Private requests for help

[Tony1044]

Over the last few weeks I've responded to several requests for assistance that were sent to me via private message on here.

I took the time to respond to each and every one of them and in every case bar one, my messages were read within a few hours of my sending them.

And you know what? Not a single further message from them. Zip. Zero.

At the very least, it'd be nice to get a response letting me know whether my advice worked or not. Or here's a thing - how about a "thanks"?

One of the things I've always liked about this forum when compared to others has been the general helpfulness and friendliness of it, but guys...if you ask for help and are given it (bear in mind a lot of people you ask are busy with work, life etc) it would be nice if you could take the time to respond.

Otherwise, after a while, those of us who give our help freely - and there are more on here that do it far more often than me (Saturday, for example) - start to become a wee bit disillusioned and think "why bother?" and then everyone loses out.

Not that I'm about to ignore any request for help. Just making a general comment.

Also - Saturday, is it possible to get the facility to save more than 5 messages? As this includes sub folders and sent items, it's a wee bit restrictive sometimes.

Cheers folks.

[NewsreadeR]

Hi Tony,

By its very nature of a forum people normally do this, your help by PM is more than what we would ask for and is very commendable.

If no one bothers to say thank you, I just want you to know that we do appreciate your helping out on here and responding to those asking for help.

I myself get loads of requests for help by PM and I always try to, but at the same time I always stress to the member that they would be better posting in the forum for even more help.

This also provides solutions for guests or people who are not confident to sign up and ask for help as well.

On our other site, I currently have 1076 PMs from people that have asked for help or that I have replied to. I agree it can take a lot of your own time up, for apparently no reward or thanks. That doesn't mean they do it on purpose though.

Keep up the good work on here mate, and I have upped the limit from 5 to 50 as we originally kept it low so if a spammer signed up, he couldn't send that many PM's easily. As we have had no instances of this, I guess it is now safe to up the limit.

[Tony1044]

Wow...1076 requests! That just emphasises what I was saying! Don't get me wrong, I realise that in most cases people will go away, try what you suggested and simply forget to let you know whether it worked or not.

That's a very good point about putting them in the open forums though - I can't remember how many times I've found a solution on a techie forum somewhere and if that'd been done in private, it would have been impossible to locate.

I am not actually active on many forums so it's not something I'm about to stop doing and I usually convince myself I haven't heard back 'cos my suggestions worked Ahhh...ego is a wonderful thing

Seriously though, I believe knowledge should be shared - I've learned and hopefully passed on some incredibly useful stuff over the years, and in I.T. especially there is always something new to learn and someone that knows a subject just that little bit better so when they're willing to share it I'm grateful and want to continue the cycle.

1076...what're you waiting for??? They won't answer themselves!! lol

[NewsreadeR]

Originally Posted by Tony1044

1076...what're you waiting for??? They won't answer themselves!! lol

Bear in mind I have probably deleted about 5k as well in the last 4 years or so.

We have a limit of 2.5k over there and I have been over 90% limit warned on many an occasion.

I keep them for a few months, just so I can be popular for a little bit.

Seriously though, I believe knowledge should be shared

Totally agree, the way I do it helps others as well as the original requester.

I usually convince myself I haven't heard back 'cos my suggestions worked

More than likely the reason tbh - A lot of forums are like that.

[stu_uk]

pfft he only got that many PMs following his thong clad butt on the beach profile picture

[NewsreadeR]

Yeh asking me to remove it.

I do get people sending me PMs asking if I really do look like my current avatar though.

[Saturday]

Hi Tony - can only echo Ged's comments. Your contributions to the forum are greatly appreciated but I know it can be a thankless task at times.

When I get PMs for help I usually make a quick judgement on whether it would be best covered in the open forum. If so then I just ask the member to post to the appropriate forum and promise I'll help them there. Most times that works well and there have been a few interesting threads as a result, which may then help others who read them.

[Tony1044]

I'm sorry?? "Thong clad"???

When you say that do you mean his own thong clad butt?

Why do I feel a sudden urge to vomit and close down my broadband account.

And burn all of my computers.

Anyone have any mental bleach?!?

Thongs on men are never acceptable! Especially when the pattern is tiger stripes or leopard spots. <shudder>.

Isn't your current avatar one of the birds out of steps?

[stu_uk]

mmmmm Claire wipes drool

[Tony1044]

Originally Posted by stu_uk

mmmmm Claire wipes drool

See now THAT really needed punctuation...because you've just stated that Claire from steps wipes drool...and that you like that...thongs and drool fetishes...what is happening here???