How can we help new users?

[tommykjensen]

The past few days we have seen several new users asking about questionable online shops that advertise with very low prices in order to lure them into a very expensive purchase.

How can we help new users to quickly find information about which online shops to stay away from?

Yesterday there was a sad example of a user that in fact did order equipment with one of the known scam online shops. So it would be beneficial if we somehow could relay this important information to new users before they make a mistake than can/will cost them a lot of money in their search to find the cheapest deal.

[Canuck]

I'm working on a PM to answer that question.

PM Sent.

[stoneylonesome]

One place that's really good at least here in the States, don't know how international they are is resellersratings.com

http://www.resellerratings.com/

they list a ton of e-sellers as well as walk-in stores and they rate them based on user input. I find them to be very reliable. Maybe this and other site similiar could be put as a sticky on one or more of the threads.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Tommy,

All I can say is we can try all we want,.

But if the new user will not take it upon themselves to use the resources this forum provides,.... what then?

The old cliche' about leading a horse to water seems to apply in the case you are referring to.

The stickies and info are there,. (recommended vendors in market place,. literally HUNDREDS of posts in EOS readily searchable with the new forum softeware's excellent search functions, all with repeated posts of good vendors,. links to reseller ratings etc..)

After a few years of now trying to guide the new users to the info and resources at hand,. it has come to my attention (finally) that no matter what effort we put into this,. there will allways be a small percentage that will not use the info,..

The instance you are referring to is the worst case scenerio,. not only did the new user not take the time to do his own research of information available in readily available stickies (not to mention all over the Forum) But he also asked the question that had of course been answered thousands of times before and even after he got the answers,. the right ones,. he still went on to ignore the advice and did precisely what many of us warned him not too. :(


How can we prevent that? :(


If some members will not use the resources we try and provide,. nor even take the advice offered in a direct one on one thread,. then what more can we do?

On the other hand,. I think that this is most likely NT the norm,. from what I gather reading posts on this forum, for the majority who come here the forum is indeed the resoursce we hope it to be. Without putting any estimates on numbers or percentages,. I'd say that the vast majority of people who find this forum are able to either find the info they seek,. or are given it when they ask for it,.. from all of the knowedgable members who are here willing to share.

This is the very thing that I love to be a part of.

Again,. I'm sure this is the case for the Vast majority.



I'm not trying to write this issue off,.

I'm just don't think we can expect a 100% succes rate ;)

My "Mission" here has allways been to try and get as much of the fabulous info that is contained in these forums as accesible as possible for the newest users to find. The EOS Sticky as well as others are an example of this effort,. (as is my insanely high post count,.) and yet,.


You can lead a horse to water.....

CDS

[tommykjensen]

CDS,

I know You have and still do a lot to gather information in stickies so the good information can be found easily. And I have myself reffered to those several times when a FAQ come up. Extenders are a popular repeat.

But I think we have to distinquish a bit between the information. Because no matter how sad/annoying it is that question about extenders keep popping up even though the answers in 99% of the cases could have been found in the sticky it will not cost the poster any money not knowing the right answer.

But asking about which online vendor to trust can in the end cost a user thousands of dollars if choosing the wrong one. So somehow I think we should try to make that type of information more visible. Maybe Pekka can put a link called something like "Check online reseller" in the white area between the line with the menu and the actual foum listiing, just below "User CP, FAQ, Members List...." line. Then it would be visible at all times.

I know we can only advice and inform, we can't force anybody.

[samdring]

There are, though, 2 types of new user.

1. The new user just starting 'life' as a canon photographer
2. The new user who is 1 above AND has never used a forum before.

When I joined here, I was in category 2 and, whereas, the 'rules' etc are very good and clear here, is there not an option to provide some sort of email to new signees that points out the ethos of this forum and the benefits/dangers?