Greg Ferguson
Legend!
It's time for another bump.
I've been involved in the Internet since it was called ARPANet/DARPANet. I got to see it move from Telnet and FTP through Gopher, played with the early browser and HTML… on and on. And, as a result of working in that environment, I learned to read the documentation that came with a machine, an application, a code library or set of include files, because there was no online community to fall back on, at least not until mail lists and IRC and similar servers showed up. We learned to be self-reliant and read, even if it meant combing through source code reading the comments, because we wanted to know how to use the tools available.
I recently spewed this… screed….
While “RTFM” responses might initially seem unfriendly or too terse, there’s a really good reason people need to read the manuals, several times, along with The Wiki and the Tech Notes.
These are much more complex machines than their competition and questions are inevitable, and, having awareness that the information needed exists in those places sets up a quick scan of the TOC or a search of the contents, and within seconds we can have the answer, without typing in a long-winded question leading to multiple games of 20 questions being played at once as we try to understand the problem and grasp at solutions. I spent years in tech-support, and most questions are answered in the manual, then with a little ingenuity, applied specifically to a situation much more quickly than a question can be typed.
The “regulars” do get tired of elementary questions that are answered in the manuals. These aren’t door knobs or rotary-dial phones that are extremely intuitive objects, they require the user invest some time in becoming familiar with how they work in order to use them effectively. When a question is asked that is clearly answered in the manual, then the fastest solution is to refer someone to the manual and page, without regurgitating that information once again in the forum. The duplication of information, and the constantly reoccurring basic questions in the forums show that people are not investing time in learning how to use their machines. Too many want perfect plug and play while being extremely customizable, and the two seldom mix, so it’s on the user to pick up the slack. We’re not being mean when we say to RTFM, we’re trying to be efficient and help as many people as possible. Of course courtesy and friendliness are prerequisites too.
The average question asked in the forum initially tells us little that is useful, so knowing what to say is important. This is a summary of things I follow and recommend when figuring something out and asking for help:
And, if we say “read page n” in one of the manuals, don’t take it personally. Over the years I bounced off many modelers and multi-effects units, and ended up on Fractal because the units have so much depth to them, but the esoterica leads to a long learning curve. The manuals are well written and the Wiki has a lot of curated information from various forums that gets into the deep magic. I periodically reread the manuals and Wiki because each time some knowledge will click with something else and I get better at using the machine.
Why Won't We Read the Manual?
Why You Should Always Read The Instruction Manual
Seven Reasons People Don’t Read Instructions
Paradox of the active user
So… RTFM to know what's in it and to learn how things work; It's the absolutely fastest path to get help.
And GOMFL!
"Get off my fucking lawn!"
I've been involved in the Internet since it was called ARPANet/DARPANet. I got to see it move from Telnet and FTP through Gopher, played with the early browser and HTML… on and on. And, as a result of working in that environment, I learned to read the documentation that came with a machine, an application, a code library or set of include files, because there was no online community to fall back on, at least not until mail lists and IRC and similar servers showed up. We learned to be self-reliant and read, even if it meant combing through source code reading the comments, because we wanted to know how to use the tools available.
I recently spewed this… screed….
While “RTFM” responses might initially seem unfriendly or too terse, there’s a really good reason people need to read the manuals, several times, along with The Wiki and the Tech Notes.
These are much more complex machines than their competition and questions are inevitable, and, having awareness that the information needed exists in those places sets up a quick scan of the TOC or a search of the contents, and within seconds we can have the answer, without typing in a long-winded question leading to multiple games of 20 questions being played at once as we try to understand the problem and grasp at solutions. I spent years in tech-support, and most questions are answered in the manual, then with a little ingenuity, applied specifically to a situation much more quickly than a question can be typed.
The “regulars” do get tired of elementary questions that are answered in the manuals. These aren’t door knobs or rotary-dial phones that are extremely intuitive objects, they require the user invest some time in becoming familiar with how they work in order to use them effectively. When a question is asked that is clearly answered in the manual, then the fastest solution is to refer someone to the manual and page, without regurgitating that information once again in the forum. The duplication of information, and the constantly reoccurring basic questions in the forums show that people are not investing time in learning how to use their machines. Too many want perfect plug and play while being extremely customizable, and the two seldom mix, so it’s on the user to pick up the slack. We’re not being mean when we say to RTFM, we’re trying to be efficient and help as many people as possible. Of course courtesy and friendliness are prerequisites too.
The average question asked in the forum initially tells us little that is useful, so knowing what to say is important. This is a summary of things I follow and recommend when figuring something out and asking for help:
- Always try several times to solve the problem yourself. Keep track of what you tried, and why it failed.
- Consult the documentation mentioned above, then try step #1 multiple times again, until you’re frustrated beyond belief, then go play your guitar and ruminate on what you read. Go to #1 again.
- After a couple days if you still haven’t figured it out, then create a message in the appropriate sub-forum. Take the time to put it in the right place if you want the fastest responses. Remember, we can tell if someone actually cared enough about fixing the problem by doing this step right.
- Clearly and succinctly describe the places you searched, what pertinent information seemed like it’d help and why it didn’t help. This tells us you tried to help yourself, what you did and possibly what you DIDN’T do that you should have, and it lets us get to the solution much faster. We don’t want to suggest things you already tried as it wastes both of our time.
- Since the majority of problems are related to using a preset, EXPORT IT AND ATTACH IT TO YOUR POST at the top of the thread. Again, this shows us you tried, but even more important, it lets us immediately look into it to see if you did things correctly, and we’re all starting from the same place and talking about the same thing. Failing to do this leads to pages of guesses and back and forth questions and answers, so be preemptive and include the actual preset. It also often helps to include the system+global+fc backup file in case we need to duplicate your machine’s settings. They say a picture is worth 10,000 words, and usually it is, but the preset and system information is worth 1,000,000 words. Don’t bother with a screen snapshot of the preset because we can already see the same information, along with all the other information, and possibly even correct the problem and return the fixed version. If the problem is a UI issue then include a photo of the front-panel, or the editor’s screen, with the problem highlighted somehow.
- Save the message and stay involved in the progress of the thread, answering questions about it as quickly as possible. Keep reading the documents as we suggest them because you might be able to put things together that we can’t. You are the owner of the problem and know what you tried; a good question’s preamble helps us, but only you know the complete story. Being involved in the thread is important because those who ask a question then disappear get a reputation for ghosting us and get fewer responses over time. And remember, if we have your preset in front of us we can look for ourselves and make educated suggestions instead of trying to imagine what you did.
And, if we say “read page n” in one of the manuals, don’t take it personally. Over the years I bounced off many modelers and multi-effects units, and ended up on Fractal because the units have so much depth to them, but the esoterica leads to a long learning curve. The manuals are well written and the Wiki has a lot of curated information from various forums that gets into the deep magic. I periodically reread the manuals and Wiki because each time some knowledge will click with something else and I get better at using the machine.
Why Won't We Read the Manual?
Why You Should Always Read The Instruction Manual
Seven Reasons People Don’t Read Instructions
Paradox of the active user
So… RTFM to know what's in it and to learn how things work; It's the absolutely fastest path to get help.
And GOMFL!
"Get off my fucking lawn!"
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