New post title rules!

[lordsmurf]

We've updated the rules when making new posts.
You'll see this as red text (on Classic Theme, not yet updated Mobile/Responsive just yet).

Quote:

New Post Title Rules!

All titles:
- MUST be in the form of a question. (except for marketplace sell/want listings)
- MUST describe your problem with at least 5 words; a/and/the/etc do not count.
- HOWEVER, the title is not a long sentence, be brief, use a short phrase.
- AVOID useless words like "help", "issues", "problems" or "newbie".
- EXAMPLE (BAD): "I need help"
- EXAMPLE (GOOD): "Memorex blank DVD burns fail?"

This sites uses FAQ (Q&A) styling, hence the question format. And a good thread title will help you get quicker answers. Thanks!

Lately it seems like I've spent a lot of time correcting thread titles, often not having a clue what the actual thread was about without reading it (and even then, not always! ). Hopefully this will cut down on moderation time, and let me spend more time on the questions being asked.

I try to triage, hitting Premium and easy questions first, then spending time on others. But I need to know what is what!

Sound good to you?

[keaton]

It seems that over 99% of posts probably are asking questions. However, even recently, there are the occasional posts that are sharing a lesson learned, providing a tutorial, providing a "beware of this merchant or product", or just saying something without looking for any feedback. Perhaps there's a way to exempt every post from this, maybe by asking the poster to specify if this is a statement or a question. Perhaps a new section of the forum just for non-question topics/discussions, if that makes it easier. Although the topics could be quite diverse. Otherwise, thanks for trying to cut down on unhelpful titles that some probably skip because it's too vague and we don't have the interest/energy to try extracting basic information from the original poster.

[lordsmurf]

Some degree of best judgment is obviously required.

As I always state, every rule has exceptions.
But also that when you think you're the exception, you're probably not. Most question can be phrases with a ? added. So "My new capture method" and "My new capture method?" are really the same thing. Rhetorical questions are still questions.

Yes, people skipping vague topics is the issue, and even I have to do it. I get tired of "newbie with issues, please help".
I remember a teacher many years ago, who was told "I don't understand" by the student. The teacher replied "I don't either. Why don't you go sit back down, an come up with some coherent questions so that I can help answer your concerns". So he did, and came back, they discussed, and he understood. (Back then, good teacher! These days, probably fired for being "mean".)

Bad thread titles really do make a forum unmanageable and less useful. Also less found by Google searches.