New riders, manners, and the search function.

[Foreverunstopable]

Hi everyone. I dont want to start a flame war so please see this from a mature point of view. I'm new to motorcycles. Just bought my first only two months ago off Ebay. Turns out the GS was one of your own members which brought me to this site. I wouldnt have attempted my first valve check let alone changing the front end to Katana if there were not people like you to be here for us. From questions on Oil to tires to just BS'n the tard everything has been great! I cant say enough for you guys embracing people like me, your an asset to the sport. When new guys come across our forum its usually because they are new to GS's and in turn most likely new to riding. Many have never heard of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, some dont even posses state approved documentation to ride, a few don't even wear helmets. The one thing they all have in common is there here. As much as I hate sticky posts I would suggest we make something up that new forum goers will see right off the bat in the hopes of them reading it. Something short but that explains the Search Function, what to post were, welcoming them to the site and how to get in touch with an admin if needed untill http://gstwin.variders.com/ gets going. This is the largest segment of the site but it doesnt really have a clear post on how to use it like the other forums. We were all new to motorcycles at one point and someone had to teach us "unless your the Natural." Its a PITA to answer the same questions over and over and some people will never learn but I hope we can get some good ideas in this thread and make a positive change to the site if its felt we need one. Please post your ideas. Thanks again guys for reading and ride safe!

[ajaxgs]

Hi everyone. I dont want to start a flame war so please see this from a mature point of view. I'm new to motorcycles. Just bought my first only two months ago off Ebay. Turns out the GS was one of your own members which brought me to this site. I wouldnt have attempted my first valve check let alone changing the front end to Katana if there were not people like you to be here for us. From questions on Oil to tires to just BS'n the tard everything has been great! I cant say enough for you guys embracing people like me, your an asset to the sport. When new guys come across our forum its usually because they are new to GS's and in turn most likely new to riding. Many have never heard of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, some dont even posses state approved documentation to ride, a few don't even wear helmets. The one thing they all have in common is there here. As much as I hate sticky posts I would suggest we make something up that new forum goers will see right off the bat in the hopes of them reading it. Something short but that explains the Search Function, what to post were, welcoming them to the site and how to get in touch with an admin if needed untill http://gstwin.variders.com/ gets going. This is the largest segment of the site but it doesnt really have a clear post on how to use it like the other forums. We were all new to motorcycles at one point and someone had to teach us "unless your the Natural." Its a PITA to answer the same questions over and over and some people will never learn but I hope we can get some good ideas in this thread and make a positive change to the site if its felt we need one. Please post your ideas. Thanks again guys for reading and ride safe!

[pandy]

Thank you for your good thoughts and good ideas, Forever.

I thought we had a "how to" in the FAQ section (at least a "how to use search"), but I can't find it. I know Rich was going to have it on his GS500 FAQ site, but it's possible it didn't make it past the discussion stage. I believe the variders site was where Rich had his wonderful GS500 FAQ before he passed away.

I'll try to find the how-to I wrote for his site, and I'll post it here for everyone to look over and revise. Once it's been refined, I can move it to the FAQ section.

Off to search....

[Foreverunstopable]

Pandy,

I think the "How To" is best posted at the top of the General forum. Not to take new members credit but I know not everyone reads the FAQ in the FAQ section before their first post. Most just post without searching but at least they see the top posts.

[pandy]

The problem I see with a sticky in the GD section is that there gets to be so many stickies that they get lost in the sticky shuffle. I believe that's why the FAQ section was created, and it's just as easy to post the linky to the FAQ thread as it would be to post a linky from the GD section. Referring folks to the FAQ, the Wiki, and to the various members' sites usually answers a lot of questions, and a "how-to" for the search feature in the FAQ would add more (or a general "how to" for the forum....I'm willing to build that thread in the FAQ section if folks are willing to contribute ideas) 

[Foreverunstopable]

I dont want to start a flame war so please see this from a mature point of view.

Same team! If it gets out of hand we may as well just delete it because we dont need any GS on GS action.

[pandy]

No worries. I split and TF'd what doesn't pertain to this thread. Carry on with ideas about helping n00bs be able to navigate and utilize the site better.