my idea of a question forum...

[Jeff Waegelin]

I agree with evulish. Have a select group of people from different parts of the country in different areas of expertise. That way, they can answer region-specific, as well as technical questions. Have maybe 30 people who have answering privileges, and maybe 3 or so with editing privileges.

As far as categorizing, I think that questions should be sent in in a different format, other than the standard posting. That way, the "answering group" can view unanswered questions, and assign them to the category or categories that the question fits best. Moderators could also add links in different categories later.

Another thing that could be done is have a two-level "answer" and "comments" section. The "official answers" would go at the top, but anyone could post a "comment" that would appear below the answer.

I definitely think that it is worth doing. There are almost 2000 members here, and that is a pretty good base for such a program. We can publicize it to other teams, and possibly get FIRST to put something on their site, like, "If you need help building your robot, go to www.chiefdelphi.com for help from other teams in your area and across the country." We won't get every team, but enough will find out, and those that need help will probably find their way here.