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| FAQ input and feedback request |
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| PL1:
--- Quote from: BadMouth on June 19, 2013, 03:31:23 pm ---I don't think that would do anything for someone who heard about MAME, googled it, and downloaded something labeled "MAME" from questionablesource.com. All they know is that they have "MAME" and the roms they got from pageofads.net, but it's not working. --- End quote --- To quote Ron White, "You can't fix stupid." --- Quote from: BadMouth on June 19, 2013, 03:31:23 pm ---Telling the person there are different "flavors" isn't going to help. They downloaded "MAME" so that's what they believe they have, even if it's not. --- End quote --- I'll be adding links to the "flavors" and maybe a few screenshots. See Ron White quote above. --- Quote from: BadMouth on June 19, 2013, 03:31:23 pm ---The reasons given for why a rom won't work seem to address issues pertaining to them actually not being playable. But this noob wants to play a game everyone else has working and they have seen it working on youtube. It works, so why won't it work for them? --- End quote --- That is what the 7.a.5. "audit" part is for. --- Quote from: BadMouth on June 19, 2013, 03:31:23 pm ---Perhaps it's asking too much, especially since I'm not offering to do the work of writing it myself. (It's on my "someday" list that I'll probably never get to). I see noobs having the same issues over and over again and feel less like answering the same questions again as time goes on. A general overview isn't really going to be much help to them. --- End quote --- The idea is that the FAQ will also have links to other wiki entries and threads for more in-depth info. Once the wiki is working, you can answer the same old questions once in the wiki and the next time it comes up, you can answer "Read the wiki entry" instead of searching through dozens of threads looking for the one that has the relevant diagram and explaination. As you find more info on the subject or better ways to express the concepts, it's easier to keep the wiki consolidated and updated than to do it with threads/posts. --- Quote from: BadMouth on June 19, 2013, 03:31:23 pm ---Maybe this isn't something for an FAQ, but to be explained as part of a tutorial. --- End quote --- Basics in the FAQ, links to the tutorials. --- Quote from: 404 on June 19, 2013, 03:40:29 pm ---Writing a FAQ is pretty easy IMO and i don't mean that as any disrespect to anyone that writes one. --- End quote --- Writing a FAQ is easy -- doing it well isn't. --- Quote from: 404 on June 19, 2013, 03:40:29 pm ---I do however firmly believe that any FAQ won't be easily readable, findable and sustainable with the current segregation of the main page, forums and wiki. --- End quote --- Readability has no relation to the issue of segregation. :dizzy: Seems like the info on the front page would be better either pulled into the wiki or forums or update the entries to point at the wiki or forums. :dunno Bringing the FAQ into the wiki will make it easier to sustain and maintain. Part of the problem with the FAQ and wiki is that they are badly outdated so people avoid them -- once they are updated, it will be easier to point people to the relevant parts. Scott |
| 404:
--- Quote from: PL1 on June 19, 2013, 04:42:40 pm --- --- Quote from: 404 on June 19, 2013, 03:40:29 pm ---I do however firmly believe that any FAQ won't be easily readable, findable and sustainable with the current segregation of the main page, forums and wiki. --- End quote --- Readability has no relation to the issue of segregation. :dizzy: Seems like the info on the front page would be better either pulled into the wiki or forums or update the entries to point at the wiki or forums. :dunno Bringing the FAQ into the wiki will make it easier to sustain and maintain. Part of the problem with the FAQ and wiki is that they are badly outdated so people avoid them -- once they are updated, it will be easier to point people to the relevant parts. Scott --- End quote --- Unfortunately, The forums has a much higher search rank than the rest of the pages on BYOAC. A quick SERP analysis shows that people just don't breeze by the main page and wiki, they never see them compared to the forums index alone. :( I really think this is part of the reason why so many questions are being asked over and over again. |
| Nephasth:
Where does this wire go? |
| spoot:
--- Quote from: Nephasth on June 19, 2013, 09:22:56 pm ---Where does this wire go? --- End quote --- Here's your wire.... :whap |
| thefox:
I cant help but think that one of the inherent problems with writing an FAQ is that it is written by the guys who really know their stuff, have been into it for years, and forget that your average noob is approaching it from way outside it all somewhere. So an answer like "MAME32, MAMEUI, or MAMEUIFX - Graphic User Interface (GUI) versions of MAME" may make perfect sense to someone who already knows about that stuff, but is a confusing list of wierd letters and numbers to a newbie looking to get his first MAME setup, and is in danger of just making the subject even more confusing than it already is. Ron White may have said "You can't fix stupid". But that's a pretty stupid thing to say sometimes, cos everyone starts out "stupid" to some extent. The newbie side of this hobby is populated by people who enjoy tackling something they previously knew nothing about and didn't think was possible. Its one of the attractions of the project. As a relative newbie myself, the impression i got was that MAME seems overtly and perhaps unnecessarily complicated, and that there is a club of geeky guys out there who "get it" but don't want to let me in by sharing it in a way I could easily understand. I don't quite understand the annoyance factor of being asked the same question by noobs - I would have thought that helping people out is part of what forums are about, and I would be happy (and proud) to be able to help someone out with a seemingly dumb question. But since it does appear to be an annoyance, I think the way to avoid the same question cropping up would be to ensure there is an FAQ where the answers really take people by the hand and guide them through stuff, using "stupid" as the starting point. |
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