A Quick Request for Chilling Out on Newbies

[Anonymous]

Hi,
It seems like there's a tendency to jump on posters who are new to the DCUM forums for posting questions already asked. I myself am new here because it's my first pregnancy and even though I try to search the archives to see if my question has already been covered, the Search function doesn't always pull up what you need. If you can't helpfully call us new users' attention to specific search terms that will pull up previous discussions, can you simply click on some other topic of interest and let us be? Getting yelled at on a web forum doesn't exactly help first-time parents relax.
Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Amen.

[Anonymous]

ITA - as someone who is about to graduate from this forum next week! Sometimes the search function brings back a alot of results that aren't applicable or aren't as specific as the question I posted. Or I felt panicky and wanted reassurance for me, not someone else - I know that sounds selfish, but at least it is honest.

Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

Also, by posting a question that has already been asked we also get replies from new people who may not have been on the board when the question was first asked, which means we get some fresh perspectives and experiences.

[Anonymous]

Agree the search function is frustrating, but I still think everyone should start there. If your search is fruitless or you still want different/more/recent information, you can head off criticism by noting that in your OP.

[Anonymous]

To the OP: Thank you for posting this. I agree with all the sentiments stated.

Keep the hormones at bay and only be nice when on DCUM. Can't we all just get along?!

[Anonymous]

This is actually a topic that jsteele might want to comment on. As DCUM grows and the number of threads continue to mushroom, are we getting to the point where we need a more sophisticated infrasture for searching? Something along the lines of posters being able to tag their threads and having a list of tags that searchers can choose from and search by? One of the main reasons it's so difficult to search the archives now is because there is no controlled vocabulary, so even if we're posing a similar question that's already been asked we might be using slightly different language than in an existing post. Unless you're looking for information about a specific doctor or product or something like that, it can be difficult to find what you're looking for.

Admittedly I know nothing about maintaining a forum like this and I would imagine it could require a whole new infrastructure, but I'm curious if this could potentially be on the horizon.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
Admittedly I know nothing about maintaining a forum like this and I would imagine it could require a whole new infrastructure, but I'm curious if this could potentially be on the horizon.

The forums are based on an open source program (jforum) which is maintained by volunteers. As such, I'm dependent on them for new features in the software. I'm maintaining a list of features that I'd like to see added. The idea of "tagging" threads is not one that I had thought of, but is a pretty good idea. I'll add it to my list. However, I'm afraid that the difference between adding to my list and forgetting about it completely is pretty small at this point. Maybe one day we will have funds available to hire our own programmers, but not at the moment.

In the meantime, you might have better search results using Google rather than our own search engine. Just include "site:www.dcurbanmom.com search_term" in the Google search. Replace "search_term" with the word or words for which you want to search.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Admittedly I know nothing about maintaining a forum like this and I would imagine it could require a whole new infrastructure, but I'm curious if this could potentially be on the horizon.

The forums are based on an open source program (jforum) which is maintained by volunteers. As such, I'm dependent on them for new features in the software. I'm maintaining a list of features that I'd like to see added. The idea of "tagging" threads is not one that I had thought of, but is a pretty good idea. I'll add it to my list. However, I'm afraid that the difference between adding to my list and forgetting about it completely is pretty small at this point. Maybe one day we will have funds available to hire our own programmers, but not at the moment.

In the meantime, you might have better search results using Google rather than our own search engine. Just include "site:www.dcurbanmom.com search_term" in the Google search. Replace "search_term" with the word or words for which you want to search.

Ok, good to know. Thank you!