• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
programming forums Java Mobile Certification Databases Caching Books Engineering Micro Controllers OS Languages Paradigms IDEs Build Tools Frameworks Application Servers Open Source This Site Careers Other Pie Elite all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
Marshals:
  • Campbell Ritchie
  • Jeanne Boyarsky
  • Ron McLeod
  • Paul Clapham
  • Liutauras Vilda
Sheriffs:
  • paul wheaton
  • Rob Spoor
  • Devaka Cooray
Saloon Keepers:
  • Stephan van Hulst
  • Tim Holloway
  • Carey Brown
  • Frits Walraven
  • Tim Moores
Bartenders:
  • Mikalai Zaikin

If i dont get a response for a post, what is my next step?

 
Greenhorn
Posts: 20
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hello All,
generally, (mine/anyone's)steps for posting would be:-
search the forum for a question/issue-don't find an answer-prepare a post with relevant subject...
My question is-
The questions thus posted and STILL don't get answered from the forum...
what can i do next?
I have seen some(quiet a number!) of queries having no response at all...(if guys are getting solutions thru personal replies...thats fine then...but i think, posting that reply ...by the post'er in his/her post should take place-again i don't know, it can be mandated, but if done...it would be of good help for others in solving their related issues...!!!)
Please!! Someone... experienced gurus...guide us the next step. I presume, this kind of thread would have been discussed earlier...but i couldn't find it here...
It would be great if you could give us the steps such as...whom should we next, escalate our issues to (if there is any such option...!)? Otherwise, understandably, its a waste of space /time for this site/the user to see (his/her certain) postings going unanswered...
i can understand a duplicate query can be ignored or responded with a single liner ...but a new/unique query should be answered with a brief info(atleast from the moderator,if he is ok to do this - just an opinion!)
I dont mean to demand more from such a great forum! Infact, I haven't found any other forums so organized (in these subjects...)
So, after coming here, I wouldn't want to again register in some other site...and start the saga...
welcome your views/suggestions...
vijay
[ August 02, 2002: Message edited by: vijay sinha ]
 
Rancher
Posts: 13459
Android Eclipse IDE Ubuntu
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Didn't read the whole thing, sorry.
My take is that you should draw from as many sources as possible.
General options are books, JavaRanch, Google, news groups, co-workers (or cow-irkers, if you prefer), the rest of the net ( )
If you wait till the last moment and then post an "URGENT!!! HELP!!!" thread here (or just about anywhere else) you might end up lonely.
On the 'private conversation' topic, I tend to avoid it. If it isn't discussed here its a bit hard to search on it. When I get a personal note I answer in the original thread and send a response email directing them to that...
Others might have a completely different take on it all though.
 
"The Hood"
Posts: 8521
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
There is no quarantee that you will get any answers to your posts. The moderators job is to moderate - NOT to answer questions. If they DO answer questions, it is above and beyond the call of duty. They all have REAL jobs that they spend most of their time at, and volunteer their time here - same as you.
We rely on other experienced Java Programmers to respond to questions. So for example - how many questions of other folks have YOU answered?
The only thing that we can do is to promote the concept of helping each other out in a forum such as this.
If you are asking difficult questions, or questions that only a small segment of the Java Community might be able to assist on, it is reasonable to expect that fewer of your questions would get help.
Of course, I could go out there and just have CONVERSATION with you to provide a response - but that wouldn't really get you an answer.
 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 86
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
You could do it like this.
Post your question in the relevant forum.
Post another question in the Meaningless Drivel section, talk about politics in the first para, talk about h1b in the second para, and also dont forget to make it all meaningless. At the end add a link to the actual question.
Chances that your question will get more answers in Meaningless Drivel is quite high, but you may also get some answers for your actual question as well.
Just kidding of course!
 
sharp shooter, and author
Posts: 1913
6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
The guys are right - it depends on the moderators. I do try and answer as many questions as I can, but it really does depend on where I'm working that day and what I'm up to. Vinay, I notice that some of your posts are in the forum that I moderate and I do apologise if you've not found the answers that you seek. I will try to encourage people to get involved in the discussions.
JavaRanch is certainly the best forum for discussing Java that I've come across - not because of us, but because of you and unique in that it's somewhere that you can learn and somewhere that you can teach.
Please help us help everybody else...
Cheers
Simon
 
Sheriff
Posts: 7023
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
If i dont get a response for a post, what is my next step?
Generally speaking...
If the original question were rather involved and complicated, figure out a way to break it up into smaller topics and ask a good, detailed, precise, smaller question. Note that by posting a follow up question in the same thread that the original question was asked in, the original question is then brought to the top of the thread list again.
If the question involves a sample of code that isn't behaving as expected, rather than post the code with a vague indication of the difficulties hoping that someone will try to compile the code and discover the problem, explain clearly how the code is expected to perform (and why) and how it actually performs including an explanation of why you think this is the case.
If it's Friday (or Thursday), recognize that it's rather close to the weekend and people have weekend (fun) things to do that possibly don't include JavaRanch. Tuesday is the busiest day at JavaRanch (as I recall). I've noticed a few conversations lie dormant over the weekend, then pick up again on Monday or Tuesday.
So, phrase the question so that any prospective helper can be as lazy as possible in answering it on a Tuesday.
 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 2379
MySQL Database Spring Java
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
As I am involved in many discussion forums, I understand all posts will not get attention of the visitors. JavaRanch is one of the highest traffic discussion forums (in fact, number#1 ), even then if you don't get reply here, you should never mind.
People have so many things to do. So better search for an alternative source to fill uo your query.
 
Sheriff
Posts: 7001
6
Eclipse IDE Python C++ Debian Java Linux
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
There are a few tricks to getting your question answered, of course. Here's a few of the ones I'm aware of:
  • Post a question that can be answered. This may sound obvious, but I see so many "what is the best IDE?", "which book is best for Java?" "My program doesn't work, what's wrong?" questions which simply don't contain enough information or context to be answered. Think hard and include what you've done and found out so far, exact text of error messages, code samples, software versions etc.
  • Think hard about the title. For every person who clicks to open your question and read it, hundreds of people will see the title. Express as much concise detail about your problem in the title as you can. Don't waste space with "help" or "urgent" - all questions are urgent and need help.
  • On the other hand, keep your title as generic as you can. If you have a problem with configuring your web.xml file in Resin, for example. Don't put Resin in the title. If you do, people who don't use Resin won't even look at your question, even though it may be a standard problem which users of any servlet container could answer.
  • Be as clear and polite as you can. Use the best English you can. I know English is not the first language of many people here, but it is the common language of the JavaRanch. If you write in unambiguous, gramatically correct English, more people will understand your question.
  • Post your question to the most appropriate forum, and only that forum. Potential answerers can easily get irritated by multiple or inappropriate posts.
  • Leave enough time. Many people only check here once a week or less. If you don't leave your question at least that long, you are in too much of a hurry.
  • Don't answer your own post unless you have real extra information or clarifications to offer. Some people, myself included, are more likely to look at a "0 replies", than a "1 reply" message, because most "1 replies" messages already have some sort of answer. Ranting "If I don't get a reply soon, I'll be really angry! JavaRanch sucks!" is a real turn off.


  • Above all, be generous with your time and help others as much as you can. One day, one of the people you have helped might be able to answer your question. Would you like them to remember your kindness as they decide whether to spend the time on an answer?
     
    Ranch Hand
    Posts: 1055
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    You could also try with a catchy title. I still remember this thread called "O classpath, why do you hate me," or something like that. Needless to say, it became a hot thread.
     
    David O'Meara
    Rancher
    Posts: 13459
    Android Eclipse IDE Ubuntu
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    Frank's reply reminded my of this page:
    How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
    This is as much about what to do before and while asking a question, but if it helps you get your questions asked, you won't need to know where to search after!
    Dave
     
    vijay sinha
    Greenhorn
    Posts: 20
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    Hello people!
    Thanks for your views/suggestions. Franks' tips are a good re-read and David's link about the "smart questions..." is an excellent read (i had recommended it to my friends too...) some queries in that are utterly (funny! silly to read/respond...it still happens in most of the forums...!
    I agree with Dirk to pose precise queries! Though, i had in mind only one/two sentences for this thread, i landed up writing all other stuff just making sure of not being too curt!!(I think i need to check over there...)
    Thanks Simon for that extra time you are devoting to make a forum an excellent source to come back to...i really appreciate that, but yes, its not same for all the moderators to spare time...(guys may have some reasons that are'nt under their control...for instance, heard for some, most of the time just gets wasted in getting connected to the net (the net speed is damn slow sometimes...here!)
    but, lastly, the truth remains, if nothing works, go about searching google...etc to get the right source where you get the answers...! Don't wait till the n'th moment and pop up with an "URGENT...etc" - it doesnt' get any/little attention!
    vijay
     
    Ranch Hand
    Posts: 5399
    1
    Spring Java
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    Now I dont use Search here as it is simply wastage of time, with older serach most of the time, I provide the link where such qustions has been discussed.
    AW best way I have found, is to wait till it goes to the end of page, then resurrect it.
    And obviously subject does help to get attention.
     
    reply
      Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
    • New Topic