It would be nice to have an FAQ that actually answers some typical newbie questions in summary form (especially: how do I get my six pack to show up). These could be short and sweet and include links into the archives.
Mail a letter to them when they register, include a link to the FAQ who knows, maybe they’d read it. Send along a few progress photos that didn’t get flamed, maybe they’d start to get the idea of what they were registering for. I think a certain number of the newbs think this place is some kind of twelve week contest or something.
The final step: have the mods bounce any message that asks only something already covered in the FAQ. Because the only alternative to keeping the place from getting overrun is to flame these losers publicly, and extra flames are nothing this crew needs.
[quote]endgamer711 wrote:
It would be nice to have an FAQ that actually answers some typical newbie questions in summary form (especially: how do I get my six pack to show up). These could be short and sweet and include links into the archives.
Mail a letter to them when they register, include a link to the FAQ who knows, maybe they’d read it. Send along a few progress photos that didn’t get flamed, maybe they’d start to get the idea of what they were registering for. I think a certain number of the newbs think this place is some kind of twelve week contest or something.
The final step: have the mods bounce any message that asks only something already covered in the FAQ. Because the only alternative to keeping the place from getting overrun is to flame these losers publicly, and extra flames are nothing this crew needs.[/quote]
That’d be nice. Make sure to put the link to the search engine at the top of the FAQ list too…
I should have pointed out that vroom has already taken a fine stab at such an FAQ.
I think the project needs help from the management for it to get very far. I was about to put the suggestion into a thread that had degenerated into ad hominem attacks, when a moderator stopped me and asked me to start a new thread instead.
I wondered whether there were ways we might collaborate to write the FAQ, and it occurred to me that a wiki could be put on site for this purpose. Wiki is the basic browser-modifiable medium that underlies Wikipedia.
But after looking at some of these threads, I sorta wonder how it would come out.
A wiki would be a great idea. There are a lot of other topics that we wish someone would start, and that would provide a great area for it. For example, I’d love to see a main squat or deadlift page, with links to the various articles covering technique, workouts, how-to-increase-your-max, and all that good stuff.
I would recommend also that edit permission to the wiki be on an invitation-only basis. There are enough solid contributors to these forums that have already proved themselves (Tampa Terry leaps to mind). If they were willing to link to posts they found relevant, or copy the appropriate text with credit to the more “permanent” page, I think we’d all benefit.
Anybody wanting to be a wiki editor can start answering posts intelligently for a few months first, to earn their stripes. The forums are active enough to keep out the half-wits.
If we want to build a FAQ, we should just build it… at the very least, when you see common questions… just toss them in here.
Maybe we’ll collect answers and maybe we won’t, but it’s a resource for someone to scoop later. Maybe I’ll slowly add to the bottom of the beginners thread when I have Spike induced bursts of energy or something.
For example…
[quote]How do I correctly take creatine? And when should I take creatine (especially during the loading phase)?
…
On workout days, take the creatine during or right after your workout, when you are spiking your insulin with a PWO drink like Surge. On other days, just take it any time.
The other stuff the guys said is accurate. Plain creatine monohydrate. 5g a day is more than enough.[/quote]