First impression from a new user

[GR2345]

Hi guys!

I just joined about five minutes ago and (I already want to move the furniture around ) wanted to post my first impressions of the site. I downloaded the trial of Filemaker Pro 11 last night to see if it could meet my needs for a certain project. My experience with database software is very limited and so I set out to find a good forum where I could ask questions. I found this site quickly and saw it is very active and seems to be the best FM site out there. Anyways, to start, I have a simple question about summing values from certain records if those records meet certain conditions. So I looked up and down the list of forums and tried to find the appropriate place for my question. I am a complete beginner to FMP and have no idea whether my task can be accomplished by scripts, finding and searching, relationships, custom functions, or what. While it's a minor problem and I'm not going to worry about posting it in the wrong place, my first impression is that you could use a place for complete beginners to post in. Also, 60+ forum categories seems excessive (it makes a beginner category, which might even exist, hard to find), especially when user groups and community stuff is at the top, before the more used and more informational database questions categories. Again, this looks like a great forum and I hope to figure out FMP with your help so I don't mean to bash the way your forum operates, this is just the first impression I got from the site after I joined.

Thanks

GR2345

[comment]

Don't worry too much about posting in the wrong section - if you make a boo-boo, the moderators will move it a more appropriate one.

Re your question, see this very recent thread:

http://fmforums.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/216548/post/364978/#364978

[bcooney]

Welcome to the Forums!

I'm leaving your question here, so that Stephen sees it. I'm sure your feedback will be helpful.

[Fitch]

I tend to agree that we don't need so many categories, in fact I rarely look at individual forums, I just browse the active or unanswered topics.

However, I can see some value in the categories when I'm looking for specific information.

I also agree that User Groups (and possibly Security and Server) should be moved down, but the forum admins may be intentionally highlighting those sections.

A beginner forum is not a bad idea. Good feedback, and welcome!

[Lee Smith]

Hi guys,

As the Moderator that ends up moving the majority of the errant threads, I can tell you that the newbee topic area did NOT work when we tried it. IIRC, we tested it for about 6 months, and were disappointed that all it seemed to do, was to postpone the inevitable of the new member activitly trying to figure out where to post their questions. There were exceptions of course, some new members bypassed it right off, others used it once or twice, and others waited until their number of post were max out.

IMO, it's less time consuming for me to deal with these missed posts at the start, then to come back later and move the threads to a proper location. In addition, we have the ability to send a Private Topic when we move them, and if you take the time to explain why the topic didn't belong where it was posted, it will speed up their learning process. Since the PT is not seen by anyone other than the member and you, there shouldn't be any embarassment to the member. I always include the phrase "if you have any questions about this action, or think that it should not have been moved, or moved to a different topic, please reply to this Private Topic.

As far as organization of the topics I couldn't agree more, and I know that Stephen is always open to ideas, so be sure to let him know where the Forum can be improved.

my 2¢ worth,

Lee

[TMaher1]

I find this site very confusing!!! Where does one ask for a solution to problem one is having with FMP? (Yes, I've check the official website - THAT'S WHY I AM HERE!)

[bcooney]

Ask anywhere, we'll move it to the correct subforum.

[Lee Smith]

I find this site very confusing!!! 


As I stated above, I agree that our Forum can be confusing to a new member. However, once you've been a member for a little longer than 3 minutes, the organization of the topics will become clearer.

Take the time to review the different topics. You will see that most of them have a short description on what type of questions are expected to be posted in them.

You should review your question and try to determine what FileMaker Functions and Features are involved with it. Because, most questions have been asked more than once in the past, you might want to perform a search for your keywords. Most of the time I use Google for this, as our search engine is somewhat limited, because it will not accept words of less than 4 characters. If you're unable to find an answer that is helpful, then go ahead and post your question in one of the topic areas that best represents the sprit of your question. Do not worry if you miss the mark by a mile, as bcooney posted, we can always move it.

As a side note, this forums is not in any way part of FileMaker Inc., it is just a group of FileMaker developers and users who want to learn, and to share their knowledge with each other. We are all volunteers, and none of us work for FileMaker Inc. However, at the cost of their upgrades you might have a different opinion.

I'm not quite sure who you are yelling at in your post, but as far as I know FileMaker Inc. does not read our forum. But several thousand other people do.

Lee