Stickies. Posting mechanics, Posting Tips

[E-HP]

Is there a thread for new members that provides guidance on how and where to post questions on the forum? I know the General Discussion subforum under Electric Bicycles has a few sticky threads on how to get advice, which is decent, but it isn't an intuitive place to find that guidance if the interest were in the EVs, scooters, or any of the other forums, for instance.
I see new members not knowing which forum to post in, or maybe don't even know the mechanics of starting a post, and just use the reply button under whatever thread they reading at the time. I also see many postings with almost no information or a clear problem. A quick reference to point to could avoid a lot of typing, and maybe even result in more concise threads that can be leveraged in the future, rather than dozens of posts just to get to the details necessary just to start solving the actual problem.
A central place for threads on the mechanics of posting, as well as for placing threads on tips on what to include in posts in order to get applicable advice more quickly, would make it easier to direct new members to that information. Sort of rethinking what to include in stickies in subforums (e.g. stickies specific to that area of interest), vs stickies that may relate to all or most forums.

 

[slaphappygamer]

Wonder if it would work to have a new user that just registered receive a “Welcome” email guiding the new user to post in the most relevant section for their situation.

I feel like even if there was a dedicated section for new users to refer to for guidance on posting, it will still be missed.

 

[neptronix]

No. We plan to completely redo the categories next year and make where to post what WAY easier to figure out.
We have built a tool to assist volunteers in helping us recategorize the entire forum quickly, but have yet to deploy it because we're not at that stage yet.

More intuitive design is the answer instead of more text for people to read, which they're going to skip.

The onboarding process could be improved massively also and we're thinking about tackling that in 2025.

 

[slaphappygamer]

WOW! Staff is on it!

 

[amberwolf]

Wonder if it would work to have a new user that just registered receive a “Welcome” email guiding the new user to post in the most relevant section for their situation.

I feel like even if there was a dedicated section for new users to refer to for guidance on posting, it will still be missed.

A long time back I used to send one out to every new member, but they have ot read it for it to help, which quite a few didn't seem to do.

I also proposed having it autosent to them as email and pm, but dunno if that would help either.

This was what I used to send:

Welcome Message to New Members

Welcome to the Endless Sphere Electric Vehicle Forums! This is simply helpful information for you to start out with. We realize you might have limited time, but please read the entire message below, and keep it in mind for future reference, in case you have a question about something--the...

endless-sphere.com

 

[neptronix]

Onboarding experience could be dramatically improved, yeah. We're waiting for the next major version jump on Xenforo before we implement that.

On the list for 2025 for sure.... that's when we want to attack less visible rough edges like those.

 

[99t4]

I see new members not knowing which forum to post in, or maybe don't even know the mechanics of starting a post, and just use the reply button under whatever thread they reading at the time.

I have a feeling some post to what appears to be the most "popular" forum (For ES, it's Ebike General Discussion, with 20,953 Threads / 344,608 Messages at the moment) in hopes of it getting seen better, more action, faster response, etc.

 

[Muszd]

Is there a thread for new members that provides guidance on how and where to post questions on the forum? I know the General Discussion subforum under Electric Bicycles has a few sticky threads on how to get advice, which is decent, but it isn't an intuitive place to find that guidance if the interest were in the EVs, scooters, or any of the other forums, for instance.
I see new members not knowing which forum to post in, or maybe don't even know the mechanics of starting a post, and just use the reply button under whatever thread they reading at the time. I also see many postings with almost no information or a clear problem. A quick reference to point to could avoid a lot of typing, and maybe even result in more concise threads that can be leveraged in the future, rather than dozens of posts just to get to the details necessary just to start solving the actual problem.
A central place for threads on the mechanics of posting, as well as for placing threads on tips on what to include in posts in order to get applicable advice more quickly, would make it easier to direct new members to that information. Sort of rethinking what to include in stickies in subforums (e.g. stickies specific to that area of interest), vs stickies that may relate to all or most forums.

 

[neptronix]

I have a feeling some post to what appears to be the most "popular" forum (For ES, it's Ebike General Discussion, with 20,953 Threads / 344,608 Messages at the moment) in hopes of it getting seen better, more action, faster response, etc.

Yeah.
Think about this workflow as a new user to ES.
You filled out the form, you confirmed your email, and you're logged in.

What probably catches your eye first is the reddit like controls at the top, so you click 'new' first. There's a 'post thread' button on that page.



You're not familiar with what category you should post in, so you blindly pick a category without understanding really what goes in the category.



Combine this feature with ambiguity of categorization, and and you've got a recipe for new users accidentally miscategorizing their posts quite often.

I'm sure the people who designed this button did it to increase convenience. My first thought is to remove it, but it does save two clicks, so it justifies it's existence.



I think a good answer to this is:

- this button doesn't appear until you've posted 20 times
- the forum is also categorized 10x better than it currently is

 

[floydr]

How about new users once registration is complete they are taken to the Forum rules and features section from there they can read the rules or click on forum/home If they prefer to jump in to the deep end without looking.
later floyd

 

[Muszd]

h

Is there a thread for new members that provides guidance on how and where to post questions on the forum? I know the General Discussion subforum under Electric Bicycles has a few sticky threads on how to get advice, which is decent, but it isn't an intuitive place to find that guidance if the interest were in the EVs, scooters, or any of the other forums, for instance.
I see new members not knowing which forum to post in, or maybe don't even know the mechanics of starting a post, and just use the reply button under whatever thread they reading at the time. I also see many postings with almost no information or a clear problem. A quick reference to point to could avoid a lot of typing, and maybe even result in more concise threads that can be leveraged in the future, rather than dozens of posts just to get to the details necessary just to start solving the actual problem.
A central place for threads on the mechanics of posting, as well as for placing threads on tips on what to include in posts in order to get applicable advice more quickly, would make it easier to direct new members to that information. Sort of rethinking what to include in stickies in subforums (e.g. stickies specific to that area of interest), vs stickies that may relate to all or most forums.

yes here iam i ned to know how post

 

[99t4]

yes here iam i ned to know how post

Try this:

XenForo User Guide for Beginners

1. Creating an Account and Logging In
Visit the XenForo forum website you wish to join.
Click on the 'Sign Up' button and fill in the required details to create an account.
Verify your email address if required.
Log in to your new account using your credentials.

2. Setting Up Your Profile
Click on your username at the top right corner of the forum.
Select 'Personal Details' or 'Account Settings'.
Here, you can add information about yourself, like your location, occupation, etc.

3. Adding an Avatar
In your account settings, find the option for 'Avatar'.
You can usually upload an image from your computer or use a URL.
Follow the guidelines for avatar size and format specified by the forum.

4. Navigating the Forum
Use the main menu to navigate to different sections of the forum.
Forums are typically divided into categories and sub-forums.
Click on a sub-forum to view the threads within it.




From

Does anyone have a "look what you can do on XF" type post written?

My forum is getting users who are migrating from another software and so I'd like to have a welcome thread that shows what you can do. I could write one up of course but as I even don't know everything you can do.. it would be helpful if someone could share or link to a forum that might have...

xenforo.com

 

[amberwolf]

I think a good answer to this is:

- this button doesn't appear until you've posted 20 times
- the forum is also categorized 10x better than it currently is

Or that particular button starts a posting wizard that guides you to the right place.

it could have multiple choice questions for some parts, and simple yes/no for others.

there would also be a note on it that if a user already knows wehre they want to post, to please exit the wizard and go to the appropriate forum or thread to post there.


perhaps it asks you a few questions such as:
are you in need of help with something that's broken?
if the answer to the first question was yes, then it asks
what kind of thing do you need help with? is it a bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, skateboard, plane, drone, ??
and starts the new post over in that section
if the answer was no, then it asks if you want to post an idea, or talk about an existing build, vehicle, topic, etc., and if that's a yes then it asks what it's about, proviidng matching choices to the categories we have, and starts the new post in the appropriate section.

that's all i've got for a minute's worth of consideration; i'm sure some real thought could create something actually useful.

 

[amberwolf]

BTW, the most common wrong forum used to be the Forum Rules and Features. I don't know why but that suddenly changed so it's the Bicycle Mechanical and Structural, which is hte next one down from that.

Presumably something changed in the results that posting button gives, but I don't use it so don't know what it was before vs what it is now.

 

[amberwolf]

I know you didn't write it, that it came from XF's site, but that's a TERRIBLE "beginner" guide.

It assumes the user knows what any of those things mean, and it assumes they know where to go and what to look for...whcih many people that already use websites and forums don't, and most real beginners definitely don't.

Hopefully whatever we come with will be MUCH more user-friendly.

Try this:

XenForo User Guide for Beginners

1. Creating an Account and Logging In
Visit the XenForo forum website you wish to join.
Click on the 'Sign Up' button and fill in the required details to create an account.
Verify your email address if required.
Log in to your new account using your credentials.

2. Setting Up Your Profile
Click on your username at the top right corner of the forum.
Select 'Personal Details' or 'Account Settings'.
Here, you can add information about yourself, like your location, occupation, etc.

3. Adding an Avatar
In your account settings, find the option for 'Avatar'.
You can usually upload an image from your computer or use a URL.
Follow the guidelines for avatar size and format specified by the forum.

4. Navigating the Forum
Use the main menu to navigate to different sections of the forum.
Forums are typically divided into categories and sub-forums.
Click on a sub-forum to view the threads within it.

 

[E-HP]

Or that particular button starts a posting wizard that guides you to the right place.

Brilliant. A posting wizard in general would help by enforcing some uniformity. Things like making the subject a required field. Or selection of the subforum could be made easier, if the choices also included information on the subforum’s purpose, next to the selection.
Here’s one example of how even a change in the input forms could help. Right now, you have a couple of icons in the menu bar, and a button below for attachments. My observation is that pictures, and links to the equipment in question, are way more valuable than a lengthy rambling description of info a newbie thinks may be relevant, mixed in with some frustration, and run on sentences. So why not have that as part of the input form rather than cryptic icons a newbie doesn’t understand (since everything else next to them relates to formatting)? Reflect their importance by having their own input fields, and even include some made up statistics (“providing this info statistically improves response and resolution time to questions by a billion percent”) next to the field.
Anyway, I guess it’s just starting with a list of things you wish every post had that would make solving the problem efficiently, with minimal follow-up questions, and tailor the wizard, input form, and required fields around obtaining those things.
If none of this is feasible, then a place for the sticky info, whether in a sticky or other form, would be ok too.

 

[neptronix]

Try this:
XenForo User Guide for Beginners

1. Creating an Account and Logging In
Visit the XenForo forum website you wish to join.
Click on the 'Sign Up' button and fill in the required details to create an account.
Verify your email address if required.
Log in to your new account using your credentials.

2. Setting Up Your Profile
Click on your username at the top right corner of the forum.
Select 'Personal Details' or 'Account Settings'.
Here, you can add information about yourself, like your location, occupation, etc.

3. Adding an Avatar
In your account settings, find the option for 'Avatar'.
You can usually upload an image from your computer or use a URL.
Follow the guidelines for avatar size and format specified by the forum.

4. Navigating the Forum
Use the main menu to navigate to different sections of the forum.
Forums are typically divided into categories and sub-forums.
Click on a sub-forum to view the threads within it.

From

Does anyone have a "look what you can do on XF" type post written?

My forum is getting users who are migrating from another software and so I'd like to have a welcome thread that shows what you can do. I could write one up of course but as I even don't know everything you can do.. it would be helpful if someone could share or link to a forum that might have...

xenforo.com

Close to ideal!
What i notice is that 10% of people who sign up lately don't know how to use internet forums. Will that percent grow? probably.

What i'd really like is:
- a guide for non experienced, which is a handholder like the above, but with images.
- a guide for experienced people that explains what is different about our forum vs others.


I'm not sure about a posting wizard. That would be hard to design. People will post about different things over time, so this has to be continually updated after you design it, otherwise it becomes frustrating. We have a ton of categories. I think a lot of people would be turned off by it if it was mandatory, mostly people who are experienced with internet forums.

Less intrusive mechanic: from this posting shortcut, you can't post in a category you haven't viewed yet. Unviewed categories will be displayed, but not selectable.

I think we should think about that after recategorizing.


The WYSIWYG editor ( the thing you type in ) is changing in the next Xenforo version. Supposedly, it's better. It would be possible to improve the UI of the next one for increased obviousness. I'm thinking that non-abstract, colored icons like Microsoft Word of yore would help lower the learning curve:

 

[harrisonpatm]

What i notice is that 10% of people who sign up lately don't know how to use internet forums. Will that percent grow? probably.

Forums are unfortunately a dying breed, it seems

 

[99t4]

I know you didn't write it, that it came from XF's site, but that's a TERRIBLE "beginner" guide.

Ha-ha, of course in fact you are correct that I didn't write it but get this-- it was AI generated. The poster on the XenForo site merely pasted in the AI answer to his question to ChatGPT: "Could you write a guide for new users about how to get the best out of xenforo, and how to do things like post pictures and add an avatar etc"

For what it's worth.

I didn't have much time to formulate something better and just wanted to give the info requester something to get them started.