post about how shiny and sparkly the 24k gold Alcoa rims are on 8215 in a topic title "Shiny Gold Rims On New Nova!!!", yet this could just be put under 7900-Series Nova LFS-Deliveries & Assignments"). If you see where it should be, maybe we should be empowered with that capability only.... what do you think @Kevin, @garmon757 & @MetroShadow?

[sw4400]

1 hour ago, Pace831 said:

Agree. There was spam about a week ago, about 30 of the same topic posted with a title in some language I don't understand. With that in mind, maybe a new member can only have one or two new topics pending approval at once.

 

1 hour ago, Busjack said:

I thought it was Chinese, but Google Translate said Korean, but it sure looked like a cyberattack.

 

1 hour ago, MTRSP1900-CTA3200 said:

They all look a little different to an extent. I've seen enough train destination signs to start noticing the difference. 

Chinese (Traditional): 香港地下鐵路 (Mass Transit Railway of Hong Kong)

Japanese: 小田急電鉄 (Odakyu Electric Railway)

Korean: 한국 고속철도 (Korea Train Express)

So I guess if the approve post method isn't set up, at least the moderators can delete posts entirely.

I saw that spam and reported it immediately.... if anyone clicked on any of it, I'd highly advise you to do a full system scan of your computer, as it might've in the background uploaded some Adware/Spyware/Trojan to your computer.

On that subject, and just as highly important, though slightly OT.... I got a call from someone yesterday who spoke broken English saying that my computer was under attack, no doubt to gain access and brick it for a ransom.... there is a scam going on about this(discussed on the FBI's webpage). Beware!!! Microsoft nor any software/antivirus agency will never call you about issues with your computer.... they try to get checking account info from you, or have you wire them money.

[Busjack]

3 hours ago, sw4400 said:

Quick search doesn't always work, Busjack. I was telling garmon in a PM about a topic of New Flyer D40LF Rosters that I done sometime around 2006, when they started to roll in, and when I did a search "New Flyer D40LF Rosters", I got everything under the sun except that topic.

Using Google with site;chitransit.org + terms usually works better. You can use stuff like + - and terms in quotes to control it. (See this on search operators) The search on this site doesn't seem as comprehensive, although you can limit a search to "this topic".

 

3 hours ago, sw4400 said:

Sometimes, a duplicate is done on accident because we can't remember if the topic was created, or can't find it using the search engine if it was.

My correspondence involved a new person who was just creating topics. I contrast that to a new person who had enough sense today to put a question about 2828 on the Pace Roster page. I also put in my message "you know who you can trust," which would certainly encompass anyone who has been here 8 years, like you.

[garmon757]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys.

[ibebobo]

It's gonna be pretty hard to search for any previous topic unless you use the specific word which may not have been used. And impossible to read every single post to make sure it's not repeated.