Question about something, somewhere...
 

If you clicked on this posting, chances are you were intrigued (or perhaps frustrated) by its ambiguity. And that is exactly my point.

There seems to be a spate of postings lately with headings such as, "Restaurant Question..." or "Hotel Question" or my personal favorite "Question for Travelers..." (boy, that really narrows it down on this forum!). So, with tongue firmly in cheek, I have listed a few reminders to those of you who may be having trouble receiving specific answers to your "questions." Anyone out there who wishes to chime in, please feel free!

1. Officially (as of 2004) there are now restaurants and hotels in every one of the fifty states. Including the name of the city and state about which you are inquiring will greatly increase your chances of getting a response from someone familiar with that specific region.

2. You may have picked "California" as your topic when you entered your post, however, that topic does not appear when you actually click on the "post my message" icon. You may think "Continental Inn" is enough to go on but many cities have one.

3. Before posting, click on "preview my message." Can YOU understand what you're asking? Can your friends? How about your family? Are you actually asking anything? What does your editor think? Have you taken the correct dosage of your medication? Should your posting be added to the already lengthy things-that-make-you-go-hmmm list?

4. Have you misspelled the word "restaurant"? Some common examples include: "resturant"; "restrunt"; "retsurant"; "restraunt" and the ever popular "might good eats." Okay, so I made that last one up.

5. Did you correctly spell the name of the city in your heading/posting? I don't want to make this about spelling, however, misspelling the city you're traveling to makes many people wonder if you've done ANY research on where you're going (It also insults the people who live there). So, make sure you put that third "t" in Seatttle!

6. Your turn.

AL

sarcastic but necessary

"Are you actually asking something?" LOL!

I dunno. What was the question again? :D

My favorite ones are the ones labelled very simply, like "Help"!

or the ones where no clues are given in the title as to location and, when the thread is opened, no clue is given in the message either! :)

What irks me are the ones who post the same question 2 and 3 times instead of looking for their original question! OR they don't go back to see if anyone answered their posts!
These are the same people who post numerous times if they don't get an answer in 10 minutes!

Also people who do not search the boards before posting. Granted if it's a last minute thing, this is understandable, but as Al LaCarte stated, it does appear that sometimes people do not do any research at all! There is a reason for the "search" feature! (I, myself being a research queen, I guess am at a loss for understanding this!)

Another reason for putting city and state. There are numerous states that have similar or same city names.

Also baffled at how many people travel somewhere and don't consult a map or check mapquest until possibly the last minute.

Basically this thread should be retitled: POSTING TIPS FOR NEWBIES! ;;-)

The last thing I let this forum do is frustrate me. I guess I don't take it a serious as others do. I'm sure there are those who dont know the proper etiquette here and I have no problem giving them a free pass.:-)

Like the post above, I allow nothing to really bother me on this board but I would like to see everyone put travel dates into any question about rates and fares.
I can actually assist if they put in the dates... otherwise their guess is as good as mine
I'll tell everyone I am staying at the Four Seasons Pierre on March 29-29... I have no fear that someone will stalk me. Hell, you have no clue who I am! Hundreds of people will be in that hotel on those dates.
It's as if people think they are jeopardizing their safety by announcing the dates.

You KNOW, you are going to get the response "But I posted this on the New York (Florida/Hawaii/ Board!" Then we'll have another looooong thread trying to explain that there is no such thing....

When someone wants a recommendation for "affordable" lodging or dining that means nothing. Affordable to me may mean too much or too little to someone else. Try posting a price range that you'd be willing to pay. It's fun to help people plan for great travel but when it's like pulling teeth you just gotta move on.

Ok, this is picky, please don't end every sentence with !!!!!

Yes, it's great you're excited about your trip, but one ! is fine. In fact, one ! per post is fine.


Also, if you don't want feedback, don't post. No matter what you post, someone will have a different opinion about it. Not even "Sunny days are wonderful" is safe. Someone will point out that rain is necessary for flowers to bloom.

AND THEN THERE ARE THOSE WHO type everything in caps. Fodors maybe should provide a bit more info on the "new subject" page ... even tho it does state "Make your message easy to find: Give it a clear, identifying title,..."

But then they add ".. and pick the most accurate search topic" .. which I'm sure makes the newbies think those will be in the subject. If Fodors only gave a bit more info, and examples, on that screen, we'd see much better questions.

This post should be required reading for all "newbies" and some regulars.

My pet peeve are those asking if the airfare quote they have is a bargain but neglect to tell you their departure city.

Excellent. I believe that #2 is responsible for many of the vague headers that drive us all nuts. And frankly, I blame fodors for not making it clear that when you choose the state or country, that does NOT appear in your post. It's such an easy mistake for a newbie to make.

You think these are bad? What about the ones on the Europe forum which say "We're thinking of going to Europe for two weeks. Where should we go and what should we see? Help on hotels and restaurants would be appreciated too"?

Maybe Fodor's should consider showing the topic (abbreviated) before the title of each post-- as a helpful hint. What about it, Fodor's?!

Also, people who post vague questions: Don't get all bent out of shape when others point out the vagueness of your request. We're not being nasty, it's just that we're not mindreaders. We're here to share the love.... :)

Oh great swami what am I thinking...

%%- + ((B)) = \:D/

Don't know about all y'all but I have better things to worry about!!!!!!
Don't like the headings, don't open!!!!!

And John, you are opposed to offering suggestions to people on how to make the forum work better for all -- for what reason? Why would anyone be opposed to making something better or be opposed to people learning?

I guess if you have a child who does something wrong, it makes more sense to just ignore it than to correct him so he learns?

So now we have to discipline newbies as we would our own children?

You call offering suggestions of how to be better, discipline? You have a strange way of looking at things, doc?

Suggesting to a kid that he should say "please" and "thank you" is discipline? No, it's part of learning. Just as suggesting to a new poster how to write a header or how to post to get better answers is not discipline, but helpful learning.

I repeat, why would anyone be opposed to people learning?

Al, you got me. I opened it to see if Bunch was back.

Patrick, As I posted earlier,I just dont take this forum as serious as others do. I dont come here to educate people on how to post.

fine, doc, I understand that, but why are you opposed to other people trying to help others?

I think some peeps around here are:

1. Control freaks
2. Don't have enough to worry about in real life
3. Have a sense of entitlement about a web site that doesn't belong to them
4. Probably all the same person anyway, aka the BORG, lmao!

If you try to help people, they'll do a better job next time they post. I'd rather have someone say "Dan, where the hell are you talking about?" than have people just ignore it.

Patrick,
Questionmotives pretty much explains the general gist of the situation.

questionmotives, guess I'm guilty, because #2 and #4 apply to me! LMAO

Nope, not much to worry about in real life currently (thank God) and have been a part of the Borg for some time now.

Maybe a better approach to this would be a numbered list we can all contribute to for newbies? ie

1. Please put city and state in your header
2. Please put travel dates when necessary (weather, events, fares, etc.)
3. Please be aware that posting a message will put your post in a general US forum, and will not be designated by state
4. Please put price range when asking for lodging prices
5. If you are asking for help outside the US, please consult the other Fodors forums
6. Please list interests when asking for things to do in an area

Well, you get the idea....this way no one is offended, and a newbie who may not know better will be all the more wiser, and thus makes it easier for us who want to help give advice

Ohhhhh so that is how you all want it done.. damn me for not reading this one first..

GET A LIFE

but if everyone followed all these rules, and did all the research before deciding whether to post, what would ya'll do then to kill time?

Ya know, uuhhhh, this forum is a treasure trove of scandal and conflict, so even experienced participants will find something to waste their time discussing. Have you forgotten the whole "San Francisco Is a Dump/San José Is the Hottest Tourist Destination in the World" tussle...?

Nikkin's impossibly vague post was politely corrected by several veteran posters, causing Nikkin to mouth off like a jerk, which he/she continues to do. The point is, if I may be so bold, that if you want help in the form of free advice, it behooves you to ask for it in a way that makes sense to the readers of this board. If you don't wish to do that, great, get your advice elsewhere.

It's pretty simple, actually.

And this is just my tactic:
After checking various websites for airfare, hotels, car rentals, etc, I then narrow my choices down to about 5-10 possible scenarios. I then check tripadvisor.com for reviews. I check some guide books and search Yahoo or Google for more infomation.

AFTER I have done this, I will post some questions that CAN'T be answered by most guidebooks or website here. I have also found this site helpful when deciding between 2 locations or 2 different parts of a city, something which can usually only be found here. A guide book can never tell you that.

You can do research up the wazoo and STILL have questions, as most of us do.

i really try not to let anything bother on fodors. i do fail on occasion. what truly bothers me though is when people don't answer the question posted, but proceed to lecture you about something.
also, i've read nikkin's post and he/she is testing me right now...but i'll stay strong and not bite :-)

I just think that it's funny that people will post things like, "I have better things to worry about than this", and "You all take this too seriously"...if you REALLY have better things to worry about or if you REALLY don't care, then you wouldn't bother to post at all in this thread...especially three or four times. I just think it's funny. I obviously DON't have anything better to worry about. :)

Yeah, see post called "Hotel Question"...I simply said "that there is no state section, it is just United States" and me among others got some choice attitude from the poster....good example.

I, too, don't get what some posters are asking. It seems some people like to do no research at all and ask others to plan a trip for them.

What I love are these questions:
--Is the hotel pool open? (Why not go right to the source and check the hotels web site.)
--What is there to do in... (If you have already planned a trip there, why did you select that city if you didn't have a reason? How did you decide to go somewhere if you didn't know what there is to do?)
--Where should we go?
--What state, city, etc. has the friendliest people etc. These types of questions are silly and a waste of time. How anyone can make a statement about something this silly without visiting each and every place mentioned is impossible.

Fodors is a perfect place to get opinions from someone on items of a travel related nature. However, you shouldn't use Fodor's to get factual information. Unless you happen to get a response from a poster who was just visiting where you wanted to go their advice may not be accurate. Places change frequently. There are excellent web sites for mileage and routing suggestions. Most cities and attractions have web sites. The most minimal of personal research is appreciated.

Chomp!
I seem to have this liking for reasonably current info here-it's a tad crazy to rave about a restaurant or hotel that one experienced, oh say, 2-10 years ago having no idea that said place has
a) Tanked
b) closed for renovation
c) the current state of what the
kitchen puts out deserves a
negative star rating of 2
d) the original super fave chef of the
week who opened the place is long
gone and has been replaced by
fast food management
e) the housekeeping staff has been
downsized to a coin laundry and
a swifer mop in your bath
e) yours ?
and then said persons argue that it's the best/greatest/etc. heaven on earth
establishment even though you were there yesterday.
Thank you, I now will pass the soapbox to.....
R5

Just an informal poll:

A) Can we get a count of how many new arrivals to the Fodors boards read this thread and learned something about how to post?

B) As sort of an accounting measure, to help balance out the remaining visitors - how many just popped on to enjoy comparing notes on pet peeves?

Odds? Can I get some odds? ;)

I'd think that if someone isn't looking at the first 50 threads that are already showing and seeing how things work, then they're not going to dig down to find this one because it's the one with all the answers. I found it at #106, but only because I was killing time. They don't click the "Help" link either.

Wouldn't you think the surest way to show that those sorts of approaches don't work, would be to ignore them and let them sink into obscurity? From what I've seen, they seem to get the most attention and are constantly topped by the same people who are objecting to them. I don't mean this as a slam I've just been noticing a lot of that sort of thing on the Europe board lately and thought it seemed sort of self-perpetuating.

This thread started out humorous, but seems to be sliding in some other direction....

How about some advice for those answering posts?

If you're posting, start by answering the question being asked. If newbie (or anybody) asks for moderately priced hotels, even if you don't know exactly what her definition of "moderate" is, don't then go on about how they must stay at the Ritz Carlton. Or if they say they want to go to the west coast of Florida, don't provide info on the east coast. If you want to give extra advice, at least acknowledge that you're going off-topic (then you're also showing that you actually read the poster's question), and if you're feeling real generous, why you're providing a different answer (such as, "I've never been to the west coast, but I know this about the east coast," or "that area is rainy that time of year. Have you considered going to Timbuktu instead?").

Provide HELPFUL information in your response. It doesn't help a lot of us if you say "Joe's Bar and Grill is great." Tell us WHY it's great - is it the food, the price, the ambiance, or what?

And for those many who've helped me with info, no, I'm not directing my comments at you, it's just what I've noticed in reading lots and lots of posts...

While guidelines for responding are helpful, it seems to me that people who spend their time and experience trying to be helpful can be cut a little more slack than those who are asking for help but in a way that makes it difficult to respond, and worse, those who are "askers" who criticize the "answerers."

As for nikkin, making a mistake regarding how the forum works and how people use it is excusable; but refusing to admit that you have made a mistake is not, and criticizing people who are trying to show you how not to make the same mistake again is ungracious. Copping an attitude about the whole episode is just plain childish.

Finally, of course someone has done it again: title of new post? "Hotels."

7- It is OK to post again on your thread as people respond, it shows you are reading their replies.
8- It is OK to post a trip report after so we will know if our time and thoughts were of use to you.
9- Spelling mistakes can add humor to otherwise hohum threads..toss the dictionary and practice posting!
10- This is not a test, enjoy yourself and don't worry, be happy~