"How To Get Help Quickly" original flavor

[Phos_four_dots]

I appreciate the other thread John C. posted in this forum for its succinctness, but I think I like the original one we had posted several places around these forums better:

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/375816?tstart=0

And for anyone who'd like to be reminded of the ORIGINAL version of this, the one I pointed out years ago and which Len Hewitt summarized at the link above, please visit the following link. It's a goodie, and worth reviewing by many of us.

How To Ask Question The Smart Way

http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

[~graffiti]

Is the thread that John started located somewhere other than this forum or is there plans to put it somewhere where it isn't going to disappear in a day or two?

[Phos_four_dots]

~graffiti wrote:

Is the thread that John started located somewhere other than this forum or is there plans to put it somewhere where it isn't going to disappear in a day or two?

I don't think it is, Graff. It's new, and sits in this forum like any other thread, and drops.

I'd still like to see a list of "Associated Links" in the sidebars of many (all?) of the forums...permanent stuff that will be accessed and referred to often.

I've sent J.C. lists for the Photoshop forums. Just waiting for them to be added.

Here's what I've come up with for the PS/Mac sidebar (along with a similar set tailored for the PS/Win sidebar):

How To Get Help Quickly!
Photoshop Elements user? Click here now!
Frequently Asked Questions...and Answers!
Photoshop/Windows forum
Photoshop Scripting forum
Photoshop Feature Request
Illustrator/Mac & Win  forum
InDesign/Mac & Win forum
Acrobat/Macintosh forum
Photoshop Off-Topic Lounge

[Kath-H]

It's in the sticky topics. Which are either hidden within the 'overview' tab on the main page, or visible when you click 1 of the 3 possible choices from in here to get back to the list. I can't be bothered remembering which, although I did work it out.

Ah! It's the 2nd to last breadcrumb, not the last one, Discussions, and not 'up to'.

[Phos_four_dots]

Hmm...I wanted to edit my reply (not the original thread starter) above, but get denied because of an error.

Wonder what that's all about?

I also got an error when I tried to add the original "How To Get Help Quickly" post to the PS/Mac FAQ section.

[Kath-H]

I think it can happen if somebody posts at the same time, a post that could end your editing time. Or it's just another random blart.

[Phos_four_dots]

Kath-H wrote:

I think it can happen if somebody posts at the same time, a post that could end your editing time.

That was likely the case in this thread, but I wonder why I got an error in the FAQ section? On a brand new thread/entry? All I was doing was pasting the raw HTML from the "How To Get Help Quickly" post in the PS/Win FAQ section.

Of course, the Jive-a$$ software doesn't say WHAT the error is, just that a wayward spanner is now ruling how the machinery operates.

[Harron_K_Appleman]

I think some incarnation of either "how to" would be an excellent idea. If only there were some way to force participants to read the instructions.

Regardless of how such a message might be incorporated here, I'd like to suggest each forum banner a prominent request that help seekers clearly identify their program version and OS. This might not be as important in some forums, but it would be likely appreciated in the Illustrator forum, where we still occasionally field version 8 questions. (AI is now at v.14.)

Many times, the first response has to be "please state version" because volunteers are simply not going to write long-winded answers covering every possible version contigency. Often, volunteers who can actually help won't even answer because they don't want to be a version 'nag' or waste time providing a version-incorrect answer.

The problem is compounded now that the Illustrator Mac and Win forums have been combined -- a decision I basically applaud. Although many discussions are platform-agnostic, there are plenty of OS-specific issues.

Ideally, help seekers would not even be able to post their questions until they provide these two basic pieces of information.