Should the forums scrap "Absolute Beginner Talk"?

[Circus-Killer]

i know most of the people are gonna not read this initial post and just vote 'no', but for those of you who do read this, let me explain where im coming from.

everytime i post, like a good little member, i try stick it into a related forum category/sub-forum. unfortunately, it generally either does not get answered, or answered 2 months down the line.

the problem is that, at a wild guesstimation, roughly 60% of posting users just dump their questions in Absolute Beginner Talk. i mean, seriously, when i got through all the threads in Abolsute Beginner Talk, not many questions are from beginners.

in fact, i cant remember which forum staff member, but one of them wrote a post about how he felt that he is no longer as efficient at answering posts as he used to be. his reason, the forum community is advancing their knowledge so quickly that the absolute beginner questions are getting harder and harder.

whilst i understand where he's coming from, i disagree. yes the beginners of last year are no longer beginners, but just this month alone we must have had a few number of beginners registering (hence why the forum community keeps on growing). i honestly believe that the real problem is people posting any type of question, no matter what it relates to, in absolute beginner talk. questions from initial install, device drivers, codecs, networking, security, etc. All of which have their own categories/sub-forums. so why are they posting there? because they know, like i do, that absolute beginner forum is going to be answered first, mostly because people look there to answer questions because they know that most people post in there.

now obviously the rest of the forum does get used, but not like they should. and the absolute beginner talk is no longer relevant, because the range of questions definately dont fit under that one category. another problem is, that you could in fact post any question in there, and just say, hey, im a beginner.

so essentially, thats where im coming from. i feel that absolute beginner talk is no longer being used for strictly beginner talk, but rather as a "post any question here" section.

your thoughts?

[OrangeCrate]

No.

[Circus-Killer]

No.

why do you disagree?
please elaborate.

do you feel that only beginner questions do get posted there?
do you think it doesnt matter if every post gets posted in one category?
do you think we could do without the other categories?
do you think im a doos?

would like to just get some input on your feelings on the topic. get the other perspective.

EDIT: sorry OrangeCrate, posted this before your edit, thanks for your input.

[Stalker72]

No, because the Absolute Beginner Talk section is full of activity. I like when all kinds of questions are gathered in the same place, not spread out. There's a bigger chance for getting help there.

Stalker72

[OrangeCrate]

why do you disagree?
please elaborate.

do you feel that only beginner questions do get posted there?
do you think it doesnt matter if every post gets posted in one category?
do you think we could do without the other categories?
do you think im a doos?

would like to just get some input on your feelings on the topic. get the other perspective.

Many, if not most beginners wouldn't know enough about the OS to choose an appropriate sub forum. So, just let them post their question into a beginner's forum. I'd rather see that, than not have them ask their questions at all.

[nothingspecial]

I agree with 95% of what you`re saying but, remembering myself as an absolute beginner, I think you need that sort of space.

Lets face it, most other support forums answer posts at roughly the same time interval as the many sub-forums here. You are comparing an unusually busy forum with average ones. Yes the Absolute Beginner Forum is abused in the way you say it is but many answers are by people who are beginners themselves and just want to pay it forward.

I`ve always got the best help for specific issues in the sub-forums - even if it takes a few days.

[Circus-Killer]

the thing is i feel beginners do have enough knowledge to find the right category. surely they know that if one of their hardware not working, post under hardware. if there installation borks, post under installation. etc.

[madjr]

leave it as is.

but old accounts (over a year) should get a notice before posting a new thread

[nothingspecial]

the thing is i feel beginners do have enough knowledge to find the right category. surely they know that if one of their hardware not working, post under hardware. if there installation borks, post under installation. etc.

I don`t think they do. I think they may be lost. They join Ubuntu forums and see absolute beginner talk and think that`s me, whatever their question is. I know I did.

[Circus-Killer]

leave it as is.

but old accounts (over a year) should get a notice before posting a new thread

superb idea! big ups to you!