What's Beginners and help section really about

[Ambatman]

With the name, I was of the notion that it would entail threads like "How to" and "What not to". But most of the time I get there I usually find threads with nothing relating to help or guide filling the section.
Call me old school but I feel the section is not living up to its name currently.

Not excluding the fact that every new member usually try to introduce themselves by creating a Thread.
Imo the idea that was implemented where a notice shows when viewing a thread by a scammer( this function I recently found out) since this member is not trusted and such message will show because I haven't spent up-to 7 days online in the forum, I have forgotten the exact wordings though.
 
What am trying to say is if it would be possible for a pop up or notice with link show in the homescreen directing the newbie to a thread they can introduce themselves and maybe get some ideas and knowledge about how the forum works.

My idea could be one sided or narrow, so would appreciate our thoughts on this.

[_act_]

What am trying to say is if it would be possible for a pop up or notice with link show in the homescreen directing the newbie to a thread they can introduce themselves and maybe get some ideas and knowledge about how the forum works.

A newbie can easily go through the pinned threads to see all that are needed like the forum rules, merits and activities, forum badges and others. A newbie that is serious can easily know all that. In beginners and help, this pinned thread is enough for newbies Newbies - Read before posting to understand all that.

[Davidvictorson]

What am trying to say is if it would be possible for a pop up or notice with link show in the homescreen directing the newbie to a thread they can introduce themselves and maybe get some ideas and knowledge about how the forum works.

There are literally about four pinned threads in the Beginners and help board that tells newbies about the forum, how it works, what is expected of them. Newbies just out of excitement jump straight into introducing themselves.

Introduction is not really necessary.  If you read newbies introduction what you'll observe is that they all similar.

Hello,I am new to this forum. I have been reading topics from top members of this forum and I found them educative..I hope to learn and achieve more from this forum.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5490333.0

Another example

Hello community, I have little experience of other forum but I'm now interested bitcoin now so I tried signing up here for a long time now but I have been getting ban alert that I'm using an IP that just committed a crime or something or should say evil IP.

But I haven't committed any crime ! So I used Tor browser to register the forum and it worked. So what exactly is the problem here ?

Thanks for your honest response!
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5490179.0

Another example

Hy everyone , I'm new to  this community and I'm excited to be here . I have been going through the Bitcoin talk discussion for some times now .I hope to learn from this forum to improve my knowledge and experience in Bitcoin and also contribute my  little ideas here too.https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5490157.0

Another example

Hi everyone.
This is my first post, i have heard a lot about this forum and how resourceful it is, so I have joined and I hope that I can learn a lot of things from here.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5489130.0

I'll stop here. But you get the point.
If newbies read the pinned threads, there will be no need for these introduction.

[Apocollapse]

You're talking about guide or tutorial, I don't think Beginners & Help section need to be filled with such thread because it must be the experienced users who can create the thread as they already familiar with the forum. The current thread posted in Beginners & Help section are already good, although there are still some off topic or pointless threads. The pinned messages are enough to guide them, although they might not aware with Beginners & Help section, that's the problem.

I've thinking like the forum need to have a short message on top page about Writing a welcome message

[Churchillvv]

This case has been discussed a lot of times if I could remember but there is nothing that can be done about the fact that newbies jump into introducing themselves in the forum, because if you try to put one in the right direction, you might succeed but how about those that are not registered yet and when they come they will still do something.

So it has been left that way for a long time now, the only person that can initiate such a thing as you suggested is (Mr. Admin) Theymos which I don't think he will be taking that stress to start implementing a new rule or way just to cope with beginners introduction threads, except he will have to employ @PowerGlove to take such action.

As said by others above there are pinned threads that are supposed to guide newbies on the pros and cons of the forum in the B&H board but it's not used in the first time of a newbie until they're being directed to it. As a result of excitement they just go into introducing themselves maybe because it's a ethics that you must introduce yourself in a new environment and I believe that is the catalyst to such actions of newbies, if I was to join this forum for the first time might also fall victim of it so it's unavoidable for now.

Another example

Hello community, I have little experience of other forum but I'm now interested bitcoin now so I tried signing up here for a long time now but I have been getting ban alert that I'm using an IP that just committed a crime or something or should say evil IP.

But I haven't committed any crime ! So I used Tor browser to register the forum and it worked. So what exactly is the problem here ?

Thanks for your honest response!
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5490179.0

Did you read the content of the thread? It's not out of line.. it's a question and not an introduction. The op of that thread was asking about evil IP not and introduction as others.

[Davidvictorson]

Did you read the content of the thread? It's not out of line.. it's a question and not an introduction. The op of that thread was asking about evil IP not and introduction as others.

You are correct. That's an exception but you get the point I am making.

[Ambatman]

A newbie can easily go through the pinned threads to see all that are needed like the forum rules, merits and activities, forum badges and others. A newbie that is serious can easily know all that. In beginners and help, this pinned thread is enough for newbies Newbies - Read before posting to understand all that.

Yeah I aware but with the quantity of I'm a newbie in the section we can see it's not really working.  What I was trying to cut across is if it would be possible to have a single thread which would avail itself after registration like the function when one enter a thread made by a supposed scammer.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

With the name, I was of the notion that it would entail threads like "How to" and "What not to". But most of the time I get there I usually find threads with nothing relating to help or guide filling the section.
Call me old school but I feel the section is not living up to its name currently.

Have you consider the pinned threads there, are they not saying something to serves as guide for every beginners who took time in reading them, what is the function of the search button, are there no other pinned threads on other boards aside the beginners and help section, i want you to know these that what you find is what you see, if you don't make move to find, seek or know, even the pinned threads there will not be noticed by you, because you never have interest in reading or learning.

[Lucius]

With the name, I was of the notion that it would entail threads like "How to" and "What not to". But most of the time I get there I usually find threads with nothing relating to help or guide filling the section.
Call me old school but I feel the section is not living up to its name currently.

If you think that a topic is not appropriate for that board, then simply use the "report to moderator" button and if the moderators agree with you, that topic will be moved/deleted. That board is primarily intended for beginners, and accordingly no one should be surprised that most of them behave exactly like that.

~snip~
My idea could be one sided or narrow, so would appreciate our thoughts on this.

Beginners behave like beginners (the majority), and if someone doesn't see or refuses to read all those sticky topics, everything you try to do to change that won't help much. A new board that would serve for new members to introduce themselves would not make sense for me personally, and maybe it would even be a bit confusing for some members who would write some things about themselves that should still remain private.

[Upgrade00]

There are tons of guides that have been created in B&H over the years. There is no way to keep them up in the first pages except if the someone regularly bumps them so they fastest way to access it will be using the search option. The name of the board suggest that you can post anything of value to newbies to the forum and some times older members, this could be a malware warning or a question you may have and a lot in-between.

A pop up specifically for beginner's introduction is not necessary, we are still keeping our fingers crossed for the Newbie Welcome Message.

[Wapfika]

Not all newbie is smart enough to figure out immediately how the forum works right after they sign up unless they are an alt account of old members or they have experienced already on engaging in a forum. I’m a member of different forum and this kind of newbie posting habits is always the starter opening post of someone new that wants to be welcomed in the forum.

We should be happy that there’s still new member joining here that wants to become part of our family. Let’s just make them a real “newbie” when they just started and grow while browsing the content of the forum. This thread is dedicated to anything that related to being newbie/beginner mixed with helpful thread.

[Die_empty]

My idea could be one sided or narrow, so would appreciate our thoughts on this.

I think the Beginners and Help section is performing its functions. It might not be doing it 100% but newbies are getting the needed help from the section. Regarding the recurring introduction and questions from newbies, I don't think I will ever end because most of them are not smart or patient enough to go through the rules and asking these questions is like a shortcut to get the needed information within a short period. Don't just look at the questions or the introduction, take time to read the responses from members. Some of these responses might be monotonous but they are indeed helpful to these newcomers.

Besides the pinned messages there are also many educational materials and learning avenues such as challenges which will help not just newbies but also other members.

[Mia Chloe]

There is a lot of important and nice information on this forum inclusive of the beginner and help section you are actually talking about. The reason why most people especially newbies hardly come across some of this information is because of the fact that they are unable to properly exploit the use of the forum search button. The pinned threads there don't carry all guides and since some newbies either don't make use of the search button or are reluctant to use it, more and more questions are repeated most times.
There is obviously almost no way to stop reoccurring questions since it even takes some time for newbies to gradually understand the forum and consequently know how to make proper use of the search button as well as other forum features.

What am trying to say is if it would be possible for a pop up or notice with link show in the homescreen directing the newbie to a thread they can introduce themselves and maybe get some ideas and knowledge about how the forum works.

As for this I don't believe it's useful. Newbie introduction is one of the biggest spam on this forum and if you observe closely members are actually getting sick of it. Besides there is no rule here stating that you introduce yourself.

[Shamm]

What am trying to say is if it would be possible for a pop up or notice with link show in the homescreen directing the newbie to a thread they can introduce themselves and maybe get some ideas and knowledge about how the forum works.

There are literally about four pinned threads in the Beginners and help board that tells newbies about the forum, how it works, what is expected of them. Newbies just out of excitement jump straight into introducing themselves.

Introduction is not really necessary.  If you read newbies introduction what you'll observe is that they all similar.

Hello,I am new to this forum. I have been reading topics from top members of this forum and I found them educative..I hope to learn and achieve more from this forum.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5490333.0

Another example

Hello community, I have little experience of other forum but I'm now interested bitcoin now so I tried signing up here for a long time now but I have been getting ban alert that I'm using an IP that just committed a crime or something or should say evil IP.

But I haven't committed any crime ! So I used Tor browser to register the forum and it worked. So what exactly is the problem here ?

Thanks for your honest response!
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5490179.0

Another example

Hy everyone , I'm new to  this community and I'm excited to be here . I have been going through the Bitcoin talk discussion for some times now .I hope to learn from this forum to improve my knowledge and experience in Bitcoin and also contribute my  little ideas here too.https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5490157.0

Another example

Hi everyone.
This is my first post, i have heard a lot about this forum and how resourceful it is, so I have joined and I hope that I can learn a lot of things from here.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5489130.0

I'll stop here. But you get the point.
If newbies read the pinned threads, there will be no need for these introduction.

There's a lot of users here in our community who doing it and most of them are those newbies even though we can not say that they can grow faster if they don't do that but still it's matter how they want to grow. And actually Reading the pinned topics in beginners and help board is a must and have a good guidance. It will guide's newbies to start their journey here in our community. Anyways those users who are making  a introduction thread then still it will highly appreciated.

[SmartGold01]

From your post this shows that you don't really go through many section in this forum because as newbie we all knows that beginner & Helps section justified everything concerning how to start what to do and what not to do, it's better for a newbie to seat their ass a place and study how the forum works. Then boiled down to the introduction board or thread, well if you may ask me I don't think that is really necessary for theymos to implement because even in my local board we have the introductory section where one could post a brief about herself not necessarily mean that person will have to post with his/her real names but only bitcointalk username is okay, so I don't think going on again to create additional English thread that talks about introduction might not be good idea in my opinion rather such person can easily locate their local board and post on their introductory thread or topic. However, every board and childboard has their rules and it's always on pinned post what you could do is as beginner you should be able to read through those pin messages to get yourself educated about the forum before going further to reply or create your personal topic.

[hilariousandco]

With the name, I was of the notion that it would entail threads like "How to" and "What not to". But most of the time I get there I usually find threads with nothing relating to help or guide filling the section.
Call me old school but I feel the section is not living up to its name currently.

Not excluding the fact that every new member usually try to introduce themselves by creating a Thread.

Well the sub is pretty self-explanatory: it's for beginners to get any help they may need, but mere introduction threads shouldn't really be there so you can report them if you wish and they'll likely be dealt with.

[OgNasty]

I think it's a place where users without basic knowledge can ask dumb questions without fear of being yelled at or told they need to use the search.  Not saying that doesn't exist in that section as well, but I think people are generally more open to explaining the basics there as opposed to criticizing someone for not using the search feature or spending their time reading about the fundamentals of Bitcoin before wading into the depths of the forum.  I don't go there much, but have tried to offer ways for newbies to get a head start on joining the rest of the community like bribing them with merits to learn to sign messages and use PGP.

[Alpha Marine]

What am trying to say is if it would be possible for a pop up or notice with link show in the homescreen directing the newbie to a thread they can introduce themselves and maybe get some ideas

I don't think that will prevent newbies from creating unnecessary introductory threads because that is the first point on the pinned post "Newbies, read before posting". If they read the pinned post they wouldn't need to create a thread that contains only stuff like "I'm new here, hope I'm welcome"

Introductory threads are not illegal on the forum, but it has to be meaningful, it's unnecessary to me because it's an anonymous site, nobody knows who you are or even cares. Once you keep posting relevant stuff and stay active on the forum you'll announce yourself to the forum.

That being said, I think the "beginners and help" board is living up to its name pretty well. You can't use a few irrelevant topics to judge the whole board. There are so many helpful threads on that board as the name implies. As a newbie, it helped me a lot, and even now that I'm relatively old on the forum, it still helps.
That's a space where you can ask anything related to Bitcoin and the forum without feeling dumb.
There will always be unnecessary topics every now and then but there are still many more useful ones that make the board still very relevant.

[lovesmayfamilis]

There's a lot of users here in our community who doing it and most of them are those newbies even though we can not say that they can grow faster if they don't do that but still it's matter how they want to grow. And actually Reading the pinned topics in beginners and help board is a must and have a good guidance. It will guide's newbies to start their journey here in our community. Anyways those users who are making  a introduction thread then still it will highly appreciated.

Yes, I remember all your guides when you started your journey on the forum and how you carefully reposted all the links for beginners. But is this necessary? I also participate in many other forums, and there is no need to create a presentation topic because someone came to the forum. Yes, someone came to the forum, hurray! How did everyone live here without you? Now go read. We will know everything about you if you show yourself. Show yourself to those who want and can read, where all the answers are obvious and visible.

But newbies decide that we should all know about them by asking questions, the answers to which sometimes contain the length of an entire forum.

I'll stop here. But you get the point.
If newbies read the pinned threads, there will be no need for these introduction.

Nevertheless, people themselves condone the spread of such topics by responding to everyone and every topic with the same links. It was not for nothing that I mentioned Shamm, since he was once reprimanded.

Looking at your post history, I would advise you to focus more on learning about crypto and forum in general before making guides on those topics. More often than not, asking a good question worth more than just another newbie guide.

Observe that everyone writes the same thing, advising the same thing. But why doesn’t everyone think that beginners can find all the answers themselves? This is where the one who comes for knowledge, and who comes for ranks and merits, will show up.