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What differentiates General from Q&A?

With all these threads being moved about quite actively, and that may be a good thing, I myself am not schooled on the difference between what constitutes a general purpose thread versus one that should be considered more of a Q&A type thing. For instance, aren't 90% of the threads here in this forum begun as questions that are missing a question mark in the title? Ether the OP had forgotten to indicate the existence of a question in the thread title or the title is misleading, because invariably, you will find in the OP, you guessed it, a question. So, what's the dealy-o?

General: "The MyTouch 4G looks AWESOME in red!!!"
Q&A: "Does the MyTouch 4G look awesome in red???"
That's about the only diff I've been able to tell

I have to kinda agree. I tried to implement a well known and proven successful thread from WM here, to have place for answers to commonly ask questions with answers in a single thread closed to other post where anyone with a question could look to see the answer before posting. Mainly for Android development but it go shot down by the Moderator. IMHO General should be a place to ask all general questions so the Q & A section is pointless.

Shouldn't this be in the Q&A thread? LOL, just kidding
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Q&A section is for questions that have a clear cut answer. General if for a community discussion about a subject. I try to evaluate each thread as if it is for discussion or for Q&A, and sometimes it's hard and I get it wrong. If I do and you feel I made a mistake, feel free to shoot me a PM with your reasoning and I'll take a second look.
Thanks,
Korey

Whosdaman said:
Q&A section is for questions that have a clear cut answer. General if for a community discussion about a subject. I try to evaluate each thread as if it is for discussion or for Q&A, and sometimes it's hard and I get it wrong. If I do and you feel I made a mistake, feel free to shoot me a PM with your reasoning and I'll take a second look.
Thanks,
Korey
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Why not put a list of all the questions that have answers on the first post of your Q&A thread? Then once people get used to checking there first before posting, it will reduce asked question and unnecessary post.

bobsbbq said:
Why not put a list of all the questions that have answers on the first post of your Q&A thread? Then once people get used to checking there first before posting, it will reduce asked question and unnecessary post.
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Well that's kinda the point of the Q&A section. Users good just get use to searching as well

Whosdaman said:
Well that's kinda the point of the Q&A section. Users good just get use to searching as well
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Well whatever but as you and I know the majority of users will still not search so in theory it is good but in reality we know what happens. I had my doubts when the WM thread in chefs central started but I can tell you it made a positive impact and works very well, and to have all the solved questions and links to the solved thread in the first post for easy reference helps everyone. Sometimes even the search fails us. It is just a friendly suggestion take it for what it's worth.

Well if someone makes a FAQ thread and makes it look nice, and promises to update it often. I promise to sticky it

I think the two sections are pointless and should be merged as one or too many things are being moved to Q&A, i dont remember every single question being moved into Q&A on the vibrant forum

PolishDude said:
I think the two sections are pointless and should be merged as one or too many things are being moved to Q&A, i dont remember every single question being moved into Q&A on the vibrant forum
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o they do.... go look , and not everything is being moved from general sections. only cut and dry q&a threads. and im more efficient then most moderators as well jk'ing

[Q] Can no longer post in development forum

I am no longer able to post questions or respond to questions in dev forums. What am I missing here?

I tried to post on a HTCHD2 forum and the message I got was if you have less than 10 total posts, you aren't allowed to post. I found that very frustrating as I (i) had an answer for someone (which was educated) and (ii) couldn't ask a very specific question about a significant problem I was experiencing with the mod. So, now I'm trying to post 10 "meaningful" posts...argh.

Gents,
The rule was put in place for very specific reasons, in that new members were spamming the develpoment forums with questions that if they had bothered to search would have found the answers.
This nuisance was putting developers off; i mean what good is a develepor forum without developers???????
The correct place for questions is the Q&A forum NOT developer forums. You should ONLY be posting there if you are a contributing to the thread/development or be dev'ing yourself.
Trust this explains why, enjoy the forums and please be aware of what you are posting where.
Cheers.
Tim.

Thanks, and I do understand the thought process. But, it's discouraging to see people with 300+ posts that are posting ill-educated and noobish questions, while I couldn't post a question which was valid and I had done my research...even the developers are sometimes poor about how the threads are used. By the way, likely most of the users here are gents, but not me...:> After posting some thoughtful replies elsewhere, I was finally able to post on the "proper" forum. I do think you are getting a lot of questions in the general Q&A which would best be addressed in the proper forum, but they can't post there...Anyway, have a great day!! And, thanks for replying to us.

Okay, so you would rather questions in the Q&A section rather then in the threads dedicated to the ROMS?

timmymarsh said:
Gents,
The rule was put in place for very specific reasons, in that new members were spamming the develpoment forums with questions that if they had bothered to search would have found the answers.
This nuisance was putting developers off; i mean what good is a develepor forum without developers???????
The correct place for questions is the Q&A forum NOT developer forums. You should ONLY be posting there if you are a contributing to the thread/development or be dev'ing yourself.
Trust this explains why, enjoy the forums and please be aware of what you are posting where.
Cheers.
Tim.
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The rule had said that it was applied to users that joined after a certain date but members that have been here for awhile but acquired new posts were also affected when it was put into place.

i have some questions about developing roms and i'm willing to learn and get started.
i posted my question in the Q&A Forum 19 Vies now answers on page 2 allready.
My question are directly pointed to develop roms for samsung galaxy tab. so the dev's who could help getting me started have to read but they can't since they won't look in here.
Great ^^

Frustrating because frequently no replies. For example, I posted a question - 77 views, 0 replies. However, at least I can now post on the relevant forum! LOL.
have a great day...

Hey Guys n Gals,
Let me make this clear for avoidance of doubt.
Device specific forums generally have their own Q&A section, so if it is device specific, ask it in there.
If it isnt device specific ask it in here.
Dont ask general questions in developer forums for example "how do i root my xxxxxx" , they will get moved to Q&A or at worst deleted.
These are the rules, they are here for everyones guidance and to prevent dev forums from being cluttered with n00b questions.
Trust this makes things crystal clear, if not feel free to pm me.
Cheers.
Thread Closed.

Rewarding stupidity?

t1mm0, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:
Please Read: New members (those with fewer than 10 posts) are not permitted to post to development-related forums.
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I've been visiting XDA for many years and always find the answers to my questions via searching rather than posting questions.
I've therefore never had the requirement to post in the development section but I do now regarding ICS RC4.
I realize that there are many users who never search and *do* post stupid questions but is there any way for someone like myself to skip the 10 posts?
This isn't perhaps the best titled thread but I kinda feel like this since I'll have to post another 8 stupid threads before I can get to the folk who may know the answer to my question.

If you want to post a question about something related to a ROM, try looking in the Q&A section for the ROM you're using. You can post there without the 10-post limit, and unless you're bringing up a specific bug or have some sort of code to contribute to the item you would be posting under, that section should be able to handle whatever you would need.

New users should really read this I suppose.
I know it makes sense. I just needs an answer quickly

t1mm0 said:
New users should really read this I suppose.
I know it makes sense. I just needs an answer quickly
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If the Q&A isn't getting you where you need to be, you could always try the waters of sending the developer in question a PM. Depending on how swamped they are, you might get the answer you're needing a lot quicker.

It's really a stupid rule. What it should be, is 50 posts to make a thread in the dev section.
Sent from my SGH-I897

I can see the objective of it the rule but yes, 50 posts to start a new thread in the Dev section would make more sense to me.

Agreed. I lurk, learn, and do. And I'm grateful to those who do develop on this platform. But I can't participate because I haven't passed the magic 10-post rule.
And I'm a software developer (not Android) by trade, so I understand what facilitates discussion and what does not, and I have a pretty good idea what are reasonable questions and what aren't.

The purpose of the Dev section is to post about developing not questions that is what the q&a or general

Thread closed
t1mm0 said:
I've been visiting XDA for many years and always find the answers to my questions via searching rather than posting questions.
I've therefore never had the requirement to post in the development section but I do now regarding ICS RC4.
I realize that there are many users who never search and *do* post stupid questions but is there any way for someone like myself to skip the 10 posts?
This isn't perhaps the best titled thread but I kinda feel like this since I'll have to post another 8 stupid threads before I can get to the folk who may know the answer to my question.
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There are specific threads set up in Q&A for most of the ROMs, including ICSSGS RC 4. Post there and you'll be read, and most likely answered.

Please post help and troubleshooting requests in the Q&A section

Please post help and troubleshooting requests in the Q&A section
Here are some general guidelines on where posts should be created:
- If the question involves a help or troubleshooting request that benefits the OP directly, post in Q&A.
- If the question is open-ended and intended to generate a general discussion on some topic, post in General.
There's a large grey area, but use your best common sense judgement to decide where to put the post. All misplaced posts will be moved accordingly.
Please read the forum rules. They are done to improve XDA-developers.com and for you to get the best of this great community. Not following this rules you show disrespect to any other member.
1. Search before posting.
Use one of our search functions before posting, whether you have a question or something new to share, it's very likely someone already asked that question or shared that news.
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3. Post only using a clear subject and message.
You're most likely to receive a helpful answer to your question if you use a short subject title that describes your problem and a message that explains in detail what your problem is and what you've tried to solve it.
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5. Post a message only once.
As a large forum we don't need unnecessary clutter, You're free to edit your message as you like, so if you do not receive an answer revisit your message and see if you can describe your problem better. Not everyone is online at the same time, it might take a while before you receive an answer.
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2.6 All members are expected to read and adhere to the XDA rules.
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15. Keep posts/threads on-topic
Whilst a minor amount of off-topic posting may be overlooked, the general rule is your posts / threads must be relevant to the Forum / thread in which you are posting.
General Forums - For news and announcements pertaining to your device.
Q&A Forums - For all question threads / posts. If there is no Q&A forum use the device General Forum
Accessories subforum - For posts related to accessories relevant to the phone model
Development Forums (ones with the word development in the title)- For developers to post release threads e.g. ROMs, Kernels, and mods.
Themes and Apps Forums - For themers to post themes and for app announcements and discussions.
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Question & Answer section is not a place where everyone can open a new thread with the own question. It is needed to search before, read the sticky threads, read the wikis, read and read once again, and post in an existing thread, if necessary. Repetitive topics will be deleted/closed without previous notice. Topics like 'urgent help' or 'do I brick my phone?' and so will be deleted/closed. Infractions issued to reiterative members. Remember XDA-Developers.com is about development. Thanks for your cooperation. Best regards,

[ROM][4.4.2][Official] Open Kang Project [N8013/N8000]

Hello and thank you for this great rom. Is there someone who will make the correction for GSM on n8000 and apk phone?
Thank you.

I'm confused..what great ROM?
Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk

Is this supposed to be a request thread?

repair
Yes, does not work at all and GSM and phone application. Version iokp_n8000_official_2013-12-01.zip and iokp_n8000_official_2013-12-28.zip. That's why I started this thread.

I'm confused! I need an adult!

Airtioteclint said:
Is this supposed to be a request thread?
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milanez said:
Yes, does not work at all and GSM and phone application. Version iokp_n8000_official_2013-12-01.zip and iokp_n8000_official_2013-12-28.zip. That's why I started this thread.
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You know the forum rules, and guidelines, that XDA makes you see when signing up? and how they go above and beyond to try to get users to take a moment to read? They stress the importance of following rules, for this exact reason, to keep forums clean and organized, yet people still don't pay any attention.
This is not a request forum, this is why your post is confusing people. This is development forum where developers post their ROMs, and work. Users are expecting a download, yet they are presented with this.
Please take the time to read the rules! I am sorry if I come off as a jerk, I don't mean to.. But being a member of this site so long, it gets frustrating after awhile when users continuously do not pay attention to the rules, especially since XDA goes above and beyond to make users read and understand the rules.
15. Keep threads / posts on-topic
Whilst a minor amount of off-topic posting may be overlooked, the general rule is that your posts / threads must be relevant to the Forum / thread in which you are posting.
General Forums - For news and announcements relating to your device.
Q&A Help & Troubleshooting Forums - FOR ALL QUESTIONS / REQUEST THREADS AND POSTS. If there is no Q&A Help & Troubleshooting forum, use the General Forum of the relevant device
Accessories Forum - For posts related to accessories relevant to the device
Development Forums (ones with the word development in the title) - For Developers to post release threads e.g. ROMs and Kernels including modifications to kernels, bootloaders, ROMs, etc.
Themes and Apps Forums - For the posting of Themes and / or Apps as well as announcements & discussions*including*modifications made to Themes and Apps.
You can click here to read the full list of official rules, and guidelines.
Click here to go to the proper forum for your request.
You will probably have better luck with your request being answered there anyways.

@lifeofcoding good luck on your quest of being moderator. But why quote me?