you know when Johnny Carson was on TV and he'd take a vacation ?? they would show vintage or 'classic' old shows ?? well here's a 'classic' jniolon post that might need repeating...

insert commercial here for hearing aids or beer or whatever

begin...

Well that sound you heard was me dragging my soapbox out from under my desk to begin an epistle.

I'm an old timer here so just by seniority I get to rant sometimes. I'm beginning to see a pattern that is going to cause a problem down the road. Maybe it's from the newbies or some of us that are just lazy (which I tend to be sometimes) but I need to remind those guilty parties about this.

Thread titles... We have a search engine that does a pretty good job finding the stuff we didn't bookmark or said "I don't need that info" then two weeks later you do... but maybe that only happens to me. There are also some of us that don't frequent this site daily and miss stuff before it falls of the bottom of the screen. Some of us 'weekly readers' will scan the titles looking for something that interests them or that they can actually help with.

When you make a post with a title of "question" or "I need" or "how many" and my favorite "?" it doesn't give you a clue on post content so we have to open the post to read that your "question" was about what type of hubcap grease the Argentinian truck builders used in the '46 models. So 6,000 people open the thread and finding out they haven't got a clue have wasted some time and I have less time than hub cap grease.

All of us need to put something descriptive...pertaining to the post in the title. That way the search engine can find pertinent information faster and those with out knowledge of Argentinian grease can move along. Besides, theres a whole lot better chance I'm gonna open a thread titled "Argentinian hubcap grease" than one titled "What type".

It could be that I'm just a crusty old codger in my 6th decade and realize that I've got fewer years in front than behind me and don't want to waste them or it could be that clearer definitive titles will help everybody.

and for those that want to search the forum and can't make the search engine do what you want... look at the picture below for an alternate method


I don't know how to type the sound of the box being shoved back under the desk...(pretend you hear a coffin being drug across the floor...it's a big box) but it's there now. End of rant... ya'll have a nice weekend

john

 

Good advice. FYI. The Argentinian grease actually is imported from Chile.

 

Well said crusty old codger

 

I try Dave, I really try

 

Can I also add my pet peeve?

I hate it when people link pictures from another site. If for some reason you decide to let your **insert name of picture bearing account here** account lapse, or decide to take some pictures of your custom clutch linkage fabrication off so your wife can add pictures of the family vacation, or if FTE updates their software, (rarely changes the way other files are linked, but it happens) or if **insert name of picture bearing account here** updates theirs, or if , then I end up using the before mentioned search engine to find your post, only to find "photo not found" or "the user has removed this picture" or I sit and wait for the picture to load and get a time out error message.

Please upload your pictures to FTE so people can benefit from them ten years from now. Sure, it cost FTE some storage space, but that's what it's here for. If they didn't want you to do it, they wouldn't give you the option.

(sliding Jniolon's coffin back under his desk. It's a big desk.)

 

If I may add please edit your profile info to add your location and put the year and model truck you are working on in your signature block or in the body of your post. It is frustrating when I have a limited amount of time to post and have to search for the information. Not all of can magically know that your question about a replacement hood latch is for your 47 Mercury M5, or that you live in S Africa.

 

Something else worth mentioning in the thread titles is the type of truck you need help with if appropriate. Good thread jniolon.

 

Well, since it appears that you are done with the soapbox for the time being...please bear with me while I take my turn on the boards.

First, as Jimmy just mentioned, a year and model in the posting title would go along way to helping out those interested in helping. As our beloved Crusty Ol' Codger pointed out, time is sometimes a rare commodity and seems to be in short supply. I don't have the excuse of the 6+ decades so it must be that I'm just grumpy but when I log on and start scanning through the post titles I end up skipping the majority of them due to the fact that the titles don't convey any info and I don't feel compelled to open the thread to see if it might be something that I had experience with.

Second, sometimes a little punctuation could go along way to helping some threads im not saying we all need to be english professors or have advanced degrees but sometimes it hard to follow the train of thought of the poster or get a clue as to what he or she is getting at or wanting to know (dang, that was hard)

Third, well, ok, there is no third. All this preaching has made me quite parched. Seeing that its Friday afternoon and I'm so desperately parched I think its time I vacate the soapbox and chase down a frosty cold beverage.


.....NEXT.....

 

Are you saying at the bottom of this desk lies a big big man JNIOLON!
Sorry couldn't resist. .

 

Ok, so I was reading the thread title and it seemed to be lacking in the descriptiveness area, maybe should have been "thread titles; a rant by John"
Also I couldnt get your search link to work for me...

Just kidding, seriously don't go grabbing that big club from under your desk. I'm hardly never serious!
You make some good points and I've noticed it as well, I'm probably guilty once in a while as well.

Cheers
And have a great weekend my friends