Suggestion for Tech Corner forum

Perhaps it would be wise to set the Tech Corner forum to being a Moderator Approval for posting replies in threads. This could stop a lot of the clutter from misinformation people post. Of course, this may also require a few more moderators. Often I see people suggesting to check things that are completely opposite from the original poster's issue, and I have even seen a lot of thread hijacking in threads by people with completely unrelated issues. This is why I believe the post approval would be beneficial in stopping thread hijacks and misinformation. Misinformation is the worst thing that can happen, as it can cause the original poster's issue to become much worse.

The focus should be that the person with the issue gets fast replies with accurate information and not posts by people wanting to raise their post count with generic off-fixes.

Tarun, it's a valid suggestion but I do have to laugh. In the last month I have had requests for Sardelac Sanitarium to be moderator approval only, the new Game Bugs forum to be moderator approval only, and someone even wanted ALL of The Campfire forum to be moderator approval only.

I know the intent that this is being asked espeically for something like Technician's Corner but this is a forum for discussion. I all ready receive enough PM's and emails with complaints from users that we are biased, delete anything we don't agree with, are trying to sway the GW community and more. Making even more forums Moderator Approval only defeats the purpose of allowing a free exchange of ideas (yes even if they are bad or wrong) and serves to educate and possibly pass off knowledge to others.

If threads are being hijacked and there is misinformation then please report these to a mod. Specifically Cannonfodder who mods this forum exclusively. If you feel we need more coverage in that section please also let me know. Perhaps it's not being moderated enough and the solution is to bring in more people.

Oh but it was reported. Nothing has happened yet.

Also, the suggestion to have the Technician Corner being mod approval for posts is very different from Sardelac and Campfire being mod approval. You want to have accurate information when assisting computer software and hardware issues. Technical misinformation can make a problem much worse than it already is and can also divert the attention and focus away from the best solution.

Would you like it if you posted a problem at a technical forum about a spyware problem and someone told you to run MemTest, another says check your drivers for your graphics card, another says use Linux, and so on. Let's just say you get about six replies that are totally unrelated to your issue, but only one that addresses your issue and tells you how to resolve it. You wouldn't be very happy would you? Nor would you desire to return to that forum, would you?

More coverage would help; though I do believe either setting it to moderator approval would be very beneficial or to set specific forum rules for the Technician's Corner about staying on topic, providing accurate information, and perhaps off-topic/unrelated "solutions" will be removed based upon the moderator.

Perhaps having "Technician Guru's" (just like the price-check guru's) would help? As some sort of sign that those people have knowledge of software and hardware? This would leave it open for discussion, but it would also allow the person with computer-issues to get one clear answer.

Interesting suggestion Medion, I do know some users who frequent that forum more than any others. Of course, even in Tech there are many users who disagree, who have a different viewpoint. I wouldn't be the best judge if these are right or wrong and everyone likes to stress their "technical aptitude" so now the challenge is finding those people who do know their "stuff". (And just because you work in the field doesn't mean you have that knowledge, not to bash or flame anyone who comes out of the woodworks )

I can agree there Inde. I had a boss who recommended and pushed Norton products onto users and did other things that actually delayed the user getting their machine fixed. He thought he was hot stuff because he recommended Norton and was Visual Basic certified...