Moderators and Long Time OTT Members

[Bee-Positive]

MY opinion, based on MY experience over the last three years - YMMV.

Browsing through some very old posts to see what I could see and was struck by the number of questions and inquiries that are extremely similar to those still being asked currently and I had a minor epiphany.

The Moderators and (most) long time members must have a very high degree of patience and understanding.

Like dealing with toddlers - they may be spinning in their chairs and pounding the desk when they read questions they've answered countless times yet the answers posted are typically without belittling or ridicule and mostly polite. There may be a snide comment or hint of impatience once in a while but it's never personal.

Not looking for points or apologizing for anything (yet, LOL), just felt compelled to say THANK YOU!
It's what keeps me coming back, hopefully for many more years.

OK - now back to your regularly scheduled blog.

 

[jimh406]

I guess perception is reality, but it’s just been heavily moderated at times.

 

[Lil Foot]

MY opinion, based on MY experience over the last three years - YMMV.

Browsing through some very old posts to see what I could see and was struck by the number of questions and inquiries that are extremely similar to those still being asked currently and I had a minor epiphany.

The Moderators and (most) long time members must have a very high degree of patience and understanding.

Like dealing with toddlers - they may be spinning in their chairs and pounding the desk when they read questions they've answered countless times yet the answers posted are typically without belittling or ridicule and mostly polite. There may be a snide comment or hint of impatience once in a while but it's never personal.

Not looking for points or apologizing for anything (yet, LOL), just felt compelled to say THANK YOU!
It's what keeps me coming back, hopefully for many more years.

OK - now back to your regularly scheduled blog.

I agree.
But I will say that in searching to see if a problem I am experiencing has been covered in the past, I find that the search function needs exact wording & spelling to find past posts.
I have searched for my own old posts and found that the smallest variations will yield zero results.
(for example, my search string spelled chief as cheif and yielded zero results.
Other forums seem to allow more liberal searches that probably yield way too many results.
Perhaps there is a happy medium.....

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

I agree.
But I will say that in searching to see if a problem I am experiencing has been covered in the past, I find that the search function needs exact wording & spelling to find past posts.
I have searched for my own old posts and found that the smallest variations will yield zero results.
(for example, my search string spelled chief as cheif and yielded zero results.
Other forums seem to allow more liberal searches that probably yield way too many results.
Perhaps there is a happy medium.....

agree...

we also have to realize rookies/newbies are just that. Rookies and newbies.

I have seen some excellent sites I frequented whither die when the newbies / rookies are not embraced and welcomed. Making them feel unwanted drives away the new blood, ideas, experiences, adventures... sites drastically need to to survive and thrive and stay interesting.

Screams like get a manual, stop asking questions about oil, your spelling is bad, no its not tyres it TIRES, stop wasting our time and just search back on threads from years ago, etc all come to mind.... HECK we might is well just tell newbies/rookies to pound salt and ask an AI bot and leave us alone here at OTT.

I say give the newbies/rookies wide latitude, welcome them and hopefully they become frequent and interesting members over the longer run.

 

[hagrid]

There can never be too many oil threads.

 

[TheOldHokie]

I agree.
But I will say that in searching to see if a problem I am experiencing has been covered in the past, I find that the search function needs exact wording & spelling to find past posts.
I have searched for my own old posts and found that the smallest variations will yield zero results.
(for example, my search string spelled chief as cheif and yielded zero results.
Other forums seem to allow more liberal searches that probably yield way too many results.
Perhaps there is a happy medium.....

Do you know about wild cards and regular expressions in search strings?

Dan

 

[Tarmy]

All I know is that when I first got a tractor the people on this site treated my like a long time member. Answered my stupid questions and helped with advice. Wouldn’t have been nearly as SAFE, handy nor prepared without the help. Now, it is my turn to help those I can…

 

[chim]

I often have good results if I use Google and include "orange tractor talks" as part of the search terms.

We have many who have been here for a long time AND we have frequent new posters. There are times when I feel a bit apologetic towards the older members for (re)posting things that might benefit newer people.

 

[Lil Foot]

Do you know about wild cards and regular expressions in search strings?

Dan

I don't think so,,,,,

 

[selftot]

I'm new to the site and been impressed with the quality of advice given.

I try to get my answers first by searching. I tried "air filter" as a search. It said "air" is too simple of a word so it gave me results for "filter". Not too helpful.

I looked for a sticky about how to search the site but couldn't find one.

 

[Trailrated]

MY opinion, based on MY experience over the last three years - YMMV.

Browsing through some very old posts to see what I could see and was struck by the number of questions and inquiries that are extremely similar to those still being asked currently and I had a minor epiphany.

The Moderators and (most) long time members must have a very high degree of patience and understanding.

Like dealing with toddlers - they may be spinning in their chairs and pounding the desk when they read questions they've answered countless times yet the answers posted are typically without belittling or ridicule and mostly polite. There may be a snide comment or hint of impatience once in a while but it's never personal.

Not looking for points or apologizing for anything (yet, LOL), just felt compelled to say THANK YOU!
It's what keeps me coming back, hopefully for many more years.

OK - now back to your regularly scheduled blog.

So what. Answering questions can open up things for other discussions. If not, this board would be stagnant.

 

[Trustable]

Every post I have made that asks about something since buying my tractor a few years ago has been met with helpful responses or at least comical, and that’s all you can ask for. Now I just like reading what others are doing with their machines to figure out what to spend money on if I win the lottery

 

[Bee-Positive]

So what. Answering questions can open up things for other discussions. If not, this board would be stagnant.

Agree 1000%
All I'm saying is "Thank You" to all who have patience with Knobs like me.

 

[skeets]

Comon guys, all of us were new to the game at one point or another. And when you are new, you have questions, concerns and fears, you just dropped a big hunk of money on a new toy,,, errrrr I mean tool yeah tool, ad you really dont want to muck it up. So yeah many of the same questions will and do come up over and over. I know that sets some people on edge, but thats how we all learn,, OK Im done

 

[jimh406]

Everyone thinks their question is unique if they don't have experience. I don't think most would do the right search to find what they want even if they tried. Experience allows some of us to easily post useful responses. Sometimes, we miss.

 

[Russell King]

I'm new to the site and been impressed with the quality of advice given.

I try to get my answers first by searching. I tried "air filter" as a search. It said "air" is too simple of a word so it gave me results for "filter". Not too helpful.

I looked for a sticky about how to search the site but couldn't find one.

You can put the actual “ quote symbols around air filter and get results.

”air filter” not air filter

 

[JohnDB]

...

The Moderators and (most) long time members must have a very high degree of patience and understanding.

...

Not looking for points or apologizing for anything (yet, LOL), just felt compelled to say THANK YOU!
It's what keeps me coming back, hopefully for many more years.

Given the accelerating amount of "internet slop" and "enshitiffication of the internet", I'm overjoyed that OTT is one place that hasn't succumbed to that, and its due to the work of those who created OTT and the mods that has helped create a troup of followers and contributors which makes OTT such a valuable and enjoyable resource today.

(I was going to put in a plug for non-lifetime members to open up their wallets, but thought that might be going too far. Ooops, it's happened )

 

[jimh406]

(I was going to put in a plug for non-lifetime members to open up their wallets, but thought that might be going too far. Ooops, it's happened )

I was surpised years ago how inexpensive lifetime is.

 

[D2Cat]

I agree.
But I will say that in searching to see if a problem I am experiencing has been covered in the past, I find that the search function needs exact wording & spelling to find past posts.
I have searched for my own old posts and found that the smallest variations will yield zero results.
(for example, my search string spelled chief as cheif and yielded zero results.
Other forums seem to allow more liberal searches that probably yield way too many results.
Perhaps there is a happy medium.....

Bill, if you're looking for a post by a specific person, and know their handle, you can search for MEMBER in the search function also.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

You can put the actual “ quote symbols around air filter and get results.

”air filter” not air filter

Nope, still no good