Crazy Suggestion - Boards.ie Knowledgebase

seamus

Right, in the brief 5 minutes this has popped into my head, the possibilities have been multiplying and branching and I'm going to try keep this simple.

The Comp category gets a *LOT* of technical queries. How many of these are solved, who knows. One thing is certain though - many of the same queries come up time and time again, and many queries come up once, then don't appear for another year, and it's only the posters with the best memory who remember that it already appeared. The search is hit-and-miss, as it's not google, it's not designed for searching for big strings or error messages.

So it occured to me, that the Comp category (or maybe just the Computers forum) could do with a Knowledgebase. This doesn't have to be anything special. It could just be a stickied, closed thread, all input being controlled by the Mods. Users can suggest articles to go into it, Mods can stick them in at the conclusion of a thread, etc.

Each post would be of the format;

Problem:
How do I turn off hyperthreading on my Dell machine running Windows XP?

Solution
This can be disabled in the BIOS.

This article came from this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=244753

The solution doesn't even need to have anything more than a link to a page someone found on a Google, or a link to the MS knowledgebase.

I'm not sure what the support would be like for this. It would require quite a bit of work on the part of Mods creating new posts, and users remembering it's there, especially since the usefulness of a KB is directly related to the quality of its articles. But it may be useful for the Tech Support guys among us, when/if it builds up.

How cool would it be if boards.ie came up as the first match for these google searches - how much extra traffic would a free, public knowledgebase generate?

There's a much bigger scope that can be taken with this. Freeware PHP KB's are available for download, or one could be designed (a community effort clearly), where users can submit articles, and then they're signed off by a Mod/trusted editor. This would allow for much more in-depth searching and categorisation of articles, and also doesn't even limit it to Comp, we could stick in "Licencing" and "Technical" sections for Motors, etc.

I wholeheartedly acknowledge that by suggesting this, I've also volunteered myself for a lot of work

Gordon

Kinda like our helpful links sticky on PI but internal?

If you're looking for user editing capabilities - what about the Biki?

damien

Could we not use the Boards Wiki for the KB ?

I'd happily help with this too, it's kinda my day job anyway.

seamus

Gordon wrote:

Kinda like our helpful links sticky on PI but internal?

Yeah, kind of. Except for technical problems, there's usually set answers, set fixes, unlike personal problems This would (hopefully) remove the problem of the same issues being reposted, etc.

If you're looking for user editing capabilities - what about the Biki?

Doesn't really operate the same way. In theory it could be used, but it may not be properly configured for the type of searching and editing that a Knowledgebase shoudl offer.
Ideally it would be a little more restricted than the Biki, so someone can't post up "Stick it in the bath" as a solution to "How do I watercool my machine?"

amp

I think Biki should be used so as to try and centralize boards.ie reference material. I doubt even the most retarded biki vandel would find humour in changing technical q&a's.

Otherwise we're in danger of developing divergent systems which could be a management nightmare in the future. Or something.

damien

seamus wrote:

r
Ideally it would be a little more restricted than the Biki, so someone can't post up "Stick it in the bath" as a solution to "How do I watercool my machine?"

I thought you could put in editing restrictions to a whole branch of a Wiki so only allowed people could edit and publish contributions ? Everyone can suggest but only moderators can make things live.

mike65

seamus wrote:

There's a much bigger scope that can be taken with this. Freeware PHP KB's are available for download, or one could be designed (a community effort clearly), where users can submit articles, and then they're signed off by a Mod/trusted editor. This would allow for much more in-depth searching and categorisation of articles, and also doesn't even limit it to Comp, we could stick in "Licencing" and "Technical" sections for Motors, etc.

I wholeheartedly acknowledge that by suggesting this, I've also volunteered myself for a lot of work

I actually suggested something like this on the motors forum back when I was a boy, it was suggested that it would'nt be a clever idea on the grounds that if someone got thier balljoint confused with thier thrust washer in a diagnosis and a boards member crashed thier car when the wheels fell off then someone ie Dev would be say "your honour" in no time!

Mike.

Steveire

I think I'm with Amp on this one. I think we should use the biki and have a sticky where people trawling through the old queries can post the links to, and then the entry be made.
Put me in the "willing to help" pile.

Nukem

Seems like a very good idea. Gets a bit annoying answering the same questions a lot of the time so people just don't anymore?
Khannie is the new active mod in the Computer Forum and he's always looking for ways to improve the Forum. Might help him a load.

If i can help i will. Just shout.

Nukem

WhiteWashMan

why not just have a single sticky thread with a link in it to each item you feel should be noted?

why would you have hyperthreading on a system running XP?

RuggieBear

Tbh i think this is a great idea....I discovered Boards after googling for advice on overclocking RAM and being directed to the computer forum

DrIndy

Similar to Ruggie Bear - I was looking for information on broadband in ireland and ended up on Boards.ie a couple years ago.....

po0k

WhiteWashMan wrote:

why would you have hyperthreading on a system running XP?

Because XP Pro supports 1-2 "cpus".

WizZard

I'd gladly give whatever time I could to this idea too. Great idea seamus

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Khannie

Very good idea. Not sure how many times I answered the "large hard drive on win2k" question.

I actually do use google to search boards though......

in the search bar type:

site:www.boards.ie <insert query here>

What seamus is suggesting sounds more like a FAQ to me. Too much work for just the mods to edit it regularly IMO. It would need to be wiki style to be a success (again IMO).

Cloud

One thing that could help with this would be to use htaccess to apply a password to parts of the Biki. I've done this at:

http://www.boards.ie/wiki/index.php/KnowledgeBase

User wiki, pass wiki.

What do you reckon?

WhiteWashMan

SyxPak wrote:

Because XP Pro supports 1-2 "cpus".

im well aware of that, but any application that really uses the advantages of hyperthreading, would not be run on a system running XP.

Chalk

WhiteWashMan wrote:

im well aware of that, but any application that really uses the advantages of hyperthreading, would not be run on a system running XP.

you cant sell pcs with that attitude ffs

/ot
im all for this,
what about making a list of commonly dealt with problems, os reinstalls, hardware installs and lettting people create tutorials for them,
with screensots/photos and step by step guides,

these could kept in the biki for easy updating as well.

Steveire

Cloud wrote:

One thing that could help with this would be to use htaccess to apply a password to parts of the Biki. I've done this at:

http://www.boards.ie/wiki/index.php/KnowledgeBase

User wiki, pass wiki.

What do you reckon?

I'm not sure i get it. Can you apply the password to just the edit section, and allow access without a password?

uberwolf

[hijack]

this is similar to a suggestion I made a few months back in some respects. A centralised, controlled deposit for information/opinions that will save on repeated threads and act as a single point of contact for users seeking info.

In my case I suggested that having a single sticky with catogeries of web retailers should be made. Simply making the companies names are linked to discussions which took place previously on that topic. So that next time a user asks, "hey has anyone ever ordered from XXXX" they could look it up in this section instead. And if no one had previously discussed the site then a new link could be made in this sticky.

I'm not sure if the forum should be closed to posters or whatever, so that only constructive, useful discussion were accessible to people looking for advice before handing all their personal & banking details over to Criminal no.3.

[/hijack]

I do like the idea of formalising the knowledge and experience that the massive membership has, so it's locatable uniformally and conveniently.

Cloud

Possibly - in fact I think I need to look at this more closely because I reckon you can edit this page without a password and see it with a password

po0k

How about replacing the "New Thread" dialogue page with a link to the Search This Forum function?

Then create a "sekrit" tech forum for posters who have the wierd niggling interesting little problems and bits of news news to post in.

Steveire

If this ever does come to some sort of fruition, i think something similar would work for Mathematics related questions.

Sleepy

How much would it actually decrease the repetition factor? While in theory it sounds like a good idea, I can only see it being another stick for the regs to bash n00bs with tbh. The amount of RTFM posts this would generate would be immense.