G
Guest
Particularly one that is moderated, and one that bumps posts on reply back up
to the top?
Thanks.
to the top?
Thanks.
G
Guest
And one where you can edit your posts, like shorten a subject line that is
too long?
too long?
T
TC
What more could you want, than the microsoft.public.access.* groups?
(1) They're populated by acknowledged experts who reply on a regular
(hourly) basis;
(2) There's almost no offtopic spam - probably less than 1 in 50 posts,
and
(3) Most replies are accurate; and the ones that aren't, are soon
corrected!
As for replies being bumped to the top: that's nothing to do with the
newsgroup as such. It's entirely up to your newsreader client. Google
groups, for examples, automatically bumps replies to the top.
(http://groups.google.com)
HTH,
TC (MVP Access)
http://tc2.atspace.com
(1) They're populated by acknowledged experts who reply on a regular
(hourly) basis;
(2) There's almost no offtopic spam - probably less than 1 in 50 posts,
and
(3) Most replies are accurate; and the ones that aren't, are soon
corrected!
As for replies being bumped to the top: that's nothing to do with the
newsgroup as such. It's entirely up to your newsreader client. Google
groups, for examples, automatically bumps replies to the top.
(http://groups.google.com)
HTH,
TC (MVP Access)
http://tc2.atspace.com
R
Roger Carlson
Look here:
http://rogersaccesslibrary.com/linksforums.html
Also, check out the Listserv email list in my sig.
--
--Roger Carlson
MS Access MVP
Access Database Samples: www.rogersaccesslibrary.com
Want answers to your Access questions in your Email?
Free subscription:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=ACCESS-L
http://rogersaccesslibrary.com/linksforums.html
Also, check out the Listserv email list in my sig.
--
--Roger Carlson
MS Access MVP
Access Database Samples: www.rogersaccesslibrary.com
Want answers to your Access questions in your Email?
Free subscription:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=ACCESS-L
G
Guest
Ah Roger, that's what I like, bulletin boards, but that one's latest post is
going on two weeks old...
I guess I mean bulletin board software, like YABB, or phpBB, when I say
"forum". I quit using newsgroups long ago, when my ISP stopped offering them
up. It didn't occur to me that this one at microsoft.com is a newsgroup.
At any rate, I'm simply not getting the answer I need here, on two different
topics, quite common problems from the looks of it, and around the time they
scroll off my reader's page, they get no further replies from anyone else
either.
I'm just frustrated. My coworkers and business are using "monster" Excel
spreadsheets to do everything, and I need to convert these to Access. But
I'm stuck in my forward progress by simple programming problems.
going on two weeks old...
I guess I mean bulletin board software, like YABB, or phpBB, when I say
"forum". I quit using newsgroups long ago, when my ISP stopped offering them
up. It didn't occur to me that this one at microsoft.com is a newsgroup.
At any rate, I'm simply not getting the answer I need here, on two different
topics, quite common problems from the looks of it, and around the time they
scroll off my reader's page, they get no further replies from anyone else
either.
I'm just frustrated. My coworkers and business are using "monster" Excel
spreadsheets to do everything, and I need to convert these to Access. But
I'm stuck in my forward progress by simple programming problems.
D
Duane Hookom
Try www.tek-tips.com. It's all web based and can default to sending you an
email when someone replies in your thread. You can actually be notified of
activity in any thread you want.
email when someone replies in your thread. You can actually be notified of
activity in any thread you want.
G
Guest
Hi, Ricter.
There's a dearth of moderated Access discussion forums, because it takes a
lot of time to moderate all of the messages, and this is usually done by
volunteers. And there's a dearth of these types of volunteers, too.
From your comments elsethread:
Microsoft's news server is free. Use msnews.microsoft.com to subscribe to
any of their public newsgroups with a desktop newsreader, such as Outlook
Express or Forte's Agent.
Many of the Access technical discussion forums you find on the Internet just
post user's questions to UseNet's newsgroups because that's where the
majority of the experts who accurately answer questions, and are willing to
do so, hang out. The Web newsreader you are using is currently the most
popular one for questioners, but like any Web application, it has a lot of
shortcomings when compared to a desktop application.
Have patience. This isn't tech support. Participation in the newsgroups is
voluntary. It may take a day or two for experts who can answer your
questions to come across your questions -- and find the time to answer them.
If you need faster answers, hire tech support.
Have you checked the database of answers to see whether your questions have
already been asked and answered? Use the following Web page:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...S&guid=&sloc=en-us&dg=microsoft.public.access
If you don't find what you're looking for there, you can search through
Google Groups for all previously posted UseNet questions, which admittedly
may take longer to hunt through the millions of posts, but you're lucky in
that there are plenty of experts in the Access newsgroups and most questions
are answered accurately by at least one responder, and Google's rich archive
is much greater in scope and time period than Microsoft's database.
http://groups.google.com/advanced_s...&num=100&hl=en&lr=lang_en&as_drrb=q&safe=off&
It's professional courtesy to allow someone who is already handling a thread
to see it through to the end, and not butt in unless an important issue isn't
addressed or incorrect information is being passed. If an Access expert sees
incorrect information posted, he'll butt in and post the correct information
in the thread because these threads are archived and future researchers
shouldn't be searching and finding bum scoop. Several experts may respond to
a brand new thread because when each expert answered, no one else's answer
had shown up yet. That's why you don't usually see multiple first responses
to older threads. But there just aren't enough experts available for each of
them to address every question they see, and doing so would be overkill much
of the time anyway.
It's frustrating because you've taken on a task that you don't yet have the
skills for. Ease with Access requires overcoming a steep learning curve, but
your company can solve this problem by providing you with proper training or
hiring someone who already has the training and experience needed to do these
tasks. The former is the best choice for your company's long term strategy,
as it's more valuable to have needed skill sets in-house. The latter is the
best choice if the company is in a time crunch to get employees more
productive faster. A side benefit with the latter is that the light bulbs
will come on at a lightning fast rate when you watch how Access's rapid
application development tasks are supposed to be done.
And going to another Access discussion forum on the Web in the meantime is
likely to continue to be frustrating for you. I found the "bum scoop" to
"accurate answer" ratio to be much higher in the other forums, because there
aren't as many Access experts to set people straight in those forums as there
are in the Access public newsgroups. And very few of those non-UseNet forums
get the kind of traffic that UseNet's Access newsgroups get: about 300
questions and about 1,000 posts per day. So you are likely to wait longer
for an answer to your question, because there are fewer experts available to
answer your question in their private forums.
HTH.
Gunny
See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips and tutorials.
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com/html/expert_contributors2.html for contact info.
- - -
If my answer has helped you, please sign in and answer yes to the question
"Did this post answer your question?" at the bottom of the message, which
adds your question and the answers to the database of answers. Remember that
questions answered the quickest are often from those who have a history of
rewarding the contributors who have taken the time to answer questions
correctly.
There's a dearth of moderated Access discussion forums, because it takes a
lot of time to moderate all of the messages, and this is usually done by
volunteers. And there's a dearth of these types of volunteers, too.
From your comments elsethread:
Microsoft's news server is free. Use msnews.microsoft.com to subscribe to
any of their public newsgroups with a desktop newsreader, such as Outlook
Express or Forte's Agent.
Many of the Access technical discussion forums you find on the Internet just
post user's questions to UseNet's newsgroups because that's where the
majority of the experts who accurately answer questions, and are willing to
do so, hang out. The Web newsreader you are using is currently the most
popular one for questioners, but like any Web application, it has a lot of
shortcomings when compared to a desktop application.
Have patience. This isn't tech support. Participation in the newsgroups is
voluntary. It may take a day or two for experts who can answer your
questions to come across your questions -- and find the time to answer them.
If you need faster answers, hire tech support.
Have you checked the database of answers to see whether your questions have
already been asked and answered? Use the following Web page:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...S&guid=&sloc=en-us&dg=microsoft.public.access
If you don't find what you're looking for there, you can search through
Google Groups for all previously posted UseNet questions, which admittedly
may take longer to hunt through the millions of posts, but you're lucky in
that there are plenty of experts in the Access newsgroups and most questions
are answered accurately by at least one responder, and Google's rich archive
is much greater in scope and time period than Microsoft's database.
http://groups.google.com/advanced_s...&num=100&hl=en&lr=lang_en&as_drrb=q&safe=off&
It's professional courtesy to allow someone who is already handling a thread
to see it through to the end, and not butt in unless an important issue isn't
addressed or incorrect information is being passed. If an Access expert sees
incorrect information posted, he'll butt in and post the correct information
in the thread because these threads are archived and future researchers
shouldn't be searching and finding bum scoop. Several experts may respond to
a brand new thread because when each expert answered, no one else's answer
had shown up yet. That's why you don't usually see multiple first responses
to older threads. But there just aren't enough experts available for each of
them to address every question they see, and doing so would be overkill much
of the time anyway.
It's frustrating because you've taken on a task that you don't yet have the
skills for. Ease with Access requires overcoming a steep learning curve, but
your company can solve this problem by providing you with proper training or
hiring someone who already has the training and experience needed to do these
tasks. The former is the best choice for your company's long term strategy,
as it's more valuable to have needed skill sets in-house. The latter is the
best choice if the company is in a time crunch to get employees more
productive faster. A side benefit with the latter is that the light bulbs
will come on at a lightning fast rate when you watch how Access's rapid
application development tasks are supposed to be done.
And going to another Access discussion forum on the Web in the meantime is
likely to continue to be frustrating for you. I found the "bum scoop" to
"accurate answer" ratio to be much higher in the other forums, because there
aren't as many Access experts to set people straight in those forums as there
are in the Access public newsgroups. And very few of those non-UseNet forums
get the kind of traffic that UseNet's Access newsgroups get: about 300
questions and about 1,000 posts per day. So you are likely to wait longer
for an answer to your question, because there are fewer experts available to
answer your question in their private forums.
HTH.
Gunny
See http://www.QBuilt.com for all your database needs.
See http://www.Access.QBuilt.com for Microsoft Access tips and tutorials.
http://www.Access.QBuilt.com/html/expert_contributors2.html for contact info.
- - -
If my answer has helped you, please sign in and answer yes to the question
"Did this post answer your question?" at the bottom of the message, which
adds your question and the answers to the database of answers. Remember that
questions answered the quickest are often from those who have a history of
rewarding the contributors who have taken the time to answer questions
correctly.
G
Guest
Awesome answers, thank you very much. Clarifies a ton.
T
TC
Ricter said:
These groups get hundreds of questions every day. All but a tiny
number, get answered - typically on the same day. So maybe you should
be asking, "why don't *my* questions get answered?"
Here are some tips for how to ask your questions effectively. I'm not
saying that you are transgressing all the rules in these hints! I'm
just saying that they might give you some pointers to help you phrase
your questions better:
http://tc2.atspace.com/0012-UsingUsenet.htm
HTH,
TC (MVP Access)
http://tc2.atspace.com