Which is the bigger problem?

[meng]

Firstly, I want to make it very clear that I love these forums and the admins/moderators are doing a FANTASTICALLY GOOD job! This poll is not meant to denigrate the usefulness of the forums in any way at all. We all know that nothing in life is perfect, and I'm interested in which of these you consider to be the more prevalent problem. That is, not which you consider to be more serious, but which you consider to be numerically greater, more frequent, more prevalent. There are only two specific options (and two "non-options") provided, this should not be an excuse to bitch/whine about the forums!

[maniacmusician]

i said about the same. I see the first as the more serious problem, but both seem equally frequent.

[beercz]

Where is the option about people submitting pointless polls? Hehehehehe (only joking).

I voted for the 'About the same' option.

[PriceChild]

I think the bigger problem is unanswered posts.. everyone deserves an answer, even if it is just to say "sorry, looks like no-one knows here... but have you tried so and so a forum". They's a huge chance they'll never try again if they get no answer.

Firstly, I want to make it very clear that I love these forums and the admins/moderators are doing a FANTASTICALLY GOOD job!Its the members that answer posts, just because they have a fancy title and a few more buttons to push doesn't mean we provide all the answers.

[meng]

I wasn't suggesting that you did, but you do a great job anyway. Last time I posted several more options, including pointless polls, and the thread got closed for inciting dislike of the forums.

[PriceChild]

I wasn't suggesting that you did, but you do a great job anyway. Last time I posted several more options, including pointless polls, and the thread got closed for inciting dislike of the forums.Ah ok, i was unaware of this and assumed differently.

[aysiu]

I voted threads abandoned by the OP.

I've seen a lot of unanswered threads, and they're usually unanswered for a reason:

1. The problem is really obscure

2. The problem is badly phrased

3. The OP edit the post and says "Oh, never mind. I figured it out."

#1 is the most popular. Sometimes you just don't have an answer, and I think going in there and saying, "I don't have the answer, but I just wanted to post" will do more harm than good.

First of all, it gets the hopes up of the OP ("Look! Someone responded to my thread... oh, it's not a real response. How dumb...").

Secondly, it takes that thread out of the "Get unanswered posts" search, so people who are looking for unanswered threads won't find it any more.

I think unanswered threads are a shame but can't be helped. I did write an open letter to zero-reply threads (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=82471), though.

Threads abandoned by the OP are a shame that can be helped, and they really just show how ungrateful some users can be. Strangers from all over the world try to help you, and you can't even be bothered to say, "Hey, that worked" or "Hey, that didn't work, but thanks."

[Nonno Bassotto]

I voted unanswered threads, but in my opinion the biggest issue is people keeping asking the same questions without reading anything, no matter how clear and easy to find it is. I'm especially talking about the "ehi, developers could merge gnome and kde!" or "we could include nonfree codecs in next release" or "ehi, I'm a professional in the IT field with windows, I've tried Ubuntu and I was not able to... how could the average Joe use Linux?" or....

[meng]

I voted threads abandoned by the OP.
2. The problem is badly phrased
#1 is the most popular. Sometimes you just don't have an answer, and I think going in there and saying, "I don't have the answer, but I just wanted to post" will do more harm than good.
First of all, it gets the hopes up of the OP ("Look! Someone responded to my thread... oh, it's not a real response. How dumb...").
Secondly, it takes that thread out of the "Get unanswered posts" search, so people who are looking for unanswered threads won't find it any more.
To some extent I may be guilty of responding to posts without knowing the answer for sure, but it is almost always in response to the problem not being phrased specifically enough to allow an answer. However, I've often thought this could be problematic because the thread is no longer unanswered, so I'm willing to show some more restraint.

[aysiu]

It's a fine line...

If I think the problem might possibly be solvable (not too obscure) if phrased properly, I'll probe a bit more. Otherwise, I try to leave it alone.

Obviously, sometimes you can't tell and have to take a risk.

[Anduu]

I wish there were a way to quantify abandoned threads...I bet the numbers would be staggering.

[John.Michael.Kane]

You also need to factor in those post which have already been answered. which would leave you with the new users who do not search the forums for the answer,and post a new thread on a subject thats already been answered. which can sometimes lead to the unanswered thread/s.

Some members feel the searching of the forum will lead to a quicker fix/answer then posting a thread.

[slimdog360]

I went the bottom one, just for the hell of it.