On May 16, 2:58*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2009-05-16 14:43:44 +0100, K said:

David Rance writes
But maybe people would like to renew some of the FAQs completely. After
all, it was always something which the membership of this group
contributed to and was a way of making their experience more permanent
while avoiding unnecessary repetition of the same questions time after
time.

It never worked, though ;-) We were still besieged by people wanting us
to sit down and pen instant answers because they were unwilling to do
an elementary search.

I think it's fair then to point them at the FAQs and suggest they come
back if they don't find an answer there. *Quite apart from anything
else, looking at the FAQs, they may well find info on other things they
want to know about!
--
--
Sachawww.hillhousenursery.com
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials
South Devon

That's fair but you do get some posters, (remember whom???) who very
rudely and abruptly would answer and tell them to go there, it put a
lot of new posters off from posting as we know. Since certain people
left who did this, some of these old/new posters have returned. So I
would say to refer them to the FAQs but not in a nasty way as we have
seen here some time ago, thankfully it was some time ago.

Judith

On 2009-05-16 15:19:49 +0100, Judith in France
said:

On May 16, 2:58*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2009-05-16 14:43:44 +0100, K said:

David Rance writes
But maybe people would like to renew some of the FAQs completely. Afte
r
all, it was always something which the membership of this group
contributed to and was a way of making their experience more permanent
while avoiding unnecessary repetition of the same questions time after
time.

It never worked, though ;-) We were still besieged by people wanting us
to sit down and pen instant answers because they were unwilling to do
an elementary search.

I think it's fair then to point them at the FAQs and suggest they come
back if they don't find an answer there. *Quite apart from anything
else, looking at the FAQs, they may well find info on other things they
want to know about!
--


That's fair but you do get some posters, (remember whom???) who very
rudely and abruptly would answer and tell them to go there, it put a
lot of new posters off from posting as we know. Since certain people
left who did this, some of these old/new posters have returned. So I
would say to refer them to the FAQs but not in a nasty way as we have
seen here some time ago, thankfully it was some time ago.

Judith

Oh, most definitely it has to be done pleasantly. That's what I was
thinking of when I suggested they could be asked to come back if the
FAQs didn't help them.

--
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials
South Devon

Sorry, I missed a bit:

On Sat, 16 May 2009 K wrote:

But maybe people would like to renew some of the FAQs completely.
After all, it was always something which the membership of this group
contributed to and was a way of making their experience more
permanent while avoiding unnecessary repetition of the same questions
time after time.

It never worked, though ;-) We were still besieged by people wanting
us to sit down and pen instant answers because they were unwilling to
do an elementary search.

That's a little unfair. "Besieged" is a little bit of hyperbole and I'm
sure they didn't expect *instant* answers. And you don't know how many
people did consult those pages without bothering us. Come on, I thought
gardeners were optimistic people! :-)

If I didn't think it was worthwhile I wouldn't have spent hours this
week tracking these missing FAQs down and then formatting them. And I
have been a reader here for around thirteen years and have valued them
myself. (And my welcome to this group when I wrote my first message back
in 1996 was that two people violently disagreed with my views on the
growing of mistletoe, both of whom still write here and one of whom
called me an idiot!)

And David Rance wrote:

And they all work now.

I meant, all the links work now!

Best wishes, David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://www.mesnil.demon.co.uk

On 2009-05-16 15:15:59 +0100, Judith in France
said:

On May 15, 11:28*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2009-05-15 16:24:53 +0100, David Rance
said:

Has anyone noticed that most of the missing FAQs are now back on the
urg web site?

David

Well done, David! *Lots of hard work and hours of 'fun' - thank you for
taking on the task of restoring a valuable resource.

To all urglers, I would like to say that Cormaic told me he would be
extremely happy to have someone else take this over. * I asked one or a
few people who might have been able to do it and David stepped up and
offered his time, expertise and skills. *Another urgler also offered
help and may wish for now to remain nameless but it seems to me that
urg is extremely lucky - as are other gardeners who read this group -
to see the FAQs back in action. *I think urg owes David a big thank you

I second that, thanks David. I don't mind if you delete me from the
urg meets; some on another group took a look and posted on my
appearance, so maybe, you should delete them?

Judith

People who do that sort of thing are rarely oil paintings themselves!
Forget 'em! I looked back at some of the photos and remembered the
happy times at the two Devon ones I/we hosted and enjoyed seeing faces
of others who would otherwise be only names.

--
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials
South Devon

On 2009-05-16 15:27:00 +0100, David Rance
said:

Sorry, I missed a bit:

On Sat, 16 May 2009 K wrote:

But maybe people would like to renew some of the FAQs completely. After
all, it was always something which the membership of this group
contributed to and was a way of making their experience more permanent
while avoiding unnecessary repetition of the same questions time after
time.

It never worked, though ;-) We were still besieged by people wanting us
to sit down and pen instant answers because they were unwilling to do
an elementary search.

That's a little unfair. "Besieged" is a little bit of hyperbole and I'm
sure they didn't expect *instant* answers. And you don't know how many
people did consult those pages without bothering us. Come on, I thought
gardeners were optimistic people! :-)

If I didn't think it was worthwhile I wouldn't have spent hours this
week tracking these missing FAQs down and then formatting them. And I
have been a reader here for around thirteen years and have valued them
myself. (And my welcome to this group when I wrote my first message
back in 1996 was that two people violently disagreed with my views on
the growing of mistletoe, both of whom still write here and one of whom
called me an idiot!)

And David Rance wrote:

And they all work now.

I meant, all the links work now!

Best wishes, David

It occurs to me that we could do with a FAQ on growing tomatoes and
cucumbers because I've noticed that we seem to have a lot more people
doing that now and coming to urg for advice. Several of our more
experienced gardeners are old hands at this so perhaps one of them
would like to write a tomato and cucumber FAQ? And perhaps we need
one on growing e.g. squashes? What does the team think? ;-))
--
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials
South Devon

David Rance writes

That's a little unfair. "Besieged" is a little bit of hyperbole and I'm
sure they didn't expect *instant* answers. And you don't know how many
people did consult those pages without bothering us. Come on, I thought
gardeners were optimistic people! :-)

Sorry, David, I didn't mean to belittle your work. And I did put a
smiley!

But I do remember a time where we were getting question after question
that had already been covered, either in a FAQ, or in a still-running
thread, and no matter how politely you tried to point this out, there
was a fair chance someone else would pop up and accuse you of being
unfriendly to newbies.

But as a FAQ writer myself, I do think they are a valuable resource, and
not just for newbies - well worth keeping them available for reference.


--
Kay

Judith in France writes
I second that, thanks David. I don't mind if you delete me from the
urg meets; some on another group took a look and posted on my
appearance, so maybe, you should delete them?

I'd be in favour of meets being deleted. They were interesting
at the time, but the urg regulars today are not the same people who were
regulars when the pictured meets were held. But perhaps give a few weeks
notice of deletion so people who were at the meets can download copies
if they wish?
--
Kay

On 2009-05-16 15:55:03 +0100, K said:

David Rance writes

That's a little unfair. "Besieged" is a little bit of hyperbole and I'm
sure they didn't expect *instant* answers. And you don't know how many
people did consult those pages without bothering us. Come on, I thought
gardeners were optimistic people! :-)

Sorry, David, I didn't mean to belittle your work. And I did put a smiley!

But I do remember a time where we were getting question after question
that had already been covered, either in a FAQ, or in a still-running
thread, and no matter how politely you tried to point this out, there
was a fair chance someone else would pop up and accuse you of being
unfriendly to newbies.

I would suggest that urg is in a much better place now (if I can
borrow a Paris Hilton-ism) and that unkind or brusque treatment of
newbies is far less likely to happen now. ;-)

But as a FAQ writer myself, I do think they are a valuable resource,
and not just for newbies - well worth keeping them available for
reference.

Totally agree.
--
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials
South Devon

--
..
"K" wrote in message
...
Judith in France writes
I second that, thanks David. I don't mind if you delete me from the urg
meets; some on another group took a look and posted on my appearance, so
maybe, you should delete them?

I'd be in favour of meets being deleted. They were interesting
at the time, but the urg regulars today are not the same people who were
regulars when the pictured meets were held. But perhaps give a few weeks
notice of deletion so people who were at the meets can download copies if
they wish?
--
Kay

Why not hold some more meets and have new photos up?

Mike

Sacha writes
On 2009-05-16 15:55:03 +0100, K said:

I would suggest that urg is in a much better place now (if I can borrow
a Paris Hilton-ism) and that unkind or brusque treatment of newbies is
far less likely to happen now. ;-)

I wasn't talking about brusque treatment of newbies - I was talking
about being criticised for a polite and friendly direction to a FAQ.

--
Kay

On Sat, 16 May 2009 K wrote:
David Rance writes

That's a little unfair. "Besieged" is a little bit of hyperbole and
I'm sure they didn't expect *instant* answers. And you don't know how
many people did consult those pages without bothering us. Come on, I
thought gardeners were optimistic people! :-)

Sorry, David, I didn't mean to belittle your work. And I did put a
smiley!

No, I know. :-)

But I do remember a time where we were getting question after question
that had already been covered, either in a FAQ, or in a still-running
thread, and no matter how politely you tried to point this out, there
was a fair chance someone else would pop up and accuse you of being
unfriendly to newbies.

Ah well, there is always someone who is going to criticise us, however
kindly we try to be.

But as a FAQ writer myself, I do think they are a valuable resource,
and not just for newbies - well worth keeping them available for
reference.

Yes, they are. I wish there were some easier way of making these
messages more permanent. Not the trollish messages but the really
helpful ones.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://www.mesnil.demon.co.uk

In message , Sacha
writes
On 2009-05-16 15:27:00 +0100, David Rance
said:

Sorry, I missed a bit:

On Sat, 16 May 2009 K wrote:

But maybe people would like to renew some of the FAQs completely.
After all, it was always something which the membership of this
group contributed to and was a way of making their experience more
permanent while avoiding unnecessary repetition of the same
questions time after time.
It never worked, though ;-) We were still besieged by people
wanting us to sit down and pen instant answers because they were
unwilling to do an elementary search.
That's a little unfair. "Besieged" is a little bit of hyperbole and
I'm sure they didn't expect *instant* answers. And you don't know how
many people did consult those pages without bothering us. Come on, I
thought gardeners were optimistic people! :-)
If I didn't think it was worthwhile I wouldn't have spent hours this
week tracking these missing FAQs down and then formatting them. And I
have been a reader here for around thirteen years and have valued them
myself. (And my welcome to this group when I wrote my first message
back in 1996 was that two people violently disagreed with my views on
the growing of mistletoe, both of whom still write here and one of
whom called me an idiot!)

And David Rance wrote:

And they all work now.
I meant, all the links work now!
Best wishes, David

It occurs to me that we could do with a FAQ on growing tomatoes and
cucumbers because I've noticed that we seem to have a lot more people
doing that now and coming to urg for advice. Several of our more
experienced gardeners are old hands at this so perhaps one of them
would like to write a tomato and cucumber FAQ? And perhaps we need
one on growing e.g. squashes? What does the team think? ;-))

Well, Sacha, I haven't posted here for several years although I have
lurked occasionally. If I had enough gardening knowledge, I would
happily write an FAQ about something but I don't think I am qualified to
do so.

OTOH, I could do one on growing figs because someone here gave me good
advice about five years ago when I acquired a fig tree and I have had a
modicum of success with it but I don't think many people would be
interested in growing figs. In any case, there isn't a great deal to
say about them once the tree is established.
--
June Hughes

In message , Martin
writes
snip

I'm interested in growing figs. Off you go )

Nice to see you back.

Thanks Martin. I have been very lucky with my figs so far.
--
June Hughes

On Sat, 16 May 2009 June Hughes wrote:

OTOH, I could do one on growing figs because someone here gave me good
advice about five years ago when I acquired a fig tree and I have had a
modicum of success with it but I don't think many people would be
interested in growing figs. In any case, there isn't a great deal to
say about them once the tree is established.

I would be interested. I have a fig tree which may or may not have fruit
- and I'd like to know what to do to get the best out of it. It produces
lots and lots of embryo figs but, often, few get to maturity.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://www.mesnil.demon.co.uk

In article ,
David Rance wrote:
On Sat, 16 May 2009 June Hughes wrote:

OTOH, I could do one on growing figs because someone here gave me good
advice about five years ago when I acquired a fig tree and I have had a
modicum of success with it but I don't think many people would be
interested in growing figs. In any case, there isn't a great deal to
say about them once the tree is established.

I would be interested. I have a fig tree which may or may not have fruit
- and I'd like to know what to do to get the best out of it. It produces
lots and lots of embryo figs but, often, few get to maturity.

Me too :-(


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.