RE: Administrivia/new threads
From: Philippa
Date: 05-Feb-99 - 06:54 AM

Seasoned Mudcat contributors often scold newcomers for asking for songs which are already in the database. I suggest that a fairly short notice could come up on the screen whenever anyone clicks the "create a new thread" box.
Is a new thread the best way to find the information you seek? If you are looking for lyrics to a particular song, do try to locate it in the database first. It is also worth trying to locate previous threads on the song by doing a forum search. If you find an appropriate thread, you can make it current by adding your own comment to it. If you don't find anything useful after a short search, then by all means start a new thread and we'll be glad to help you.

Thread titles [suggest that key words of songs or topic should be included in the name of the thread and suggest a few standard forms along the lines of "Lyrics added", "DT correction", "song request" ]

Such a notice would help to streamline the forum a bit; there would still be plenty of conversation going on. Of course, looking for a song and not finding it doesn't always mean it isn't there. Respondents to threads will still have to do their own searches when we know different words or spellings to look up. But we won't have to spend typing time scolding inquirers for not having done their own research before making the query; we can assume they did try!