Is there any place for a new section???

I know this not the first request on this. But i figure it can be interesting to have a "newbie", "My first program" or "I can't make it work :-( " section.

I have to agree that new ones have to look in the FAQ section first but, it can be interesting to have one section for that.

Many many question are ask many time sometime in the same day/week/month with a bit variation in the header name.

Many of them, at the end, refer to settings of

• 1. Internal osc
  2. Configuration fuse
  3. ADCON, ANSEL,CMCON.... and such most know now :)

So can it be possible to create one ?

I'm i the only one who want/wish it???

Or simply always say to new user to see the FAQ is a good way to keep other forum section clean ?

OR some specific section

• 1. Serial communication
  2. LCD problem
  3. I2CREAD/I2CWRITE
  4. ...

can also be handy and easyer to use | search in ???

It's only a proposition !

The FAQ section is supposed to have been for those FAQ's that keep cropping up especially from newbies. I started the ball rolling with a whole heap of posts with the hope that others would carry on. Unfortunately there hasn't been that much interest in other contributions. Why not use that section for creating posts to help others – it's what it’s there for. We asked for it, and now it's been forgotten and abandoned.

Hi Melanie, Hi Steve

Some might want to hit me for this....


I did a request for similar categories some time ago.

I thought categories like FAQ, Schematics, Code Examples, documentation . . .

...should bring up valid answers to questions, tested schematics and code examples.

But I had to realize this would mean someone would have to look at every single posting
to decide whether or not it is to go "online"

Who is going to cope with that administrative overhead?

On the other hand:

If you are searching for a code example or schematic on "our" forum
you'll probably find more requests for code / schematics than solutions,
which is a bit frustrating.

Many "newbie" questions have already been answered many times.

What I do at the moment is:
If I can remember a thread that was about the same thing I post a link to that thread.
I'm tired of and haven't got the time answering the same questions over and over again.

And I'm sure Melanie is already tired and Steve will get tired of doing so.

Another thing is:
keeping the forum alive is a give and take.
I see only few members "giving", but many members "taking"

I would expect at least a "thanks, that has solved my problem"
or any other feedback would be nice.

While typing, many other things pop to mind,
but I'll stop here and leave to an open discussion.

regards

Ralph

Well it was just a question. Thanks to Melanie an Ralph for your honesty on that.

I think we will leave it like this. Posting a link to thread it's an idea i do sometimes too.

By the way, and i know it was already post before, the thread title should give a good idea of what the thread is about. I mean "newbie need help" "help with code" mean absolutely nothing and it's not a good reference for anyone if they're looking for something more specific.

Quote:

---

I would expect at least a "thanks, that has solved my problem"
or any other feedback would be nice.

---

i agree with this Ralph.

Steve,

as Melanie already mentioned,

this should not stop us from posting to the FAQ category,

but I think stuff posted there should be bullet proof

regards

Ralph

Most questions have been answered many times over and it's tiresome that people don't bother searching through the posts here, or in the MeLabs archives first. Naturally it's easier to post a question and get an answer handed to you on a plate than make the slightest effort in finding the answer for yourself. I always fail to see what's wrong with getting a breadboard, shoving a few components into it and writing a couple of lines of code to see what would happen, rather than first posting a message saying "How can I interface my PIC with my Toaster" or "Can you do my homework for me (because I'm too busy or bone-idle to do it for myself)?" Believe it or not that actually happened on the email forum a few years back!

Actually what you need is a "Last Logged-On" Date against the Members names – like they do on the dating websites. Most folks join the forum for a reason... that being their project is broke and they don't know how to fix it and would rather someone else did it for them. Thereafter they're never heard from again. As for contributing, well... According to my "Who’s using what?" survey, there’s only a core of about forty-five of us here anyway - and I do applaud the honesty of one of those saying they're only here for ideas!

As a newbie to the whole PIC programming issue and as someone who has no problem coming up with an opinion please allow me to put in my two cents worth.

I'd be the first to admit that I haven't given anything back here. It's not because I don't want to. I read ever new post to see if there is a shred of question that I can relate to, but unfortunately all of them are still way beyond the learning curve for me.

Since I do this as a hobby and don't have a lot of time for it my path to understanding all the bits and bytes and why and how of a PIC could very well take a long time.

I'm grateful for the help I've received here and I feel that in any of my posts I've always been polite and thankful for the answers I've received. If, for any reason, that hasn't been the case then someone please call me out on it so I can correct it.

I have noticed the board is never very busy, but threads have a lot of views. It is unfortunate that more people looking won't contribute and help spread the "job" of answering questions around a little. Not everyone looking can be a newbie so they shouldn't be afraid to jump in and get their feet wet.

Finally special thanks to those of you who helped me achieve a greater understanding of random number generation. I can pretty much write random number programs with my eyes closed now!

Regards,

Bart

Hello folks,

Ok, I am a little slow on responding <g> Forgive me on this.

A few things come to mind when I read through this.

1. People reading, but not responding.
2. FAQ and How it is going.
3. Bullet Proof Examples on FAQ.


Just a few of my opinions which may or maynot be correct.

#1. People Reading but not Responding.

Though I cannot speak for all, I will speak for myself. There are many times I have read, but not responded. The reasons are as follows:

1. I have not dealt specifically with that arena, and my response would not be appropriate to help solve the situation. I don't like the blind leading the blind. If I post, I want to make sure I have solid code that *they* can check out, or a solid Idea that I have worked with, and been successful in implementing.

If I know of some code that may spring a problem, then I will mention it. I may not have knowledge of the project, but I always look at the Code if possible.

I also do about 98 percent of my reading from work. Thus, when I am on this forum, I am at work. My work is Programming computers in C/C++, Accounting, and Networking. In actuallity PIC's are a "Hobby" for me. A enjoyable hobby in which I started out with Phillips EPROM Mico-chips and switched to PICS. Should I spend a lot of time on this forum??? Well, depends on how you look at it...It helps me keep in tune with Micro-chip programming, as well as my other programming. I cannot test anything here at work that deals with PICS, but I can surely do my best to help others with ideas... and code.

Then another reason why I may not answer, lies in the problem of me signing on to late, or not seeing the message until later. If Member XYZ has already said what my answer is, why should I waste that members time reading through 2 exact same answers? If they need a recap for clarity, then I will answer. But I am not going to answer just for a "Higher Count" or Seniority status <g>. (I seriously doubt if this happens here, but I couldn't find another excuse for myself for not answering). <chuckle> Thus, the Lurking count goes up, but the response does not!.
With this info, comparing the Lurking and answer counters probably does not reflect the true situation at all times...I am a optimous... I want to think that the counters don't reflect people being lazy most all of the time, but rather some folks may not have the knowledge, or their answer may be a similar answer that has already been posted.

#2. FAQ... I think it is EXCELLENT. The uploads are extremely good. I think the reason why FAQ is not LARGE, is based on the idea that some things are just plain to *easy*. One must assume a person has *some* knowledge of programming a PIC, (or at least using a programming language). There are many examples given in the Manual of PIC. And to cover the exact same thing in the Manual is rather fruitless?
Thus, one must wait until a question comes up that the manual is a little "unclear" on. Or maybe a question that is out of the ordinary, and isn't exactly covered in the manual or other places.
The FAQ must be EXACT and to the POINT. So that a user can see the Title and say "YES, this covers what I am talking about, nothing else". The very second the thread starts to drift away from the topic, the user is starting to waste their time reading through goop that should not be in the FAQ. When a user starts to do this, the FAQ will begin to fail. YOu may as well do a search through the entire forum for your answer.
I would not expect the FAQ to be LARGE. But quite the opposite. I would expect it to be small, and quite percise on things that people have problems with.
How many different ways do you write to a LCD with PBP?
How many ways do you do a AD covert?
How many ways do you use a comparator?
How many ways do you use a timer and its interupt?

All of these questions are easily answered. and may or maynot make it in the FAQ. (Probably should make it though).
It is the programming inbetween that stumps, or gets the best of us... (or at least me <g>). And this programming inbetween usually has no business in the FAQ. Its a individual problem on their project. Not something that comes up every day of the week.

#3 FAQ MUST BE BULLET PROOF. Ralph is correct. All examples must be compiled and tested. Step throughs should be a good solid foundation for troubleshooting. If *all* possible, the FAQ should cover *all* angles of the situation. Granted it may be difficult to know and remember all angles, but it is important to know that posted material will/should work as described. People rely upon the FAQ for working solutions, or possible ideas to their problems.

Ok folks... sorry about the delay.... you can come tear this kid up now!

Dwayne