[pyritechips]

Hi people:

I hang out in chat alot ( I know: get a life!). I've noticed that a lot of new members start asking tech questions in there, when they should be posting. Obviously a new member wont be familiar with the procedures. Is there a way to have an in-your-face notice on the screen immediately after a person joins? Something like "PLease do not post questions in the chat room, post then in the appropiate forum"? These poor people come in expecting answers and mostly un-techies hang in chat!

~Jim

[Rhettman5.1]

This has been adressed before PC seems the best way is to inform the newbies where to post... that way a history is made of the post..Rhett

[RandyG]

However, if you do feel up to it, using chat can give a better outcome, as you get speedier replies.

I have done this once, Uninstall Win ME and install Win 98SE , when I jumped into chat for the heck of it, and noticed that the then newest member to the forum was there. he had posted a question, and came into Chat hoping for a quicker solution. Luckily, I had the answers, after a bit of troubleshooting, and he went away a happy camper. I then went back to his post and replied to it, with the solutions, and that it was sorted in Chat.

It's a judgement call... most of us have done it both ways. The rule is that tech questions should be posted in a forum - and I rarely violate that rule. I NEVER make an exception when I realize I am dealing with a twerp who joins TSG for one question, jumps into chat to get an answer, and then is gone forever - and you can usually see this coming rather quickly. On the other hand, situations like Randy described above do happen.

My policy is to ask in which forum the question has been posted. If it has not been posted then I state that it must be before we can help. If the answer is "I don't remember" or if I get an answer I cannot verify quickly, then I blow it off. Sometimes it is hard to respect the rules when you really want to give someone the help they need. But, the rules are the rules. When you respect the rules the people who are asking the questions will respect you (otherwise they can go somewhere else).

[pyritechips]

Thx for the input guys. I consider myself to still be a newbie here so sorry for reopening an old issue (I'm notoriously bad for ignoring the search feature here!).

R5.1: As soon as I see new face in chat I do a profile. As soon as I see 0 posts I know what's coming next! I always politely inform the person to post in the appropiate forum and that they will get exosure and response there and next to none in chat.

Randy: pvc and I spent an hour one night helping a brand new member. It was late at night and TSG was virtually empty, so to avoid the lengthy time lag between posts (the thread ran to 30+) I suggested we all continue it in chat. Immediate feed-back worked wonders and we sent a happy new member on her merry way! (BTW, pvc did all the work, I merely kept her guessing til real help arrived!)

Slithy: I know what you're saying and agree with you. I just happen to have a soft spot in my heart and feel compelled to respond to a plea of help (been there, done that). Unfortunately my Tech abilities are limited! I will continue doing as before! Thx again guys.

~Jim