I have been wondering whether we should have a pinned thread in the forum that would reference the most useful/relevant threads on a (short) list of specific/frequently covered topics.
Yes, there is a search feature, but it’s not always obvious for newcomers to know what to search/where to start. This would also not quite be a FAQ, more like a map with a few Xs marking the location of the knowledge nuggets hidden in the forum.
If this comes to be, I’d like this list to be short and sweet, this would only be intended to provide pointers local to the forum, since we already have the wiki for a much more organized/rich knowledge base.
Anyway, if this sounds like something that you think would be interesting, reply and post links to the few threads that you think should be referenced, and/or a short list of topics that should have their reference thread. I would then pick the most popular links and create a pinned (and locked) post to reference them.
Always good to support newcomers in finding basic/important information!
However, I think that the wiki would be the right spot anyway. A wiki page can be as concise and simple as a list in a thread but from there you can navigate to more in depth information and take advantage of the hierarchical overview/table of contents.
I think that would be a great feature! There are many posts I wish were “sticky” so they were easily accessible. Yes, I do have a list of bookmarked posts, but as you said, newbies don’t always know what to search for.
A well explained example for numpties like me who’ve never heard of a k factor, preferably with a video of how to do speeds and feeds calculations and how to use @gmack 's magic spreadsheet would be very good, hint hint…
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CrookedWoodTex
(Tex Lawrence (Don't Mess With My Texas!))
9
@Julien Would the normal forum posting gaggle be allowed within that thread? That is where most threads about anything go astray. Someone just goes off on a slant and takes the thread off topic.
An idea (not necessarily a good one) would be to have more specific forum categories.
Example: “Shapeoko Setup” that only deals with Carbide 3D products. Having just gone through that process I know that it took some effort to get from start to finish. And there is some complexity to the process since parts and procedures change over time.
A “Shapeoko Enclosure” specific category might also be a suggestion. I think people are either very interested in those discussions, or not interested at all.
I would enjoy watching an “3rd Party Products” category, just to have a place to find Amazon links to products people have used.
“CNC Maintenance” would also be interesting to follow.
I have been involved with forums that went that route, and it seemed that, beyond a certain point, the categories get too specific. Beyond a certain point, most threads could land under multiple categories, making using them when posting awkward and finding things based upon them even harder, and selecting one becomes a “wall of text” problem.
In my opinion, there are enough here already, though one or two of them could probably be replaced to balance traffic a bit.
A pinned, curated guide certainly might help for a lot of the most common things, as the people here generally seem willing to at least do the minimum due diligence when seeking information.
But I probably need to refresh it now that the spreadsheet has evolved like a powerful Pokemon.
@WillAdams: thanks! those links and the reddit entry are good starting points indeed. I’m aiming for (even) fewer references, and intentionnally not covering every topic.
True, which is why I really don’t want to “compete” with the wiki (it already won, it does those things better as you mention). I definitely don’t want to structure information, just provide a “best of popular threads”.
@ColdCoffee: I’m not a fan of more “categories” for the reason @enl_public mentioned. Basically if I start this I want the burden to be on me to curate it, not on all of you to have to figure out which subcategory to select
@ctdodge: your comment made me realize that people sharing the list of what they have bookmarked could be a great way to find out which threads are most useful.
Finally, I realized there is another great source of info to figure out the most relevant topics to link, it’s the forum’s most popular search keywords: