Curated opinion from informed sources is found here. However it seems that most people are not aware that this forum can be searched, just like the internet.

So dozens of questions repeat here, for years and years. This to me is a waste of the collective members time and energy. I suppose I view repeated questions as a form of disrespect.

Technology changes over time, and answers or recommendations from 2018 may be obsolete in 2021. Even so, beginning the inquiry with a search of sigforum would give the posting member some context, some starting points.

Searching here is not challenging.

I think I need to just avoid trying to encourage searches here. It just frustrates me.

Different individuals have different triggers, so if you’re interested in different views of the subject, a couple of mine:

Asking a question that’s been asked before requires starting a new thread. The subject of the question will either be clear from the title or it won’t. If the question is clear, I can decide to open the thread or not just from glancing at the title: hardly much of an imposition on my time. If it’s one I’ve seen and helped answer before and I don’t feel like getting involved again, I just move on. And if the title is not clear, then I almost always don’t bother opening the thread to see what it’s about. In other words, I don’t consider repeat questions to have much of an adverse effect on my enjoyment and what else I get out of the forum.

Then there is the simple fact that very often a question or discussion topic is not exactly the same as something that’s been posted before. Someone whose morning has been ruined by the fact that a question is asked or a topic is raised again may assume that they are precisely the same and that there’s nothing new to be said, but I’ve found that that’s very often not true. That’s sometimes the reason I raise questions or topics that are somewhat similar to prior threads.

More commonly, though, when I repeat a question, it’s because I’m seeking new, focused responses. Very often when a old thread is resurrected, the knowledgeable members who participated in it before evidently think, “Eh; I’m not going back there again,” and may not even reopen it to see that something new has been raised. If it’s a new thread, some members are more likely to become involved again.

Plus there’s the fact that people sometimes get fed up with certain threads. Part of the reason I started a poll about the COVID-19 vaccination rather than raising it in the long-running thread on the disease was because I was really tired of wading through post after post whining about masks and how they were worn or not worn. Another thread was started recently that complains about people not reading karma threads before posting in them. And just as sure as the sun will come up in the morning, any number of members thought they were being oh-so clever by posting, “I’m in.” The same sort of thing inevitably occurs in threads about other serious topics, and therefore the longer a thread runs, the more of that idiocy participants must put up with.

Finally, and somewhat ironically, when someone does resurrect an old thread to raise a topic or question again, it’s common for at least one poster to go to the time and trouble to ask, “Why are you reopening such an old thread?”

I understand the point of your complaint, and I personally try to research past discussions before starting something new, but there are times when I feel starting over is justified.

BTW the search function here on the forum does not work very well.

It's far better to go to to the Karmanator site and use it's search function.
.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
BTW the search function here on the forum does not work very well.

It's far better to go to to the Karmanator site and use it's search function.
.

Or just use Google, and preface your search terms with: site:sigforum.com

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Or just use Google, and preface your search terms with: site:sigforum.com

You can put that either before or after the search term and it works with DuckDuckGo, as well.

Friends don't tell friends to use Google

I’ve seen this question/complaint posted here many times over the years.

And, don't forget, SIGforum data/info only go back about 4 years, after Para removed that long standing auto-prune feature.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
BTW the search function here on the forum does not work very well.

It's far better to go to to the Karmanator site and use it's search function.
.

Or just use Google, and preface your search terms with: site:sigforum.com

We should sticky this. I don't know if many members know how to use this or that it's available

Speaking of the Karmanator, here is the link.

http://www.karmanator.com/

I use this often, both for searching the forum and for embedding videos.

This is especially useful when posting YouTube videos as the second selection will give you the video with the codes already entered for you.

I like answering the questions that I have answers for, even if it is a repeat question. The mental excercise strengthens my own understanding, and my ability to answer sometimes improve with time.

Sometimes the best way to learn is to teach others.

Also, repeat topics let me keep a pulse on trends, which can be helpful in my real life. For example, Subarus come up quite frequently here, which leads me to believe that Subaru is gaining positive traction in mind share across a pretty broad demographic sample. This might influence my investing habits.

^^^^ Just a shoutout to member Chance for creating and maintaining the Karmanator website.

Thank you Chance.
.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
And, don't forget, SIGforum data/info only go back about 4 years, after Para removed that long standing auto-prune feature.

If sufficiently motivated, folks can spelunk the WayBack Machine for posts that go back to March 2000.

The Wayback Machine isn't searchable - it captures stuff that is live as of the dates it comes and crawls/archives, and it doesn't go super deep as to the number of threads it archives - and so is far less useful than Google-searching the live database here.

But if something's older than 4 years, and you can guess about when the post you're looking for might have been current, the WayBack may well have it.

Here's a list of some posts from April 2000


Here's a link to Wayback Machine: SIGforum.com archives, by date

I can understand and support starting a new thread on something fast changing like computers, cameras, etc. However, it's lazy to start a new thread on things like lawnmowers which are slowwww changing, and lawnmowers recommended by Southern members in February (i.e. our spring) are the same as lawnmowers that will be recommended for our Northern members in April/May (i.e. their spring).

As far as searching Sigforum, use the advanced search and use Order by Date instead of the default Order by Relevance. It's shocking that there is at least an order of magnitude increase in posts/threads found.

who makes socks?

Can I use the same oil for a push mower and a Kenworth? It was on sale and... Seems like some variation of this one will turn due in a few months.

I am guilty of relisting the same thread most every year, but at least it is about those who are alone for the holidays.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:

who makes socks?

Darn Tough

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
BTW the search function here on the forum does not work very well.

With the default options, it does not work well. But if you use "Advanced Search", and select "Date" instead of "Relevance" (which is the default), the search works very well.

Only “wastes time” if someone whose time is that precious decides to open it.

A forum is about interaction. Maybe previous threads didn’t have the information, maybe information has changed, maybe someone who didn’t participate in the previous thread has info and participates now.

If “I” ask “you” the same question repeatedly, I get that could become tedious. Not sure if it would be disrespectful.


A number of different people, asking a large group of people similar questions is not the same as “a” person asking the same question repeatedly.

Now “a” person popping up in a number of different peoples threads suggesting they shouldn’t ask questions and instead STFU and just search for info comes across to me as a bit of a dick move. May not be the intent, but as they say these days, “Perception is reality”.



Shit, half the country is locked down these days lots of folks have nothing but time. If folks asking for information really bothers you, you can just scroll on by.

Quoting multiple giant pictures repeatedly and failure to read other replies before posting, those are annoying. But with this, I fail to understand what your beef is.