Using Forum Effecitively

[jyang72211]

Hi all,

I have been using the forum on and off.  In the past, I mainly just ask my questions and wait for my answers.  Only recently, I have been trying to get more involve with the forum (kind of addicted now).  I am trying to answer some questions on the forum and look for some discussion that I would be interested in. I think I am not very rvery good with the looking for interesting discussion part.  At the moment, I am mostly interested in the following topic:

1. Ways to make my code more beautiful

2. Cool functions/tools that I am not aware of. 

3. Tutorial on different concepts in LabVIEW.

There are so many information on the forum.  How do I find the stuff that I like to read?  Do I just have to look through all the forum each time? 

What do you guys do? 

Yik

[Ray.R]

Why not simply browse the forum and look for titles that are of interest to you and simply follow the discussion.  You can also participate or contribute by sharing your views or recommendation for code.  The forums are open to everyone.

As for writing beautiful code, I would suggest that you post code examples and ask advice on how to improve the code.

RayR

[jcarmody]

I use Google Reader to see the headlines of new threads rather than browsing the forum.

[JÞB]

Here is one secret that I learned the hard way.

Pick a board (say LabVIEW)

Scroll all the way to the bottom where the Kudos leaders are

Select <View all on the top Top kudoed posts and you'll find this

Now you've weeded out a bunch of good posts and great topics but really hit some cream!  And - whos really surprised by the authors showing up multiple times on the first pages  Even Ben doesn't make the top 10 on this list!

Once you've looked at a few of these threads look for tags on interesting posts- and follow the tags.

Lastly- follow some of the heavy hitters by checking their profile>recient posts.  It sounds a little stalkerish but you can pick-up quite a few great tidbits that way!

[Ben]

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Jeff Bohrer wrote:

Here is one secret that I learned the hard way.

Pick a board (say LabVIEW)

Scroll all the way to the bottom where the Kudos leaders are

Select <View all on the top Top kudoed posts and you'll find this

Now you've weeded out a bunch of good posts and great topics but really hit some cream!  And - whos really surprised by the authors showing up multiple times on the first pages  Even Ben doesn't make the top 10 on this list!

Once you've looked at a few of these threads look for tags on interesting posts- and follow the tags.

Lastly- follow some of the heavy hitters by checking their profile>recient posts.  It sounds a little stalkerish but you can pick-up quite a few great tidbits that way!

---

Nice post Jeff!

This post points out two ways that we can improve this thing we participate in without having to post.

Kudoing posts is a way we can bring a post up out of the grass where we can find it.

Adding cross-linked tags helps connect threads that are otherwise unrelated.

So if a post was worth you reading it, kudo it.

If a post has info that makes you think "I should remeber that" then add tag or two or even better a hierarchial tag to link it inot out LabVIEW Tree of Knowledge. This step is nothing anyone will ever notice without looking. Be making the decision which words should be tags for a post you are sharing your knowlege to the structure of the forum. The search engine includes tags when it does searches so those extra words you add as tags can lead to posts showing up in a search that otherwise would not without the words you added. Only a human mind can make those connections. By sharing those words the serach engine is effectivly "check with you" when it does its serach.

Again thanks you Jeff!

Ben

Message Edited by Ben on 03-05-2010 08:20 AM

[JÞB]

Thanks Ben,

I guess its time to start my own tag cloud-- And add "Scroll to the bottom and View All>Top tags" 

[Ben]

Please forgive me if you read this already.

The search engine is smart enough to ignore underscores. So by constructing tags using an underscore between key words let you create a connection between them.

All tags (a text string delimited by spaces before and after) are counted and a connection made when they are included for the same post.

So by constructing hierachial names and grouping them in a sinlge post you create structure that if repeated, will create your own outline.

If we stick to the same methdology then the Forums tag cloud becomes the union of all contributors and there fore bigger and better than just mine alone. Don't worry about all of the other tags already in the forums cloud. They will only helps us latter when we include those terms in our clouds.

Stepping back:

Random tag names are like a pile of leeves.

Once we establish a branch in our tree of knowlege, the rnadoms will find their place in the structure.

Ben

[JÞB]

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Ben wrote:

Please forgive me if you read this already.

The search engine is smart enough to ignore underscores. So by constructing tags using an underscore between key words let you create a connection between them.

All tags (a text string delimited by spaces before and after) are counted and a connection made when they are included for the same post.

So by constructing hierachial names and grouping them in a sinlge post you create structure that if repeated, will create your own outline.

If we stick to the same methdology then the Forums tag cloud becomes the union of all contributors and there fore bigger and better than just mine alone. Don't worry about all of the other tags already in the forums cloud. They will only helps us latter when we include those terms in our clouds.

Stepping back:

Random tag names are like a pile of leeves.

Once we establish a branch in our tree of knowlege, the rnadoms will find their place in the structure.

Ben

---

I just started this thread for tag discussion

I'll Copy Ben's post there- and invite the debate.