What about a club FAQ?

[Kim Crosser]

Any thought of having another Forum topic - Frequently Asked Questions? (The FAQ on the page header is really about how to use the forum features.)

Some questions seem to recur fairly frequently:

How do I get a number assigned?
Where do I get magnetic numbers/decals?
Good books on racing / AX, etc.?
Who does repair work locally?
Paint shops?
Parts shops?
Trailers?
Tires?
etc...

In the General Discussions forum, these disappear onto back pages after a month or two until the next round of questions. If general topics were kept off the FAQ page, the topics would persist and be easier to find.

[harnishclan]

This is a great idea! As a recent newbie to AX I had a lot of questions along these lines myself about this time last year. Most of the answers were not easily found, such as where do the numbers come from. So a FAQ's section, or even some of the common ones embedded in their respective areas would really help. The "what to do for your first AX" is good, the day of, but what about the week or two before that?

[Larry Clark]

This would be an excellent application for a Wiki - a knowledge source to which all users can contribute. It might be burdensome to ask one person to compile all the answers related to SDR. The Wiki approach would allow us to tap into the vast store of knowledge among the club's members, and it would just keep getting better as more members pooled their information.

I don't know if we have access to the requisite software on our server, nor whether the Powers That Be have the time and energy to create such an application, but it would be a terrific contribution to the club.

For further information, check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
and then click the Anyone Can Edit link near the top.

[kary]

Why not create a FAQ forum for all to publish things they have learned about the club and to have chair people also post when changes to procedures and policies change?

[Kim Crosser]

That is what I was suggesting - just create a FAQ forum where these questions can be posted. On the General Discussions forum, the questions (and answers) disappear onto other pages and become hard to find.

[harnishclan]

I think the downside of a FAQ forum is the same situation we currently have. After a few months the information would be buried and people would not take the effort to search old posts to find their answers and ask the same questions. It doesn't have to be a comprehensive all knowing primer on everything. Just the FAQ's! Like the 10 most asked questions for each area located in the applicable area. Something like this:

Autocross:
1. Who assigns numbers?
2. Where can I learn more about autocrossing?
3. What should I bring?
4. What are the etiquette guidelines?

DE
1. Can I use stock seat belts?
2. How much gas should I have?

A lot of this stuff is taken for granted by people who do this often, but I write notes and lessons learned each time I participate and that in turn makes the next time more enjoyable. If that steep part of the learning curve can be leveled over the course of the first 2 events someone attends, it is likely they will have more fun and be more likely to attend more frequently or even attend other events.

[kary]

Yes, you are correct, folks do not use the search as they sometimes do not know what to search for. There are some good facts on the respective time trail and auto-x pages, but just basics. Might we put some of the suggested information from your post on those pages rather than the forum since that is where people would be looking initially to participate in an event?

[harnishclan]

Kary By all means! If I came up with something, then use it. One other FAQ I would like to know the answer to is why you always spell time trial as time trail?

[Kim Crosser]

I think the downside of a FAQ forum is the same situation we currently have. After a few months the information would be buried and people would not take the effort to search old posts to find their answers and ask the same questions.

The point of a new forum is that if we keep all the General discussion stuff off the FAQ forum, the topics will be easily visible on the first page when you open the forum. It is a lot easier to browse the list of topics than to "search" ("magnetic numbers" returns a couple of pages of results and won't necessarily return a topic about "decals").

If you don't post announcements, chit-chat, trash talking, car opinions, etc., etc., there are probably fewer than 25 FAQ topics of interest, so they would all remain on the first page of the forum.

[kary]

Kary By all means! If I came up with something, then use it. One other FAQ I would like to know the answer to is why you always spell time trial as time trail?

How would you like me to spell it Time Trail?

[Chris Huck]

If you check the Forum Index you'll see I added a FAQ Forum.

Now fill it up!

;^)

Chris Huck