I joined hoping to post a question and establish a thread.
I did this a while ago - 3 weeks..
After I posted, I received a quick link or referral which I needed help with so I posted back..
I was hoping someone would answer but no one ever did.
This not my forum so I cannot make the rules but if you only get one shot, it is hard to solve a problem.
Could someone please enlighten me about this forum so I can decide what to do in the future?
There is another Win 7 forum which has a face much like this one.
Thank you
It is important to note, as well, that our staff is comprised of volunteers and staff who have experience in both information technology, but first and foremost, dealing with forum management and individuals. Many of our forum staff are busy working behind the scenes combating spam bots, relaying information back and forth in our staff forum, and engaging in moderator duties. This is the first priority for most of the staff on the site, with answering questions when available coming in at a distant second. An assumption cannot be made that we cannot answer all, or even some questions at any given time, although many of our staff and long-term members have encouraged themselves to do so. This is because, in my view, they have realized that when they needed help, they were able to receive it from someone else.
The goal and vision of this site is for information to be transparent, and therefore, how you word a thread, how concise the information is in it, and how much of a priority it is to other members of the Windows community can all play a role in how many responses you receive. While not everyone will receive a response, if your thread is titled and worded in such a way that other people may search on the same problem using Google, Bing, or Yahoo, it is quite possible you would receive an answer down the road.
Since we can give no guarantee that our staff members themselves can always respond to every post (this is not our goal), we do try our best to answer posts when the availability presents itself. Most of us have lives outside of the website, but work studiously on the website when available. Because staff members are essentially moderators, unless stated otherwise, the goal, for example, of most staff members, is to maintain order and resolve disputes on the forum. In the case of Mitchell, he provides answers to questions such as these and is available for planning a response to community questions and news. As the site continues to evolve, the role each member players on the site has changed as well. Often times, I am busy with the programming aspects of the site, whereas in the past I was more concerned with aesthetics. Randy Baker (Trouble) is a CCNA site admin, and you will often find him responding to some of the more difficult questions. Internally, he is providing important information about concerns and ideas that may affect the site in the future.
Overall, when and if moderators respond to threads and posts is entirely up to them, although you may find that they are good natured and willing to do so. We also have stipulations that if moderators aren't moderating and just lurking about the site that they should at least post something every once in awhile - usually that will come in the form of an answer to a question or an important news related item re: Microsoft technology such as Windows 7.
So wherefore we are all committed to helping our community, the goal of the website is ultimately to be an information repository where members are capable of answering each others questions. The best and most popular threads on the forum which you will find, have involved an enormous amount of community contribution. This could never be possible if only moderators and admins answered messages. I hope that this explains the role of the Windows 7 Forums staff.
And yes, you are correct that there are many other forums trying to provide the same service. Of those services, we have tried to work with them in the past, but they are engaged in their own goals, which may not be the same as ours. In all instances, we are trying to put our members first and, at least in my case, my vision for the future of this site is to make sure that our members have the best possible technology at their disposal to actually send messages, customize profiles, create social groups, and make use of all of the website's features. I work directly with the vBulletin pre-release team and Crawlability, Inc. to provide bug reports and occasional feature proposals. I believe that this, in the long term, is in the best interest of the website.
Last year saw us integrate Facebook into the site and provide many other features which allowed many members to participate easily on the site. We also increased our anti-spam measures, as forum sites are a prime target for spam due to their open nature.
Ultimately, if your question is not answered to your satisfaction, you may express such in your thread. However, if you receive no response after an extended duration of time, it is quite possible no one knows the answer to this question, or more information needs to be provided. Under all circumstances, however, while we try our best to both moderate and answer every single question, we are keenly aware that such a proposition is not possible for our moderator group. We keep in close communication on important internal issues and you would be surprised at the level of internal discussion that does go on between admins on a weekly and even daily basis.
I hope that this is a complete answer for you regarding this issue. Thank you.