Hey D guys and gals!
Just wanted to propose to build altogether pages as references for frequently asked questions.
I see that there are some questions that rely on specific topic (eg DP, exercises) which tend to come up pretty frequently. That leads us to write again and again the same answers. Furthermore, if we could do something incremental as a community it would be more rich and complete.
hi Rick, we do have this, it's under the "New to Diabetes" button on the home page
http://www.tudiabetes.org/notes/index/show?noteKey=New_to_Diabetes%3F
we also have a FAQ page about the community here
http://www.tudiabetes.org/notes/index/show?noteKey=New_to_Diabetes%3F
new member guide
http://www.tudiabetes.org/notes/New_Member_Guide
and a wonderful statement of our values as a community
http://www.tudiabetes.org/profiles/blogs/the-values-of-tudiabetes
I try to link people with a previous discussion on topics that frequently come up, it's great to revive older discussions that really explain the topic. just search the discussion forum for "DP" and I'll bet you get LOTS of results.
oops FAQs here
http://www.tudiabetes.org/notes/Frequently_Asked_Questions
O' RLY?!?! Going to see those asap
Ok, I've already seen those but we don't have something like an "article" about specific topics. One discussion can be super interesting but there will be always redundant and fragmented infos.
It would be really cool to have pages on which all the community can contribute, super well organised and improved over time.
The search functionality of TuDiabetes is not very useful. Otherwise it would have the potential to replace the FAQs. The search should work like Google search and the results should be sorted beginning with the latest descending to the oldest discussion found. Perhaps it would be a better approach to embbed Google Search and to replace the current search with it. Sadly the sorting from lastest to oldest is not possible with Google search - at least to my knowledge. The search functionality should really be fixed. Otherwise the same question will be asked again and again...
Personally I think it's in the nature of this forum to have the same - or related questions asked and answered again and again. And I don't think this is a bad thing. When someone posts a question they are able to put in their specifics and get an answer geared to them. Different people (along with us regulars) post responses and give their different perspectives. The OP can then interact by posting requests for further clarification, etc. It's a dialogue.
I also think that posting and responding to posts is part of what creates a sense of community. Sure those old basics come back again over and over and it can get old, but the connecting and supporting/being supported by each other as we share our experience and knowledge never gets old!
A FAQ which is prominently displayed and didn't have to be searched would, however, be very helpful
You make a good point, Zoe. Like you I would dislike it when members asking for help would just be refered to another discussion. This needs to be balanced because individual answers are what makes TuDiabetes. I still think that an improved search functionality could help to utilize all the past discussions as a valuable knowledge base.
I agree but there's a middle ground here. I found myself linking the basal test and info related 6 times in 1 month or less for example.
What we are talking about here is the same difference there's between a book and a forum. This is a forum and everyone is different and has its own D but I believe there would be space for some kind of canned answers.
I would never answer with just a link. But I would be glad to received a well organised answer without skimming trough cluttered long discussions.
Of course this is just my 2 cents ;)