A 'perpetual question and answer' board

[manas]

Hi all,

I have a little question, but I don't wish to start a whole new topic just to get this one little question answered. Plus, I have noticed that often this is just what happens, in that an entire topic is created with it's primary aim being the location of a particular sutta, or saying, etc. Once that question is answered, the topic becomes kind of redundant...maybe it would help keep things a bit more clear, and unclogged as it were, if there was a dedicated 'Q & A' message board, where anyone just joins in with a question, and anyone who cares to, answers it? It could be moderated, to ensure that the answers are in accordance with Doctrine, etc. That way, the 'little questions' are dealt with quickly, without needing a whole topic created which quickly sinks down into oblivion and disuse, leaving the creation of entire topics for the 'big questions', that is, anything to which there will be either 1.more than one possible answer, or 2.various points of view involved. One more thing, there could be a system whereby once a message has been satisfactorily answered, the person who asked it could indicate this on the original posting (that they made), so that mods don't have yet another thing to tie up their time with (I'm quite sure that the mods here are not reimbursed for what they do, so I don't wish to add to their workload!). The onus of saying, 'thank you, my question has been answered now' could be on the person who asked the question.

Anyway...my little question is, I remember reading this verse Buddha said, something like this: "look at the world, seeing permanence in the impermanent, beauty in the un-beautiful,...' (etc)or something like that, but I cannot find it anywhere! Does anyone recognize this?

[retrofuturist]

Greetings manasikara,

My preference would be that if there's a topic that has "served its purpose", that the OP ask us to lock it.

That way, in the absence of responses, it will drop down naturally on its own accord.

Metta,
Retro.

[manas]

Greetings manasikara,

My preference would be that if there's a topic that has "served its purpose", that the OP ask us to lock it.

That way, in the absence of responses, it will drop down naturally on its own accord.

Metta,
Retro.

Ah, ok, I was thinking that it must be a nuisance to have so many topics 'arising and passing away' all the time, but then, maybe that's not such a bad thing...

[retrofuturist]

Greetings Manasikara,

I don't think it's a bad thing... and you can never be sure what people will or won't find interesting.

A simple query may spawn a multi-page discussion if it piques the interest of some.

Metta,
Retro.

[Kim O'Hara]

I'm you you on this, Retro. I think keeping threads short is an excellent practice. Longer threads drift off topic and get repetitious, especially because newcomers often don't read all that went before (is anyone, ever, going to read the whole Rebirth thread?). The Jokes and Photography threads are different, in that new posts tend to be unrelated to what went long before, so there is no problem.
As well as closing them when the OP asks, I wonder it it would be good to close them automatically if they have been inactive for, say, a month? It would avoid people replying to questions asked by people who no longer frequent DW, for instance.


Kim

[retrofuturist]

Greetings Kim,

It is possible, but after a while you do seem to see the same topic themes come up. For this reason, people are often referred to old topics (so regulars don't have to say the same thing countless times ). On occasion, new topics even get merged with older, virtually identical topics, bringing them back to life.

Whilst it is possible that a newbie directs a question to someone no longer here, I don't see that as being a big problem, as often people who know that the member is not active will step in and respond. It's more a training/awareness thing in terms of being cognizant of the date the posts were made... but I think forums and comments on the end of blogs etc. have been around long enough that posters should be cognizant of time/dates.

Metta,
Retro.

[Kim O'Hara]

Greetings Kim,

It is possible, but after a while you do seem to see the same topic themes come up. For this reason, people are often referred to old topics (so regulars don't have to say the same thing countless times ). On occasion, new topics even get merged with older, virtually identical topics, bringing them back to life.

Whilst it is possible that a newbie directs a question to someone no longer here, I don't see that as being a big problem, as often people who know that the member is not active will step in and respond. It's more a training/awareness thing in terms of being cognizant of the date the posts were made... but I think forums and comments on the end of blogs etc. have been around long enough that posters should be cognizant of time/dates.

Metta,
Retro.

Good afternoon, Retro (still morning here, though - we don't have to save daylight like you Mexicans )
Yes, I thought the suggestion worth making but there are reasonable arguments both ways. In the end, I think whatever works best for the folk doing the work - the mods - is going to be the best decision for all of us.


Kim