[DML] Re: Unanswered DeLorean Questions

[Marc A Levy <malevy@xxxx>]

In that case, let me clarify-

There are some topics that it is good to cover again. As the list
grows, many topics get new views or better answers than they have had
before. My comment was directed more towards the VERY COMMON questions
that have been answered so may times before, and there is just no new
information that can be added to it.

My example of the the Oil drain plug questions (again, nothing personal
against the poster of that question) is that it is highly unlikely that
there have been any new developments in information on this. This
question has been answered many times, and a answer can be found quickly
in the archives. MUCH more quickly than waiting for someone to answer
it again! (Since the post of his question, no one has answered it yet!).

You are correct, I dont have to read every posting. I choose to for my
benefit, and the benefit of others who I may be able to help. On that
same idea, in general many times members are bad at keeping the subject
lines related to the actual message content making it difficult to
delete messages based on the subject.

The moderators have already done what you suggest. See
http://www.dmcnews.com/techmain.htm 

There are a number of topics that could be added to this list, and I am
sure that in time it will grow. (Suggestion to Moderator- Add the oil
drain answer, and the radio/vent removal answer)

In no way do I expect every new list member to sit and read hundreds of
messages in the back issues to "catch up", but I do expect that the
archives will be searched for answers to some basic questions before
sending the question out to the large number of people on the list. 
This is what the archives are for, and it would be beneficial for
everyone if it was utilized. As I said, in most cases you can get a
answer more quickly from the archives.

I dont think we will run out of topics to talk about any time soon. The
list traffic may decline and I think that is a good thing. As a
example, I have seen many great sources of information leave the
SHOtimes list (mailing list for the Taurus SHO) simply because the
volume of mail was too much for them to manage. In those cases, the
loss was more to the list than to the user that left. I have to think
the same has happened this list as it has grown. Some time spent
looking through the back issues have revealed this to me, and I also
found my concern about this topic of list traffic back in 1996 when
James had his "Call to Action".

In the case of this list, imagine if the traffic was reduced enough to
allow Rob Grady, Don Steger, and others to participate. At this point
participation in the list is just too time consuming for them. I would
venture to say that this may have had some influence on why DMC Houston
hired James. 
Currently DMC Joe participates in the list, but as his business grows he
may find that he does not have the time to participate in the list any
more. Obviously Joe is gaining some benefit now from his participation
in the list but when that need is gone, will he be gone too? For HIS
SAKE, I hope so- because that means that he has developed a strong
business where he does not have time to participate.

With all that said, I am again guilty of creating list traffic that
should be unnecessary! :)


GFesta5@xxxx wrote:
> 
> I am inclined to disagree with Marc about repeated topics. Alot of people
> have not been on the list for that long and I think it is unfair to to
> discourage topics that have already been covered just because you've seen it
> all before, you don't have to read these postings as you said your self, you
> can just delete them. I think a good idea would be for the moderators to pick
> just the best reply for a question, then the answer is not repeated over and
> over. Also if we never repeat topics eventually we will run out of topics to
> talk about and the list will be no more, and I'm sure neither you nor anyone
> else wants that to happen.