|
| >-----Original Message-----
| >These are peer-to-peer newsgroups. Everyone participates
| as a volunteer. A lack of response usually means:
| >
| >-- No one knows the answer.
| >
| >-- The answer is, "No you can't do that," and everyone is
| tired of giving that answer.
| >
| >-- The question is an FAQ, and everyone is tired of
| giving the answer. (Unlikely, because most of the MVPs, at
| least, can answer an FAQ in just a few seconds.)
| >
| >-- No one understands your question. You can help by
| making sure you've provided Outlook version and mail
| configuration details, exact text of any error messages,
| and other detailed problem symptoms. You can always reply
| to your own message to give more information or rephrase
| the questions.
| >
| >-- Everyone is busy putting out fires or laying in the
| hammock.
| >
| >While you're waiting, why not search the archives at
|
http://groups.google.com/groups?
| hl=en&lr=lang_en&safe=off&group=microsoft.public.outlook
| to see if someone has already provided an answer to a
| similar question earlier?
| >
| >--
| >Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
| >Outlook and Exchange solutions at
http://www.slipstick.com
| >Author of
| > Microsoft Outlook Programming: Jumpstart
| > for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
| >
http://www.slipstick.com/books/jumpstart.htm
| >
| | >> Why are only some of the questions answered in these
| >> newsgroups? I have posted several different questions
| in
| >> the past few weeks and not one of them has been
| answered.
| >>
| >>
| >.
| >Sue,
|
| I have been an IT professional for 6+ years and I
| understand about running around putting out fires. I
| understand that you probably get tired of answering the
| same questions and that you may not even know the answers
| to the questions. I started my career working a Help
| Desk. I do search several different sites looking for
| answers. Each time I am searching for answers, I search
| this newsgroup before I post a question and I can never
| find what I'm looking for with the search. You push
| SlipStick.com,
I don't think anyone is "pushing" slipstick.com. When someone answers a question with a reference to something at slipstick, I think
it's because the person answering happens to know that the answer is there, and the reference is the quickest and most complete way
to answer the question. Naturally, folks who maintain slipstick are likely to know (without looking) that there's a page on
slipstick that has the answer.
| and I have found a lot of good information
| on your site, but not enough.
There will never be enough information there. Outlook is complex and flexible enough that folks keep doing things that haven't been
dreamed of before, so the information doesn't exist yet.
| Sometimes, it is good to know that something isn't
| possible to do, or that you just don't know the answer to
| the question.
I've answered questions on this NG, so is this comment addressed to me as well? ... You want me to tell you I don't know the answer?
I assume that would be annoying.
| Remember, the users that are asking for
| your help are not an expert programmers like you are. We
| are just getting started and can use all of the help we
| can get.
Although there are obviously some experts and tons of newbies, the line between "you" and "we" is pretty blurry (sometimes I'm "we",
and sometimes I'm "you"), and no one is obligated to answer ANY posts. The assumption that someone out there will respond to a post
is shakey. I don't read every post, I don't answer every question that I could. I'm sure it's the same for the "experts". When they
have the time, they're a great resource. If you've had a low hit-rate for your questions, I'd consider it random chance as much as
anything. Just keep posting with more information, and hope that it catches someone's attention. I've got a number of unanswered
posts in this NG myself [the combination of Forms and HTML Stationery, I've found, hasn't been high on anyone else's list of things
to play with], and it's frustrating as heck. Some I've gone on to figure out myself, some not. The answers that I HAVE gotten here
have saved me hours & hours of time, made me look good to the boss.
Just my $.02.
-jcf
Mainframe dinosaur,
Point-n-Click newbie.
NOT a MS MVP.
