Improving Hotrodders.com forum thread title quality
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| − | + | ==Summary== | |
| − | + | The titles of forum threads on the [http://www.hotrodders.com/forum Hotrodders Bulletin Board] can, in some cases, be significantly improved upon. Many of them are vague, boilerplate, and occasionally, completely useless. | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | A high-quality thread title serves various purposes: | |
| − | + | *Cues the potential thread-answerer as to the nature of the question, and provides him/her with a basic summary of the details. | |
| − | + | *Provides superior indexing in the forum search engine. | |
| − | + | *Provides superior indexing in Google and other external search engines. | |
| − | + | *Gives additional details to those who may be researching their automotive questions via the site search engine. | |
| − | + | ||
| + | The purpose of this wiki entry is to summarize the problem, suggest solutions, and act upon them. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Examples of low-quality forum thread titles== | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Zero metadata=== | ||
| + | *"Need help" | ||
| + | *"Have a question" | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Minimal metadata=== | ||
| + | *"Engine problem" | ||
| + | *"Problem with GTO" | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Begging=== | ||
| + | *"Please, please help me right now" | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==High-quality thread titles== | ||
| + | A high-quality title effectively summarizes the thread, and gives the reader a solid hint as to what it will contain. With automotive threads, this will typically include: | ||
| + | |||
| + | *A very brief description of the problem/issue. | ||
| + | *Details on the relevant part or vehicle, including year, make, and model. | ||
| + | |||
| + | It's often wasteful to include the text "problem", "question", "help", "issue" etc., as these are generally implied anyway. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Proposed solutions== | ||
| + | ===Nagging/reminding=== | ||
| + | *A bold, red-text reminder in the vicinity of the box into which the user types the thread title. | ||
| + | *A "nag screen". When the user goes to make a new post, he will instead see a special screen reminding him to properly title his thread. This screen could optionally be removed for those with > X posts. | ||
| + | *Mass PM to all users. | ||
| + | *Reminder via the site newsletter. | ||
| + | *Sticky posts. | ||
| + | *Use of admin/moderator signatures to reinforce the message. | ||
| + | *Sending a boilerplate PM to those who post low-quality thread titles. | ||
| + | |||
| + | If the above options are pursued, it's important to properly incentivize the user. Users should know that a proper thread title will increase the chances of their thread being read, and thus increase the chances of receiving a solid answer. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===More active moderator thread title editing=== | ||
| + | If mods see a low-quality title, they can alter it. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Criticism== | ||
| + | *This is a non-issue. | ||
| + | *It's not worth the effort required. | ||
| + | *People won't change, so why waste time trying to change them? | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Miscellaneous== | ||
| + | *Humorous and relevant video on proper posting is [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/posting here]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==References== | ||
| + | [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_economy Attention economy] | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[Category:Hotrodders.com]] | ||
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