"Stop making new threads" Thread in Search Results
 

I want to get your opinions on this. I've been working on my first turbo Miata build, trying to do lots of research. It's very hard because the top search results are always just a thread full of people yelling at OP to search. How do you expect people to find any info through searching if the top results are just everyone crying about not searching? Why not give them some information in addition to ripping out their soul? There's no reason I shouldn't be able to search a really simple topic and not have to sift through pages of people losing their minds instead of giving any useful information.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see the same "What oil should I use?" thread every other day, but it would be nice if the first search result was something with decent information for a question as simple as that.

Thoughts? Has anyone else noticed this?

Nice first post.

Figured it was better than asking which turbo I should get.

You're so original too.

WHY HASN'T ANYONE THOUGHT OF THIS???!!
Clearly you are the first to suggest this in 12+ years of this forum.

If people stopped making stupid threads, the useful ones would be easier to find.

Obviously. I mean I figured that if someone else had thought of it, maybe it wouldn't be such a pain to find info on the simplest of subjects because people would take a second to realize that they're ruining the search feature that they insist on everyone using so religiously.

Right. Not saying stupid threads are acceptable or warranted.

I'm giving him a like cat for making this thread instead of another thread on the same old subject.

That said... he's right, you know.

Buuuuuutttt.... top tip: Read the stickies first. All of them. :) Then start a build thread.

I feel your pain though. Finding info on long establish forums in general is a pain.

Also this. Delicate balance. Chicken and egg.

this is a never ending catch 22

"...if only you searched"

"...if only you didn't tell us to search"

so rather than waste time on this eleventy billionth "suggestion" of the same exact nature and the neverending circle jerk that is to follow, we (the OG's) choose to put the burden of effort in searching on you (the n00bs), rather than whining and complaining and telling us that you NOT ONLY want the information that we took years to discover and test, for free, BUT YOU ALSO WANT IT nicely organized, chewed up, put into a fancy silver spoon, and fed right into your pouty little lips, ANNNDD done repeatedly at your beck and call, over and over and over again every day of the year for the next millennium. Oh and there's hundreds of "you". And most don't even have the brainpower to formulate a post that's coherent like yours. And....

That's about as "civil" of a response as I can muster. Let's see if we can have a civil thread on this topic or if I'll need to dust off the ban hammer this morning.

A deceptively obvious solution would be to nuke stupid threads so they don't come up in a search. But the Romans didn't crucify people to kill them, they did it to send a message to others.

I always want to quote the person from 10 years ago suggesting you search and say, "I searched and found this thread telling me to search." I try to make an effort to throw in something constructive in even the most commonly repeated threads for this very reason.

Seems pretty civil so far to me. It hasn't resorted to name calling and poop flinging, so that's a good start compared to most of the internet.

It just seems, to me, like the better alternative would be to delete duplicate posts. Currently, they just get 30 replies of people telling them to search, pushing them to the top of the search results despite the fact that they hold no useful information on the original topic. Then some random noob comes along and can't find what he's looking for in the search results, so he makes another stupid thread, and the cycle continues. If those useless posts were just deleted, it would help keep the search results more clear and useful, so you'd have less people failing to search/failing to find the info they're looking for, which in turn results in less of those stupid posts being created in the first place.

This is one of the reasons I feel like Facebook is becoming an alternative to forums. In your local car-related Facebook group, they'll just delete your post if it doesn't fit within the rules/guidelines. Keeps search results clearer, keeps people happier, makes OPs want to kill themselves less when they mess up.

The Romans also didn't create a need for more crucifixions by crucifying people. Sure, it gets the message across, I can't argue there. But it also creates the need to send that message more frequently with each instance.

The stickies need halp. they are outdated and possible suggesting incorrect info now. Exactly how I ended up with a Walbro 190hp instead of what i actually need. I didnt want to post a retarded question, used stickies for guidance, now has wrong/inadequate parts.

Who needs a wally190hp, cause I really need a DW 200

The part in all of this that you're missing, is the dozens (hundreds?) of PM's that the moderators/admins get form n00bs crying about their thread/post getting moderated and why are we so mean.

You've got good intentions with this thread, but clearly you don't see the big picture here. Like hundreds of others before you, you'll quickly realize that re-posting information is a full time job, and you're tired of doing it. You'll also see just how lazy and stupid 90% of the newbies here are, and how utterly careless they are about helping others or keeping this place nice. All they want is for US to ANSWER ALL THEIR QUESTIONS RIGHT NOW, help them fix their car, and then they're gone. We are their personal minions/mommy who does everything gladly and never gets anything in return.

How about this: FIND ALL THESE THREADS/INFO that you're looking for. Digest it. Refine it. Add to it. Simplify and organize it. Then, make a new thread with all this work that you just did. Then PM me the "links" of all those other bogus threads and I'll delete them.

THEN do this eleven billion more times for every other subject/topic related to turbo Miata's, and Miata's in general.

YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD. I have faith in you :)

Aw shucks, thanks cap'n. Thanks for the encouragement.

god, just search n00b.

:likecat:

despite the sarcasm, my offer stands (and not just to you, but to the dozens of others that proposed this):

If someone wants to do all that work, I (as well as the rest of the mods/admins here, I'm sure) will gladly delete/sticky/merge threads and help put it together.

Cause everyone and their mothers knows how to fix things. Until it's time to step up and do the work and put your money where your mouth is ;)

Yeah, like you ever let it sit long enough to gather dust.

That's not fair, why are you such a big meanie weenie?
People tell the mods here all the time that we're getting soft. And we're too old and soft to disagree or prove otherwise :cry:

Hold my beer and steady the soap box, I'm about to FIX the world.

:party:

3:00 PM- 5 people diligently searching and sifting through threads to organize..

3:15 PM- 5 people forgot what they were doing, now watching snowboarding, rocket launches and Mantis shrimp fights on youtube.

...

:laugh:speaking of shrimp, it's almost lunch time and I'm craving Rubio's sausa verde shrimp tacos

DAMN....I miss Rubios. East coast seems to think that shredded cheddar cheese should be on a fish taco.

How is that for a thread derail???? ehhh ehhhhhhhhhhh?

bruuuhhh do you kno da wae?

Man fish tacos sound fantastic.
I know what's for dinner now. I knew this thread would end up being useful.

There a place in vegas in the pyramid thingy that sells amazing mahi mahi tacos. I think its the sauce... its always the sauce.

y'all need to visit our food thread more often :D

we traveled back in time, took OP's advice, and consolidated most our food ramblings/pictures into that one thread, and not a single "stop making new threads" post in there :D

I stay away from the food thread for the same reason I stay away from the beer thread.

I'm a glutenous pig and can not help myself.

That is absolutely the case. I would gladly sticky that

Rubio's has a new location near the Tampa airport. Really good healthy food.

What are we talking about again?

dont remember, got side tracked by video of pouring baking soda and vinegar on fire ants.

Kittens.

--Ian

I know we've kinda wandered off topic here, but to bring things back into focus. As a big time lurker, very frequent searcher and very seldom poster, my advice is :
Don't use the forum search function, use Google.

Plug in "site:miataturbo.net [search terms]"

Then analyse the results. If it's from 2009 the information may be out dated, use your brain. Don't just go off the first result, look through the first page of results, sometimes a nugget of information is hidden in an otherwise irrelevant thread. Read through the whole thread (if it's a massive thread you might need to skim).

Finally, if the information seems old or questionable, start a thread or append to an existing thread, sight what you've found in your research (include links), use proper grammar, punctuation and the spell checker, and ask for updated input. People won't bite your head off if you've shown you've made an effort.

I have never had the need to do this final step because the information is out there.

:likecat:

This is the biggest thing for me. Prove that you tried to solve your issue.

We had a rule on our FSAE team that if the questionee (is that a word?) could find the answer on the first page of a google search, the questioner would owe him a beer. I'm getting this rule implemented at work as well.

Maybe create a couple of new forum sections:

1. Dumb questions asked by noobs or people who should know better
2. Questions already asked and answered "a bazillion times" already

Move the appropriate threads into these sections, that way OPs wont get upset that their posts have disappeared and no-one needs to inform them that they're a moron or educate them on how to use the forum search facilities.

I'll probably miss the responses to these posts though, some have been quite humorous, especially when the OP gets upset and just can't let it go.

ManiacLachy's Google search advice, searching for "site:miataturbo.net <SEARCH_TERMS>" , is how I find my information best on this site.

His other advice is correct too, with one minor alteration:

I'd also add something along the lines of "if English isn't your main language, don't let that stop you posting, this forum is international enough to help without biting your head off for not using perfect English (most us us native English speakers can't even do this and English is "a mongrel language" so is difficult to learn as a 2nd language).

I knew "sight" looked wrong, but I hadn't had my coffee yet :likecat:

I do love the butt hurt threads, I get a good chuckle from them.

It was ironic that you mentioned the use of a spell checker but even this wouldn't have caught the error, highlighting just how crap English is as language - I did leave you a poscat in your original post though.