Nudging newbies in the right direction

As this site continues to grow and get more popular, the prevalence of "incorrect" postings (non-useful subject lines like "Help me", posting questions or ideas as Robots, asking questions in the shoutbox, etc) has increased to the point where more of our members are concerned about it. On the whole, the vast majority of our users seem to have a good grasp of what should go where, but it would be beneficial to everyone to nudge those few others in the right direction -- they'd be more likely to get their questions answered, other people with the same question can find the answer easier, and we don't have to wonder which of the many "help" threads just got replied to.

In a previous discussion on possible solutions, 1468 (Zanthess) made a great suggestion -- rather than restricting membership, why don't we just ask new users to complete a short, 5-10 question quiz about the site's policies and best practices before letting them join? As the idea was discussed, several users asked if that might be excessive -- forcing people to take a quiz when they join could turn away potential users who give up on what they perceive as a "snooty" site that's making them jump through hoops just to join. Those are valid points.

So we're implementing a slightly modified version (also suggested by Zanthess). We're still fine-tuning how we want to implement it, but the basic plan is that, rather than making people take the quiz when first signing up, we'll allow them to create their account and browse the site as usual. They can also post comments and replies without restriction. It's only when they first try to create a new posting, such as a forum thread or a robot, that we'll step in and say, "Hi there, we ask all new members to take this short quiz on the site's best practices before creating their first posting."

Having them review the FAQ and Best Practices at that point, just before they make their first entry, will ensure that the information is fresh in their minds, and it'll help to cement that information by actually using it right after completing the quiz. Also, by this point they'll hopefully feel more involved and accepted by the site, so the perception will be less like, "this site I've never heard of wants ME to take a test?"

This will take two or three weeks to implement, because real-life work is hectic right now, but I just wanted to give you guys a heads-up to let you know what's on the way, and let you offer any input you have. And in the meantime, go easy on the newbies who post in the wrong place. Let's try to nudge people in the right direction, rather than shove them. Nobody trusts Shover Robots. :)

Dan

Seems the best you can do if
Seems the best you can do if you want a quiz. Can you measure stats to see how many posts don’t happen after the quiz is initiated - ie how many people get discouraged?

I think it’s a brilliant
I think it’s a brilliant Idea. You go, TheCowGod!

this still wont work that well…
Without accual post moderation the same things will continue to happen I think anyway. Software cant take the place of human moderation.

I guess we will see.
I guess we will see.

One of the new guys

 

I’m very new to the site and i think its a great idea for a couple of reasons.

1. I don’t have alot of exp. in posting on sites like this so if when I made my first post I was shown the rules instead of hunting them down and reading them on my own it would be helpful. Kind of like a polite remainder of how things are done here.

2. I believe if some one really wants help and wants to contribute to the site they would not mind too much if they have to do a little reading and take a short quiz.

3. All sites need some sort of filtering prosses. Things tend to get way out of hand fast without it. For and exaple check out the myspace mafia wars forums. That place is a train wreck due to not have clear rule that are not brought to the attion of the posters. I realize this is not the same kind of site as myspace, but the same idea applies. Mass groups of people unaware of the rules = mess.

Just the thoughts of one of the new guys

I definitely agree, and it’s

I definitely agree, and it’s not intended to. We do have a few moderators – jklug80 and rik both work very dilligently behind the scenes to clean up spam and correct incorrect postings, etc. The purpose of this is to make their job easier. Unfortunately I know there will always be a need for some sort of oversight, but since we don’t get many people volunteering for the task, I want to do everything possible to minimize the workload for the few people who are generous enough to contribute their time to making the site more pleasant for everyone else.

Dan

Thanks, it’s good to hear

Thanks, it’s good to hear some input from someone on the newer end of the spectrum.

Dan

since the discussion has already railed of…
BTW, how much do you pay for this site, with the current bandwith and disk space, TheCowGod?

I’m currently paying $155/mo

I’m currently paying $155/mo for the dedicated server that hosts LMR. I’m hosting a few other things on the same server like my own smaller site, but LMR is definitely the large majority of the bandwidth consumed. I haven’t gotten my web server log analyzing software running on this server yet, so I don’t have hard numbers on GB/month for LMR, but the web server log file for the letsmakerobots.com domain is about 2 GB/month, so it’s a good bit of traffic :slight_smile:

Dan

what?

Are you paying $155 per month (that you could have spent on robot parts)? and in addition you’re doing all the webmaster duties as well (time that could have been spent building robots)??

OMG, I feel bad now.

Can I help out in any way?

Hehe, yeah, it is sort of

Hehe, yeah, it is sort of ironic that I spend so much of my free time working on stuff like LMR that I have little time left to make actual robots :slight_smile: I guess LMR is my big ethereal robot, and rather than soldering up circuit boards for it, I develop code. So don’t feel bad – by contributing to the site, you’re helping me build my robot :slight_smile: You are an end effector.

Thanks for the offer of help. I believe we’re doing alright for now, but I’ll let you know if we need anything. And of course any of the other admins can feel free to say so if they’ve got something they think you can help with :slight_smile:

Dan

Ethereal robot

heheh.

Beautiful analogy Dan. End effectors… Assistant builders… Which are we now? Both? Very metafysical! Thank you for this mystical experience in my web browser every day.

When will LMR get a decent robot page? (Don’t forget video!) Or would that be in violation of best practises?