Rails - Mar 2011 - Back to Basics: Drawing a line between Rails and HTML

Railers (if you allow me to you so),

*before_create*
===========I am not a moderator of Ruby on Rails(RoR) forum, I am not trying to
become
one, and I am not pushing for any moderation of this sort. However, I  am a
bit worried that some of the questions we get on this forum are not really
Ruby on Rails questions. In addition, some of questions are already taken
care of by the many tutorials that are available online.

I know that we have different backgrounds and levels of programming
complexity. I am not in any way trying to scare new Rails developers, but I
think we need to draw a line between RoR and non-RoR questions.

*1. Posting Right Questions*
======================There are some questions that are not necessarily worthy
posting on this
forum. For example, questions on how to create HTML elements like textboxes,
buttons, forms, e.t.c. in Ruby on Rails. These are HTML specific questions.
If one wants to create them using Rails helpers there are tutorials that are
dedicated to that. All in all, there are guides on how to do that on
rubyonrails.org (for example this one:
http://guides.rubyonrails.org/form_helpers.html). If one is not sure of
something in Ruby on Rails, they may search online first, before posting on
this forum. Things are happening very fast. It is very likely that most of
the "general questions" about RoR have been answered via blog posts or
various forums already. *We need to know the difference between a search
engine and a forum*. Only when there is no tutorial or blog post tackling a
particular question then we can go ahead posting it here.

*2. Differentiating between Ruby and Ruby on Rails Questions*
=================================================This is slightly similar to the
first one but I think it needs special
treatment. We need to understand that this forum is not a Ruby forum; it is
a Ruby on Rails forum. I know that this is one of the most difficult thing
to do on this forum; even myself I admit that I am not good at it but
I''m
trying my best. Some of the questions that we tend to ask here are Ruby
specific. Most of Railers would not love to respond to Ruby questions, not
because they cannot manage to but because a Ruby forum actually exists and
this forum is dedicated to seeking help with Rails, announcing Rails
projects, and discussing all kind of matters surrounding the Rails framework
and the community. If we need any help with Ruby related problems or Ruby
syntax (such as looping, hashing, mapping (e.g. map, each, inject, reduce),
e.t.c), let us direct them to the right forum.

*3. Framing Questions and Email Titles/Subjects before Posting*
==================================================We need to take our time
framing our questions before posting them on this
forum. Some of the questions do not make real sense at all. It becomes hard
for us to figure out what someone is looking for, and (I''m sorry to say
that) we tend to ignore them. Some of the subjects are too general like "I
need help" , "I have problems with my Rails application" or
"Newbie
question". Remember that  questions on this forum are searchable online,
posting search engine compatible questions will do us all good. Having
"good
questions" and "straight-forward email subjects" will also help
others who
may be experiencing similar problems like ours. This will help them not to
replicate the same questions here. There is one thumb rule: if you are
failing to ask the question well, then you don''t even know what you are
looking for.

*4. Posting Jobs*
============Let me take advantage to remind everyone that when we are posting
about an
open job position or looking for a Rails developer, we are requested to
prefix email subject with [JOBS] tag. I cannot say why we need that, but
that is a request that is clearly spelled out on the forums page.

*5. Readme*
========We are all dedicated to providing good and beneficial
responses/solutions to
questions that come on this forum. Let us make sure that we ask those
questions that will attract more attention for response, and will in the end
benefit more people. Remember that the frequent/regular responders (the
likes of Brian Crossland, Peter Bell, Fredrick Cheung, Collin Law and Chris
Kottom, just to mention but a few) on this forum were not specifically
employed by this forum to our answer questions, but they do this in the
spirit of sharing. They too have other projects and businesses to do, and
they get busy too. Some of them only spend limited time looking at forum
issues/questions, so they will go for those that are straight-forward and
easy to understand.

*self.last*
======Enjoy your coding!

---
Edmond
Software Developer | Baobab Health Trust (http://www.baobabhealth.org/) |Malawi

Cell:  +265 999 465 137 | +265 881 234 717*

My array starts from 0.5*

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On Mar 18, 3:33 pm, Edmond Kachale
<edmond.kach...-qPoFbzSWEfuuL8s4vL5bMA@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> Railers (if you allow me to you so),
>
> *1. Posting Right Questions*
> ======================> There are some questions that are not
necessarily worthy posting on this
> forum. For example, questions on how to create HTML elements like
textboxes,
> buttons, forms, e.t.c. in Ruby on Rails. These are HTML specific questions.
> If one wants to create them using Rails helpers there are tutorials that
are
> dedicated to that. All in all, there are guides on how to do that on
> rubyonrails.org (for example this
one:http://guides.rubyonrails.org/form_helpers.html). If one is not sure of
> something in Ruby on Rails, they may search online first, before posting on
> this forum. Things are happening very fast. It is very likely that most of
> the "general questions" about RoR have been answered via blog
posts or
> various forums already. *We need to know the difference between a search
> engine and a forum*. Only when there is no tutorial or blog post tackling a
> particular question then we can go ahead posting it here.
>
> *2. Differentiating between Ruby and Ruby on Rails Questions*
> =================================================
I don''t worry an awful lot about this, although I don''t read
the pure
ruby forums that much (so in that sense I''m happy to get my dose of
ruby related questions). On top of that, I''m not sure it is always
clear to the person asking the question what is core ruby and what is
a railsisms. To me it''s a much more fuzzy line than the html & css
type question.
>
> *3. Framing Questions and Email Titles/Subjects before Posting*
> ==================================================
> We need to take our time framing our questions before posting them on this
> forum. Some of the questions do not make real sense at all. It becomes hard
> for us to figure out what someone is looking for, and (I''m sorry
to say
> that) we tend to ignore them. Some of the subjects are too general like
"I
> need help" , "I have problems with my Rails application" or
"Newbie
> question".
Sometimes it''s even hard to work out what the question is, or it takes
multiple back and forths to coax out the relevant piece of
information. Treading the line between too much and too little
information does require some skill.
>
> *4. Posting Jobs*
> ============> Let me take advantage to remind everyone that when we are
posting about an
> open job position or looking for a Rails developer, we are requested to
> prefix email subject with [JOBS] tag. I cannot say why we need that, but
> that is a request that is clearly spelled out on the forums page.
There was a discussion a few years back about whether or not jobs
posts should be allowed here. In the end, the compromise emerged that
if they were easily identifiable (eg by having a tag in the subject)
then those not interested can filter them out relatively easily. It''s
not stuck to very rigorously (not counting the countless job postings
that have nothing to do with rails that never make it to the mailing
list.

Fred


>
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Well said.  While language barriers may occasionally keep a member
from asking a question properly, it is TRULY in the best interest of
the user to ask a well-written, intelligent, pertinent question.  I''m
a recent college grad and am appalled by the lack of creativity/
ingenuity/drive displayed by my own student peers.

It seems common enough for people to find a forum and ask a question,
rather than research the topic themselves.  Personally, I tend to
exhaust all resources before asking people for help, and then I take
quite a bit of time in formulating my question.

Recently I joined Stack Overflow (which many of you are likely
familiar with) and they have very clear information about how to post
on and use their forums.  Included in this information is scoop about
asking questions clearly, I think all people who use forums for
knowledge should adhere to similar policies.

Because really, these forums are our tools and communities combined.
Abuse them, use them poorly, and they''ll probably stop working
properly for you.

On Mar 18, 10:33 am, Edmond Kachale
<edmond.kach...-qPoFbzSWEfuuL8s4vL5bMA@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> Railers (if you allow me to you so),
>
> *before_create*
> ===========> I am not a moderator of Ruby on Rails(RoR) forum, I am not
trying to become
> one, and I am not pushing for any moderation of this sort. However, I  am a
> bit worried that some of the questions we get on this forum are not really
> Ruby on Rails questions. In addition, some of questions are already taken
> care of by the many tutorials that are available online.
>
> I know that we have different backgrounds and levels of programming
> complexity. I am not in any way trying to scare new Rails developers, but I
> think we need to draw a line between RoR and non-RoR questions.
>
> *1. Posting Right Questions*
> ======================> There are some questions that are not
necessarily worthy posting on this
> forum. For example, questions on how to create HTML elements like
textboxes,
> buttons, forms, e.t.c. in Ruby on Rails. These are HTML specific questions.
> If one wants to create them using Rails helpers there are tutorials that
are
> dedicated to that. All in all, there are guides on how to do that on
> rubyonrails.org (for example this
one:http://guides.rubyonrails.org/form_helpers.html). If one is not sure of
> something in Ruby on Rails, they may search online first, before posting on
> this forum. Things are happening very fast. It is very likely that most of
> the "general questions" about RoR have been answered via blog
posts or
> various forums already. *We need to know the difference between a search
> engine and a forum*. Only when there is no tutorial or blog post tackling a
> particular question then we can go ahead posting it here.
>
> *2. Differentiating between Ruby and Ruby on Rails Questions*
> =================================================> This is slightly
similar to the first one but I think it needs special
> treatment. We need to understand that this forum is not a Ruby forum; it is
> a Ruby on Rails forum. I know that this is one of the most difficult thing
> to do on this forum; even myself I admit that I am not good at it but
I''m
> trying my best. Some of the questions that we tend to ask here are Ruby
> specific. Most of Railers would not love to respond to Ruby questions, not
> because they cannot manage to but because a Ruby forum actually exists and
> this forum is dedicated to seeking help with Rails, announcing Rails
> projects, and discussing all kind of matters surrounding the Rails
framework
> and the community. If we need any help with Ruby related problems or Ruby
> syntax (such as looping, hashing, mapping (e.g. map, each, inject, reduce),
> e.t.c), let us direct them to the right forum.
>
> *3. Framing Questions and Email Titles/Subjects before Posting*
> ==================================================> We need to take our
time framing our questions before posting them on this
> forum. Some of the questions do not make real sense at all. It becomes hard
> for us to figure out what someone is looking for, and (I''m sorry
to say
> that) we tend to ignore them. Some of the subjects are too general like
"I
> need help" , "I have problems with my Rails application" or
"Newbie
> question". Remember that  questions on this forum are searchable
online,
> posting search engine compatible questions will do us all good. Having
"good
> questions" and "straight-forward email subjects" will also
help others who
> may be experiencing similar problems like ours. This will help them not to
> replicate the same questions here. There is one thumb rule: if you are
> failing to ask the question well, then you don''t even know what
you are
> looking for.
>
> *4. Posting Jobs*
> ============> Let me take advantage to remind everyone that when we are
posting about an
> open job position or looking for a Rails developer, we are requested to
> prefix email subject with [JOBS] tag. I cannot say why we need that, but
> that is a request that is clearly spelled out on the forums page.
>
> *5. Readme*
> ========> We are all dedicated to providing good and beneficial
responses/solutions to
> questions that come on this forum. Let us make sure that we ask those
> questions that will attract more attention for response, and will in the
end
> benefit more people. Remember that the frequent/regular responders (the
> likes of Brian Crossland, Peter Bell, Fredrick Cheung, Collin Law and Chris
> Kottom, just to mention but a few) on this forum were not specifically
> employed by this forum to our answer questions, but they do this in the
> spirit of sharing. They too have other projects and businesses to do, and
> they get busy too. Some of them only spend limited time looking at forum
> issues/questions, so they will go for those that are straight-forward and
> easy to understand.
>
> *self.last*
> ======> Enjoy your coding!
>
> ---
> Edmond
> Software Developer | Baobab Health Trust (http://www.baobabhealth.org/)
|Malawi
>
> Cell:  +265 999 465 137 | +265 881 234 717*
>
> My array starts from 0.5*
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All good guidelines.  It''s unfortunate that the people who follow this
mailing list most closely (and therefore are most likely to read this post)
are probably the ones who are already adhering to best practices.

On Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 6:04 PM, dana tassler
<dana.tassler-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>wrote:
> Well said.  While language barriers may occasionally keep a member
> from asking a question properly, it is TRULY in the best interest of
> the user to ask a well-written, intelligent, pertinent question. 
I''m
> a recent college grad and am appalled by the lack of creativity/
> ingenuity/drive displayed by my own student peers.
>
> It seems common enough for people to find a forum and ask a question,
> rather than research the topic themselves.  Personally, I tend to
> exhaust all resources before asking people for help, and then I take
> quite a bit of time in formulating my question.
>
> Recently I joined Stack Overflow (which many of you are likely
> familiar with) and they have very clear information about how to post
> on and use their forums.  Included in this information is scoop about
> asking questions clearly, I think all people who use forums for
> knowledge should adhere to similar policies.
>
> Because really, these forums are our tools and communities combined.
> Abuse them, use them poorly, and they''ll probably stop working
> properly for you.
>
> On Mar 18, 10:33 am, Edmond Kachale
<edmond.kach...-qPoFbzSWEfuuL8s4vL5bMA@public.gmane.org>
> wrote:
> > Railers (if you allow me to you so),
> >
> > *before_create*
> > ===========> > I am not a moderator of Ruby on Rails(RoR) forum,
I am not trying to
> become
> > one, and I am not pushing for any moderation of this sort. However, I 
am
> a
> > bit worried that some of the questions we get on this forum are not
> really
> > Ruby on Rails questions. In addition, some of questions are already
taken
> > care of by the many tutorials that are available online.
> >
> > I know that we have different backgrounds and levels of programming
> > complexity. I am not in any way trying to scare new Rails developers,
but
> I
> > think we need to draw a line between RoR and non-RoR questions.
> >
> > *1. Posting Right Questions*
> > ======================> > There are some questions that are not
necessarily worthy posting on this
> > forum. For example, questions on how to create HTML elements like
> textboxes,
> > buttons, forms, e.t.c. in Ruby on Rails. These are HTML specific
> questions.
> > If one wants to create them using Rails helpers there are tutorials
that
> are
> > dedicated to that. All in all, there are guides on how to do that on
> > rubyonrails.org (for example this one:
> http://guides.rubyonrails.org/form_helpers.html). If one is not sure of
> > something in Ruby on Rails, they may search online first, before
posting
> on
> > this forum. Things are happening very fast. It is very likely that
most
> of
> > the "general questions" about RoR have been answered via
blog posts or
> > various forums already. *We need to know the difference between a
search
> > engine and a forum*. Only when there is no tutorial or blog post
tackling
> a
> > particular question then we can go ahead posting it here.
> >
> > *2. Differentiating between Ruby and Ruby on Rails Questions*
> > =================================================> > This is
slightly similar to the first one but I think it needs special
> > treatment. We need to understand that this forum is not a Ruby forum;
it
> is
> > a Ruby on Rails forum. I know that this is one of the most difficult
> thing
> > to do on this forum; even myself I admit that I am not good at it but
I''m
> > trying my best. Some of the questions that we tend to ask here are
Ruby
> > specific. Most of Railers would not love to respond to Ruby questions,
> not
> > because they cannot manage to but because a Ruby forum actually exists
> and
> > this forum is dedicated to seeking help with Rails, announcing Rails
> > projects, and discussing all kind of matters surrounding the Rails
> framework
> > and the community. If we need any help with Ruby related problems or
Ruby
> > syntax (such as looping, hashing, mapping (e.g. map, each, inject,
> reduce),
> > e.t.c), let us direct them to the right forum.
> >
> > *3. Framing Questions and Email Titles/Subjects before Posting*
> > ==================================================> > We need to
take our time framing our questions before posting them on
> this
> > forum. Some of the questions do not make real sense at all. It becomes
> hard
> > for us to figure out what someone is looking for, and (I''m
sorry to say
> > that) we tend to ignore them. Some of the subjects are too general
like
> "I
> > need help" , "I have problems with my Rails
application" or "Newbie
> > question". Remember that  questions on this forum are searchable
online,
> > posting search engine compatible questions will do us all good. Having
> "good
> > questions" and "straight-forward email subjects" will
also help others
> who
> > may be experiencing similar problems like ours. This will help them
not
> to
> > replicate the same questions here. There is one thumb rule: if you are
> > failing to ask the question well, then you don''t even know
what you are
> > looking for.
> >
> > *4. Posting Jobs*
> > ============> > Let me take advantage to remind everyone that
when we are posting about
> an
> > open job position or looking for a Rails developer, we are requested
to
> > prefix email subject with [JOBS] tag. I cannot say why we need that,
but
> > that is a request that is clearly spelled out on the forums page.
> >
> > *5. Readme*
> > ========> > We are all dedicated to providing good and
beneficial responses/solutions
> to
> > questions that come on this forum. Let us make sure that we ask those
> > questions that will attract more attention for response, and will in
the
> end
> > benefit more people. Remember that the frequent/regular responders
(the
> > likes of Brian Crossland, Peter Bell, Fredrick Cheung, Collin Law and
> Chris
> > Kottom, just to mention but a few) on this forum were not specifically
> > employed by this forum to our answer questions, but they do this in
the
> > spirit of sharing. They too have other projects and businesses to do,
and
> > they get busy too. Some of them only spend limited time looking at
forum
> > issues/questions, so they will go for those that are straight-forward
and
> > easy to understand.
> >
> > *self.last*
> > ======> > Enjoy your coding!
> >
> > ---
> > Edmond
> > Software Developer | Baobab Health Trust
(http://www.baobabhealth.org/)
> |Malawi
> >
> > Cell:  +265 999 465 137 | +265 881 234 717*
> >
> > My array starts from 0.5*
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group.
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> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>
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>
>
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