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by hal 9000

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Would it be possible to change the headings in the T Q & A section to include a general networking section?

Currently there are various headings for different Windows options but there is nothing available for general Networking Problems so these are ending up all over the place in what appear to be unrelated listings. It just makes it very hard to scan previous questions that are similar and I'm sure it is almost impossible for the normal people and first time question askers to find any references to previous questions that may solve their current problem.

I'll not bother you with the still unresolved matter of people not rating answers or just closing the questions with out accepting any answers as I don't see an easy fix there.

Col ]:)

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by smorty71

The categorization of questions is a big part of what we've been trying to hash out for the TechQ&A revamp.

We want to make it as easy as possible to ask, find and answer questions. We think our current categories and front door layout are big hinderances right now.

Any thoughts on the categories? We were thinking of trying a more general approach and then allow tagging to provide the subcategories.

sm

by hal 9000

Have they changed you to your desk so you can not escape?

Any way on the front Page of the Tech Q&A you have several different headings which some might find a bit confusing like in "NetAdmin Republic" you have headings for Windows 9X and Windows XP then on the next one down "Support Republic" you again have a Windows generic heading as well as a few others that seem relevant but then in "IT Consultant Republic" there is another heading called General Technology } which I missed until now}which sort of covers the same things as above it in other headings.

It might be a simpler approach to do away with the bulk of the headings and just have the different sections listed and that way you can do away with the duplication of the same thing in different sections.

You also have a section on Network Design which is great but not one for Network Troubleshooting which should receive more questions than the Network Design. As there are far more problems encountered by keeping a LAN up and running than there are in the initial design as this tends to be a One Off thing for most people.

The idea just struck me when I tried to answer a question posted about not being able to connect several computers to an existing network and the person who was asking the question doesn't seem to know that much about Domains and the like and from their responses I don't think that they are even quite sure what they are actually asking or for that matter what they are working with. This person can not get several computers connected to what they call a Domain but them immediately dismisses any Server OS as unimportant.

Sorry I'm getting carried away again. But I did like the way that you deflected the question back to me I'm not used to getting the chance to pass the buck and generally end up with all the hard ones and have to solve them for myself. :D

Anyway I'll have a think about it a bit more and post back but I think the above idea would be a better idea as it does away with Duplicate headings but then again I'm not in the Hot Seat and don't know what is required by those higher up the Food Chain who may want to keep the existing or similar layout. :^O

Col ]:)

by smorty71

to solving *your* problems. Believe me, I wouldn't post on one of Oz's threads on the weekend :)

Seriously, though, we definitely would like to hear your thoughts on the categories. We'll be posting more stuff about our TQ&A plans soon.

sm

by hal 9000

As I don't know the scale of the revamp for the Tech Q & A and I like to keep thinks simple. ;)

I follow the KISS Principal " Keep It Simple Stupid" as I'm fairly stupid :) how about dumping the Windows Category in Support Republic and replacing it with a Network Problems or Network Trouble Shooting option?

It should be possible to do this easily and quickly and still retain the existing questions that have been asked by relocating them to one of the other Windows Headings.

If you are doing a complete revamp do you need these headings NetAdmin Republic, Support Republic, CIO Republic, IT Manager Republic,
IT Consultant Republic?

While I'm not privy to the plans they do seem a bit of over kill as they don't appear to me to mean much and other than to break up the different categories they don't appear to be doing much. Would it be possible to just dump them all and then layout the page so it doesn't look cluttered?

Col ]:)

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