Welcome the Newbies

[Arefin Bari]

I would like to share a little story…

A sophomore, who has been in FIRST for one year, heard a lot about Chiefdelphi, so he decided to register for the forum and become involved in the community. He was warm welcomed on the forum by many. He is a type of student who needs to read the rules few times in order to get it inside his head and remember it. He went through all the Chiefdelphi rules just to make sure that he wouldn’t break any. He searched before posting any threads or even to post something about the topic. One day, he saw a thread about Battlebots and FIRST which was created about 5 months before he registered. He decided to give his 2 cents to that thread about FIRST and Battlebots. Next thing you know, he gets a negative reputation from a respected mentor on one of the most involved and coolest team in FIRST. The message on the negative reputation stated “DO NOT BRING BACK OLD THREADS.”

The reason I am posting this…

We have a lot of newbies who are joining the forum and hoping that they will get the best out of us in helping them. Giving the newbies negative reputation for simple mistakes is scaring them away and not welcoming them on the forum.

What I am trying to prove…

I have seen a new thread few days ago. Another thread with the same topic was posted 6 months ago too. Right away after the new thread was posted, few members posted in that thread saying “Search before you post,” “The same topic exists.” After that I haven’t seen that person on chiefdelphi forum. I am on the forum all the time checking for new threads and new posts all the time.

I am the same Arefin who is the guy in the little story I posted in this thread. The way I was getting bashed by particular people for making simple mistakes I didn’t come back to the forum until the season started again.

Let’s not scare the newbies away, let’s welcome them and help them.

Please share your opinion and post whatever you want, I wouldn’t mind. Because I maybe wrong.

p.s.- Yes, I know there is a similar thread that exists.

Also, read this thread please. It also shares a similar thought.

[nehalita]

I agree, the same thing happened to me. I was almost afraid to post my questions - afraid someone would yell at me and think in their head "stupid newbie" -- i don't think i've even gotten over that fear yet. We all mistakes but that doesn't mean we should be put down. A person can explain what we did wrong, but that's that. The lesson is learned and another person doesn't need to bash them. We're in a positive atmosphere, we should make sure we show it. =)

[tiffany34990]

well i'll just add my 2 cents in....

so everyone lets think about this...we all were newbies once..so may be many years ago for some but yeah we all were there starting out
so come on just give people a break at times...we all have made the same mistakes...reopening old threads, not searching before posting... it's okay...we won't die because someone accidently forgot to search before they posted... we all just live and learn...

well the end of my 2 cents...

CD is a great community of ppl...so newbies welcome and old members i'm still glad you are around to make this place a great one...

[Koko Ed]

One of the problems with this place is that too many people thinks it's there place and attack people who don't fall in line. That's why none of our kids post here. They got thier heads ripped off when they were scouting and now think a majority if FIRST hates them so they don't bother with the place. And these were veteran poster who made them feel that way.

[Bharat Nain]

OK, the same thing happen to me. It made me stop posting for a while until I got over it and started to make some friends on here. While I know I am guilty of saying "Search before you post" - we all should learn to be more forgiving. Unless a newbie is being really obnoxious we don't have to go crazy and give bad reps. We could give some polite suggestions using the Neutral rep option. If that does not work the moderators know how to handle it. Good plea Arefin.

[Matt Krass]

As the above mentioned link shows, I agree with Arefin on this one 100%. Let's welcome the new people so they may learn, like we did from each other. We were all newbies eventually, we all know it, so you know what its like to be new here and trying to get help. We can never make it too easy, and I'm keeping up my aforementioned deal, if I see people being especially welcoming to new people, or teaching (not ordering, commanding or otherwise forcing towards) searching when it's necessary, and doing it tactfully, I'll reward with what little rep I can give. I admit it can be frustrating when five people start threads about the same thing, but there's no reason to scream about it, we have mods to fix that. And when a threads been dead for six months, sometimes reviving it is more likely to get you yelled at then starting a new one. And just because it was discussed once doesn't mean everyone got their say in. New people, inactive ones turned active, there can be a lot of new perspectives that can help. So I see no reason for every topic to only be discussable once.

Those are my $0.02, if it seems brash I apologize, I just want to make sure my point isn't diluted.

[Anthony]

Although I agree with the general topic (and as can be seen by my post total, I too am timid of posting for fear of it already having been said or just being frivolous) I think the majority of CD is a very welcoming community. Yes occasionally people get upset, but I feel those events are not frequent occurances and for the most part people respect "newbies" even if they do break a rule knowingly or unknowingly.

[Francis-134]

I have to say that I agree with all of y'all on this one. Instead of bashing the newcomers for not searching, perhaps it would be better to persuade them into searching. Something like answering their question, pointing them in the direction of the previous thread, and telling them it might be faster and more efficient if they searched for it beforehand.

[Beth Sweet]

Originally Posted by Arefin Bari

I would like to share a little story…

The message on the negative reputation stated “DO NOT BRING BACK OLD THREADS.”

Fin,

Yup, I got the same one as one of my first posts. One of my few reds actually. To newbies, the people on these forums may come off as attacking or rude sometimes, each and every person here. 99.9999999...% of the people here, aren't, and just come off so accidently. To anyone who gets a similar message as this, pat yourself on the back for searching and welcome to CD, it's a great place to be

[JBotAlan]

I'm just curious, what is your criteria for giving good rep? What would 'wow' you enough?

P.S. (I'm pretty new) how do you go about giving rep?

[Beth Sweet]

Originally Posted by JBotAlan

I'm just curious, what is your criteria for giving good rep? What would 'wow' you enough?

P.S. (I'm pretty new) how do you go about giving rep?

Everyone's criteria for good rep is different. Personally, if I see someone going out of their way to help someone else, if I see someone making a good point (and doing so in a classy fashion not a "you're dumb I'm smart" way) or anything that just makes me say "wow", I will give a good rep.

As to how to give +/- reps, on the top right of each post, there's a white scale. If you click that, it will give you a popup with the options of "I approve" "Neutral" or "I disapprove" and a space for your reasoning. You are required to tell them why you are giving them that rep.

[wilshire]

I got this sort of treatment as well my first few months of being on CD and I am just now getting into the positive numbers for reputation. if this wasn't a FIRST oriented site I would have been long gone a while ago.

[JBotAlan]

Originally Posted by wilshire

I got this sort of treatment as well my first few months of being on CD and I am just now getting into the positive numbers for reputation. if this wasn't a FIRST oriented site I would have been long gone a while ago.

Jeez...I guess I'm not the only one who screwed up...it's kinda discouraging though, to be here for a few months and have totally blown my rep...

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by JBotAlan

I'm just curious, what is your criteria for giving good rep? What would 'wow' you enough?

P.S. (I'm pretty new) how do you go about giving rep?

My criteria is when someone adds a fresh perspective to an argument or posts something particularly clever or inspired. I haven't given out negative rep since a fellow veteran poster attacked some of my kids for posting for scouting info and I charged in basically telling him to back up off of them.
I was sorely tempted to slam one kids on the board who seems to have respect issues with adult mentors (lesson to the wise kid: labeling someones post "retarded" is not graciously professional" and this isn't the first time I've witnessed rudeness in your posts and you are in serious need of being taken down a peg. I PM'd the kid instead).

[Termite233]

Well thank you so much for having the courage to say something. When I joined I got negative on i think my first post. it was so discouraging. I think people should realize that giving negative reputation on a first post doesn't encourage people to want to be friends and share valuable information. THey are disenclined to help with problems. at least this is true when you first join. if people want to make their point, they can give neutral and just state what it is for. once people have been on the site longer they should know whatever better. so of course by all means. use the negative reputation if you feel the need. but really. how nice is it to welcome a newbie with a slap on the wrist?
well thats my $.02 and arefin you said we could post whatever we want so i hope not to be repremanded for anything that may have offended someone.
Christina