Newbie tip (sortof) - forum sort by view count

[Gary Beene]

It may be an obvious thing to do, but I only did it just now - after having been on the forum for a couple of months.

Normally, I use the forum in 2 ways.
1. read the most recent topic for info of interest
2. search the forum for topics of interest

Today, I sorted the threads by number of views and reviewed the results. I even started reading some of the most viewed threads.

It was a great exercise in learning. Not only am I getting some history of PB (knowing where it came from helps me appreciate what it does now), but I also found information that I might not have searched for on my own.

If you're going to browse, you might as well browse the topics that seem to interest the most programmers.

Give it a try!

Anyone else have a cool idea on how to get the most out of the forums?

[Bern Ertl]

Anyone else have a cool idea on how to get the most out of the forums?

Ask questions.

I can't tell you how many times I've asked questions that had obvious answers (not to me at the time, of course), yet it sparked conversation that was enlightening in unexpected directions. Even asking questions about topics that have been discussed multiple times can lead to new insights.

[Gary Beene]

Bert,

I guess that would be #1 on the list of best ways to use the forum. As you can see from my heavy posting of late, asking questions is not a problem for me!

I hope, as another posting suggested, that my questions are some that others new to PB would ask as well.

[John Montenigro]

Anyone else have a cool idea on how to get the most out of the forums?

I've been on the forums for a few years, and I just discovered the "New Posts" link. Makes it a lot easier to keep up with the current discussions.

Also, Gary, have you discovered how to "subscribe" to a thread - check it out under the Thread Tools link...

[Gary Beene]

Thanks John,

I've used the New Posts, which is great.

But I had not discovered the "subscribe" option. I'll go check it out.

[Joe Byrne]

Just as a side note.... trying not to be intimidating or rude

Posts that don't fit within the specific topic, such as this one in the Power Basic for Windows forum should really be posted in the Café.

And just in case its gone unnoticed (not directed at anyone particular) the Source Code forum is intended for just source code, not discussions.

The more we keep posts organized, the easier it is to find what we're looking for

[Michael Mattias]

>The more we keep posts organized, the easier it is to find what we're looking for

Don't forget... "thread starters" should take the extra five seconds to think of a good - that is, 'searchable' - thread title.

"Help" or "Problem" or "How Can I do this" subject lines tend to be totally useless as search keywords.

[Gary Beene]

No rudeness felt, Joe, and you make a good point.

However, in my short time here, but getting longer now, the cafe forum has always seemed like a place to go play rather than the more serious product forums. And looking at the topics there, I wouldn't have thought for a second that it was a regularly visited site for most forum members unless they wanted to discuss mostly non-programming topics. Especially as a new-to-PB person, the Cafe seems like a low priority place to spend my time while coming up to speed.

If I wanted tips on learning PBWin9, which includes searching for information on PBWin in the forums, I'd go first to the PBWin section.

Even so, I see your point. I posted a comment about "forum browsing", not a topic unique to PBWin. I'll give the Cafe topics another look and make sure I double-think on where to post.

I definitely by in to the issue of keeping posts organized. I don't want to see a forum cluttered with out-of-place posts.

Since I haven't posted in the Source Code forum yet, I think I'm safe on the Source Code forum comment you made. It's like when you're wife is mad, and you're just happy it's not at you!