Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

I'll send an example to Brandon and ask him to check on it.
Thanks,
Jane

Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

I agree about the posts. I didn't know that when I was younger. Also, try to look at the thread that explain things, don't be afraid to ask questions, be nice to everyone (you never know what kind of position they hold), have fun, play by the rules, and GRACIOUS PROFESSIONALISM!!!!!

Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

Personally, I think CD is one of the coolest websites out there. The people on it are awesome and actually know what they're talking about. :O It's really helpful to newbies who are trying to get a feel for what FIRST is like, and I think it leaves them with a really good feeling about FIRST.

Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

let me get all of this advice summarized:
READ THE MANUAL
Make sure you know what you are talking about
show gracious professionalism
don't abuse similes
READ THE MANUAL AGAIN
Don't overdose on CD or caffine

Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

Time to get this started up again before kickoff. Because far too few will take time to read after kickoff ...

1. Read the manual. Many questions can be answered without asking CD users to research for you. It's fine if you read something and don't understand it and want clarification. Or if you thought you remembered reading a rule, and now can't find it. But don't post something like, "Can our bumpers be green?" when the manual clearly says red or blue. (A fr'instance based on last year's rules.) The manuals are pdf files; they are easily searchable.

1a. Don't reply to a rules question unless you really have an answer to it that can be supported. "You should be able to do that ..." is worthless. Quoting a rule that supports your position is helpful.

2. Read the thread before posting a reply to it. We don't want to have to read through your restatement of a fact that has already been brought up 4 times in that thread alone.

3. Search before posting a new topic. It may have been addressed just yesterday. There's a "Search" dropdown in the orange bar at the top of the page - learn to use it.

3a. Post topics in the correct forum. Don't ask questions about programming in the Motors forum - there's a Programming forum just for that.

3b. Stay on track in a thread - don't change the topic. Start a new thread for that (or search for a thread about the topic).

4. Show respect to all users, and to FIRST and their employees and volunteers. This should go without saying, but for some reason it always needs saying.

Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

I have a bit of advice for people new to the forum that hasn't been addressed yet (in this thread). Build season can be frustrating for new members of a team and since we do a very complicated task those frustrations can be very bothersome. Please don't vent those frustrations on CD when you are upset by how your team operates or gets things accomplished!

Venting on CD about your own team only makes you look bad. You should take those issues to your team leadership or talk to a mentor. If the situation doesn't get resolved to your satisfaction you may want to consider the possibility that your problem isn't that important or may not even be a problem.

What happens on your team is not everyone's business!!!!

Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

Great advice. I might also add that CD does have the FIRST-A-Holics Anonymous resource so that you may receive advice in a productive manner.

Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

I have something to add:

The rules section of Chief Delphi are not the rules. FIRST will not accept the excuse "but chief delphi said it was legal" as a reason to break the rules. If you want true clarification, go to the official Q&A forums.

Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

Don't be afraid to ask for help AND ask before it is to late to be helped.

Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

Dont be afraid to try and and fail...that's a lesson never forgotten...and eliminates one possibility..

It took Edison over a 100 tries before he got the light bulb right..

Brian C

Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

Don't run away when forum long-timers tell you to search or read the manual; they're not trying to be unfriendly, they're trying to point you towards the most helpful resources available.

And, at this time of year, I'd tell them that we already know that game hint #1 is a picture of Little Eva, and likely points to her hit song "Locomotion" :p

Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

I didn't know that most members of Chief Delphi are FRC players. I'm a FTC player so when I ask questions, I assume people know that, but often, I get confused as a FRC player. It just took me a while to notice this, but it would be helpful if I knew that this is primarily a FRC forum.

Maybe I skipped something when I read the intro email, but it just caught me off-guard.

Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

This forum is for both FRC and FTC, you just need to know where to post your things. There is an FTC subforum to put your posts in, or if you don't want to do that, clearly state that you are regarding FTC, and not FRC. While the forum is supposed to be for all of FIRST, it is generally dominated by people involved in FRC, since the team who made this website is an FRC team.

Hope this helps!

Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

It does. But it's also confusing at times. When I see a post saying "What do you think of this year's game?" My mind is automatically on Bowled Over not the basketball game. It's just misleading to see those kinds of questions under FIRST, and Competition, where it's so broad and the posts I see are for a different game.

Making it clear that I am from FTC is vital though for the most part.

Re: What Would You Say To The Newer Members Of CD - 2nd Edition
 

Yeah. I should say this: If it's not clearly on the FTC subforum, or not labeled FTC, then it's FRC. It can get confusing; I started looking around this site while I was in FLL. That was confusing. :)

And, like you said, making it clear you're FTC helps a lot. I can see you did a great job of that in your signature.

As always, hope this helps, and keep on keepin' on.

-Andrew