Suggestions for Frequently Asked (and Answered) Questions

[Doug.S]

This topic has been split from another topic, so that it can be given proper attention, as Doug's suggestion here seems a good idea - Allan

Thanks, tips are good to know....as long as one can remember or find...especially useful to new users.

Too bad we don't have a sticky post with topics and links in the Tips & Tricks to post for others to easily find problems/bugs, work-arounds....somewhat like an index to the forum's great info.

Yes there are a few already sticky. But I was thinking sorted by topics such as walls, rendering, cameras, interior, exterior, landscapes, lights/lighting, misc. etc.

Rather than have one person do it all, maybe users can remember, list topic, show link and one moderator filter/combine/judge/etc. to avoid a mess.
Maybe done on the fly as new topics come up?
Probably best to limit to v16 and prev. versions if it still applies to v16.

Allan, and others, what do you think?

[Allan Chesney]

Hi Doug,

This sounds like a good idea.  Maybe not an index as such to almost everything or it could become very long and still need a Search to find things but possibly a sort of  'Frequently Asked Questions' that is sticky would be useful. These could be grouped into Walls, Roof, Rendering etc. and if there are a few specifically relevent posts, they could be listed under the one question.

I am not sure that it should be open to everyone as it could get a bit out of control and to be able to group relevent posts under key  headings, would require admin access to be able to edit the list.

Maybe we could have just three or four Sticky posts such as:
   Frequent Building Questions - Walls, Floor, ceiling, roof etc.
   Frequent Interior Questions - Furniture, Cabinets, Finishes
   Frequent Landscape Questions - Terrain, Exterior Accessories, Plants
   Frequent Operational and Rendering Questions - Catalogue, Materials, Importing, Exporting, Printing, Rendering etc.

Then under these sticky posts there would be "replies" which are the sections, such as:
Frequent Building Questions
   Wall Questions (which has one post only with key questions as headings in it and under the headings any relevent links)
   Roof Questions (  "   "   " )
   Floor Questions (etc.

Frequent Interior Questions
   Cabinets Questions
   Lighting and Electrical Questions
   Plumbing Questions

This would be quite easy to set up and then others could suggest posts that effectively deal with important questions.

Maybe this thread could be used for everyone to suggest topics worthy of listing as they come across them and provide the link so that it can be just copied into the master list.

Any other suggestions or ideas about this?

Allan

[Doug.S]

I like your approach.

Will wait to see what others think too.

[Draft Patrick]

Excellent ideas!

I think that each section should include ONLY the advice / suggestions and then, it must be closed for new posts

Pat

[Allan Chesney]

Pat,

Can you elaborate a little? - I am not quite sure what you are suggesting.

The intention was that all the posts are locked to general replies but that users suggest which topics they found useful and the link would then be added under the relevant heading/question if appropriate.

Allan

[Draft Patrick]

The intention was that all the posts are locked to general replies

I meant that I agree 100% with this statement....in order to avoid confussion 

Pat

[Allan Chesney]

Thanks Pat - I thought that was what you meant but just wanted to make sure.

Allan

[gelagirl]

I thought about this a couple of days ago. I'm so with you on ths as well.  Great idea and of course you get it much "cleaner" than going through ie. 52 pages or so to find the answer to something.
Been there done that...

Btw. I have learned alot and still learning..

[Doug.S]

Another forum I use has a "links" list to helpful ideas in the forum, similar to this discussion.

Attached is a copy (screen grab) of their setup...to add to Allan's idea list.

or go here to see it in action (they have just released a whole new forum update re-do):
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/17/
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/41/

[Allan Chesney]

Thanks Doug for posting that - it is similar to what I have in mind but all ideas are helpful, so I will have a look at it thoroughly before I finalise it.

I certainly have not given up on it, just a bit time constrained at the moment. Will get there as it is a very worthwhile idea.

Allan

[Kajvin - Robert W]

Hi DougS Allan, gelagirl: 
Why not us a pdf-file to FAQ, I can look over it on my vacation in summer, and come whit a suggestion I have a pro-version of Adobe Acrobat 9 and you can also use the FAQ of line as a smart link to the forum.
/Robert

[Allan Chesney]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for the suggesting but I don't think a PDF would suit what we had in mind. It is not intended to be a to print and keep document but a 'living document', that would be added to very regularly as new post are made. It would become like a link index to the best answers on specific subjects, as they come along, so it would always be up to date. Really all it will be is links but grouped by subject, so it would not be much point as a PDF.

Allan

[Kajvin - Robert W]

Hi Allan!
I t was not to print I have in, you can use a pdf to surf the internet to.
Robert

[Allan Chesney]

Hi Robert,

Yes I realise you could still use the links in a PDF, but it is really more the conveniece of doing it at this end. It is simple just to open and existing FAQ thread and paste a new link into the appropriate section (and it is available instantly). Using a PDF, it would have to be pasted into the original document, compiled as a PDF, delete the old one from the forum and upload the new one to replace the original.

The functionality of a PDF is excellent but it does involve a lot more work at this end just to simply add an additional link.

Allan

[Draft Patrick]

Hi Allan!
I t was not to print I have in, you can use a pdf to surf the internet to.
Robert

Not really. When you open a PDF file on line, you are creating a temp PDF file in your computer and you can print and / or save it in your computer, and / or eventually, modify it. Even if it is PW protected
For this reason, if any person wishes to download the PDF and then he / she posts (or sells) it on other site, we