For the sake of newbies

[Jason A.C. Brock]

Im in the opinion of if you jsut dont like a post then skip it and go to the next. Takes 2 sec......
This is a forum not a classroom or research facility.

 

[Robert Dewey]

Yeah, it may only take two seconds, but when your talking about entire threads full of useless posts, it's a different story. One area of great concern is the Map Room. You see the same people over and over again violating the rules - it only takes two seconds to NOT post useless information.

Too bad the newbies or those who know very little about chasing or meteorology can't have a section to their own, similar to the FAQ, while giving them read-only permission for all other forums.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

Originally posted by Edward Ballou

NEEDS:

As a \"budding\" storm chaser, here is what I am in need of:

1) The chance to say, this is where I think severe weather will be and why(details of why)

2) If I am wrong or show a potential to be very wrong, I need someone to point that out - if I don't know I'm wrong...I must be thinking I'm right (I also need a pat on the back sometimes)

3) An environment conducive to my learning - that fosters and encourages assertions by newbies

I always felt that the old TA was much like this. Newbies were more than welcome to post their forcasts; there was nothing in the TOS there that required forcasts to be right, just that they be an honest effort. I often would post my forcasts with the hope that someone would point out my mistakes, and often they would. This, to me, is a great way to learn, and most people knew not to read my forcasts and try to plan a chase with them. (Woe be to he who did!)

Originally posted by Edward Ballou
4) A test of some sorts that is needed to be taken before access is given to the TA forums (Map Room). The test is basically questions derived from what is posted in the rules concerning posting in the Map Room.

5) In their first one or two years of membership, newbies' weather forecasting threads must be reviewed.

6) The noise ratio for newbies (0-2? years) must be under 40%.

Again, this suffers from the same problem: who has time to administer such tests? It's probably a much greater time investment than most can afford, and I don't know if it can be demonstrated in advance that the benefit exceeds the cost.

7) ST Advisors - select people who continually re-evaluate a section of ST to see how we can make it better. Publicly post these people so that complaints/praises can be directly routed to the proper people. These people may or may not be moderators, depending on their level of dedication and ability to use personal time for the sake of ST.

This could be a good idea, so long as volunteers can be found willing to do it. It's good in that it's organized and gives users a constructive outlet to voice their opinions and feel that what they think is important to those who make the decisions. Anything that builds a sense of community like that can't hurt, in my opinion.