# Beginners a little confusing?



## andyfromotley (19 Jan 2010)

Like most on here i am very fond of the beginners section. Its where i started and i have a sticky in there of which i am inordinately proud.

It used to be simple, you were new you went to beginners and asked away. You got better at using the site/cycling and shuffled of to other areas.

Now we have a 'welcome' section where newbies say hello. Si if i dont go in there i dont get to say hello. Now i notice that there is an increasing tendency to move which bike, which pedals etc threads presumably to the kit section which is again somwhere else that newbies will have to find.

Point being that today there were about 6 moved threads on the first page of the beginners section. 

It all seemed somewhat simpler and friendlier the way it used to be. 

Just my thoughts

Andy


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## Muddyfox (20 Jan 2010)

Its probably due to a European health and safety directive 

I agree Andy .. beginners questions should remain in the beginners section 

It's a bit like the review section ... all the threads are locked so you cant ask a specific question about the product to the reviewer ? 

Simon


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## Shaun (20 Jan 2010)

Jakes Dad said:


> It's a bit like the review section ... all the threads are locked so you cant ask a specific question about the product to the reviewer?



It's like that to stop reviews becoming diluted. You can still send a PM to the reviewer, and if you read the sticky you can also add to any particular review with your own experiences of a particular product/service.

Ideally reviews work better when there is an article system - where the review is posted as the main content of the page, then members can add short, simple comments underneath.

This is planned for some time later in the year, and I'll hopefully be able to convert all the current reviews into articles and allow people to comment (as you've suggested). 

Cheers,
Shaun


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## Shaun (20 Jan 2010)

andyfromotley said:


> Like most on here i am very fond of the beginners section. Its where i started and i have a sticky in there of which i am inordinately proud.
> 
> It used to be simple, you were new you went to beginners and asked away. You got better at using the site/cycling and shuffled of to other areas.
> 
> *Now we have a 'welcome' section where newbies say hello.* Si if i dont go in there i dont get to say hello.



I agree, and used to spend most of my time on C+ in beginners, but I think the _Welcome Mat_ has been a great success and has helped a lot of people get off the CC blocks and make their first post.

Hovering over Beginners but not feeling too sure about what to ask can be a bit unnerving for some, whereas saying a simple 'Hello' is, well, simple. 

I appreciate it's maybe a bit of a frivolous sub-forum, but it seems to work okay.



andyfromotley said:


> Now i notice that there is an increasing tendency to move which bike, which pedals etc threads presumably to the kit section which is again somwhere else that newbies will have to find.
> 
> Point being that today there were about 6 moved threads on the first page of the beginners section.
> 
> ...



I appreciate what you're saying and will have a word with the mods about a possible review of what gets moved.

Cheers,
Shaun


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## BearPear (20 Jan 2010)

As a noob myself, I have always found everyone to be welcoming and helpful (I am sure to have asked basic questions and got great answers with nobody patronising me).

I have always found that the answers to life's questions are to be found on forums!


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## andyfromotley (20 Jan 2010)

Thank you Shaun,

i'm not getting het up about it, and it doesn't seem to have struck a chord here so it may well be theres no prob.

andy


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## HJ (23 Jan 2010)

FWIW I think that Beginners should be a section where basic questions should be asked about anything including kit, bikes etc. and if there any patronising answers these should be removed. If the questions are more technical in nature, then they should be move to a more appropriate section, with more freedom to give answers which may go over the heads of beginners. Just a thought.


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## andyfromotley (24 Jan 2010)

HJ said:


> FWIW I think that Beginners should be a section where basic questions should be asked about anything including kit, bikes etc. and if there any patronising answers these should be removed. If the questions are more technical in nature, then they should be move to a more appropriate section, with more freedom to give answers which may go over the heads of beginners. Just a thought.



+1


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## Steve Austin (25 Jan 2010)

HJ said:


> FWIW I think that Beginners should be a section where basic questions should be asked about anything including kit, bikes etc. and if there any patronising answers these should be removed. If the questions are more technical in nature, then they should be move to a more appropriate section, with more freedom to give answers which may go over the heads of beginners. Just a thought.



I think this is what happens. The mods only move stuff that is technical in query, and leave the genuine beginners questions there for all.


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## HJ (25 Jan 2010)

If that were the case then this thread wouldn't have started, there do seem to be a lot of threads moving...


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## Steve Austin (26 Jan 2010)

Thats because there are a lot of technical questions asked in Beginners


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## andyfromotley (28 Jan 2010)

i guess its a balancing act steve.

Technical queries asked by beginners would probably be of interest to fellow beginners. Shuffling them off to other forums will limit that audience. The same is even more true for what bike questions.

I guess i was just querying if we are getting that balance right.

andy


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