Am I thinking right?

[riaz]

As people have been putting in their two cents and two pence worth, I thought I would contribute my two paisa worth too.

When I come across a non VBA question, if I don't know the answer, I try to solve it myself. Sometimes I find a solution which I give, then I follow the thread to see if the experts have a more elegant solution. In other words, I am helping myself as well as the OP.

I do steer clear of "do my homework/project/assignment for me" type questions, and I rarely respond to anyone who does not appear to have put in some effort prior to asking, be it a search or a stab at finding a solution.

After all, there are thousands of polite OPs one feels like helping, so the impolite and demanding ones can take a back seat.

I came, I saw, I learned. I am still learning, and I owe it to this Board to return some of what I know to others in my position.

 

[jim may]

I've been involved with Excel Now for 3 to 4 years (24/7 it seems) trying to CRACK the Excel Model; VBE thing, etc. For those (like myself) who ACTUALY want to learn, this is the best place on the planet !!!

The Site is viewed (by more and more businesses) as: 1) An Emergency Room (where the Uninsured shows up - WITHOUT CASH, pleading to be "Fixed" so they can return to their Unhealthly life, until the next time they need you. In this same scenario Hospitals around the world are feeling the strain on their budgets for such. Another view (of the site) -- It's sort-of-a "Turn-Key Application-Central" to number of others who show up
to save their company (or else their job) hundreds of dollars WITHOUT a dime of investment.

I TRY to make my living performing excel tasks for a fee. It's difficult enough securing business in my market. The Gratis nature of this site makes it that much more difficult to secure paying clients, when there is such willingness here to "feed the world".

From another direction I think there is a respect issue, or non-respect issue in performing at this level. Is there some way I/we can RISE to a higher level of respect than be only known as "the spreadsheet guy" - Yeah, my secretary does all my excel spreadsheets; Why would I need a professional-level type LOL, LOL

Sorry, but I'm just having a bad hair day, here... and need to sound off

 

[klb]

Jim,
Here is another take on this subject.

These people may not be freeloaders by nature, just people who have recognized a problem but don't know how to solve it. They have found this wonderful board filled with experts and are hoping someone can show the way.

What you have in many companies are people given a tool with no training on how to use it. They know just enough to create simple spreadsheets, enter a few numbers and do simple formulas. Or someone else has given them a spreadsheet to fill in once a month or once a quarter. They now know how to use Excel. A few of these people have realized that there is much more to know but don't know where to start or don't get support from management in their companies to learn more about Excel.

When my boss was interviewing candidates for my replacement, one of the requirements was proficiency in Excel. Many people claimed to be proficient but were at a loss when she asked if they knew macros or VBA.

Fortunately a few of us have realized that Excel is much more and have taken the time on our own to learn what Excel can really do. This board is where I have learned more about Excel than any class that I have ever taken. I thank everyone for that. And I try to pay it back by answering some of the questions when I can.

Would I tackle the question that your post referred to? No, probably not because I don't have the time. Would I hope that someone else, who has the time, gives a few simple instructions on how to get started and send them in a direction where they can find an answer? Of course.

And maybe your unwitting "freeloader" will pay it back by helping someone else in the future.

 

[DonkeyOte]

Let's face it we're all good at some things and not so great at others.
I would be so bold as to say I have a general talent for being a nerd, I enjoy being a nerd, I nerd for hours on end and lose all track of time... for me being a nerd (be it using XL or some other application) is at the very core of my being. On the other side of the coin I'm hopeless at many, many, many other things: DIY, Cooking, etc... my wife would say I'm useless at anything "useful"... (give or take )

On that basis if I had a question on say fitting a window and went on a DIY forum would I:

a) know the correct terminology to use in my post ?
b) know the various approaches open to me for the task at hand ?
or even
c) know what many would deem to be the "fundamentals" of DIY itself ?

For me at least somewhat tragically the answer to all of the above would be: No. I would not.

I think all of us here @ MrE have gone into override answering posts at one time or another and perhaps lost sight of the fact that for some OP's using XL comes as naturally to them as fitting a new window does to me (by which I mean not very!). For them using XL is nothing more than an unwanted side-effect of their job / business... they have no affinity for it nor any desire to become "at one" with it's functionality -- put simply they have an XL "window" to fit and no idea how to do it - they come here to ask for advice from people who do! (seemingly)

I try to remember to cut people some slack every now and then on that basis.

That said if the question is poorly constructed and lacks clarity - well I'm afraid I'm going to avoid that...if you've taken the time to put together a well thought out question and I can answer it I will endeavour to do so.

 

[jim may]

Self-removed from thread notification;
Thanks to all,
Jim

 

[riaz]

Hi Luke

Taking your analogy further, in that case would you try to fit the window yourself (and earn yourself a pane in the posterior!) or would you call in the experts and pay them a fee for doing it properly?

(Not that I'm advocating a fee on this Board, far from it).

 

[kgkev]

I think this is what Jim got upset about. Offering too much advise and putting glazers out business.

 

[Greg Truby]

I think this is what Jim got upset about. Offering too much advise and putting glazers out business.

I don't think so. Using Luke's analogy, Jim is upset when Luke goes to a DIY forum and says, "hey, I need to do add a room onto my house. Here are some sketches and rather general specifications for what I want. Could someone please prepare a set of detailed sketches of what the home will look like after the addition, draw up a detailed set of blueprints, provide me with all of the wiring diagrams, an exploded list of needed materials and theirs costs plus some estimates on labor rates? Oh, and I need it by noon tomorrow!"

And then someone actual does all of this for free (granted the quality may be a bit dodgy), but if the requester doesn't know one end of a hammer from the other, it's hard to convince him he should go to a professional.

 

[klb]

Sometimes it is in how it is said and the mood of the person reading it:

Can you do this for me?

or

Can you point me in the right direction so I can learn to do it myself?

 

[yytsunamiyy]

To throw my 2 Euro cents into the ring (while trying to avoid any real, virtual or metaphysical windows), I am extremly greatful for the help and teaching I have received here from the very beginning. Kenneth solved a problem for me a while back where I am still looking at the code work but just can't get my head around what it is actually doing. It's working just fine, I just don't get the how (yet ).
So, while I see Jim's point personally I am very greatful for being spoonfed every once in a while. That particular code Kenneth wrote might have cost me a bundle if I had had to pay for it, or taken ages to produce for myself (not that my code would have been anywhere close to as elegant or efficient...).

From the point of view of somebody who tries to help ppl I have to say I use a different approach to different OPs.

- simple question, OP is clearly just after a quick answer but polite and problem is clearly stated: Spoonfeed with hints of how it works, maybe OP gets interested in XL and comes to want to learn

- simple question, OP clearly just after a quick answer but impolite or problem is not clearly stated: Depending of the mood of the day just spoonfeed working on best guess (extremly good mood), make comment about clarification / politeness without giving any help (reasonable mood), ignore completely (fairly bad mood) or get seriously pissed and vow to never ever read a thread started by that poster again (seriously bad hair day)

- Challenging question that allows me to play and learn and feeds my inner nerd, OP is polite and problem is clearly stated: spend time and effort trying to help and maybe learn a few tricks from the gurus when they post their solutions

- Challenging question that allows me to play and learn and feeds my inner nerd, OP is polite but problem is not clearly stated: spend time and effort trying to help and at least clarify the question

- Challenging question that might allow me to play and learn and feeds my inner nerd, OP is impolite and problem is not clearly stated: Don't waste my time

- Question that is way over my head: if I think the future might hold a situation where I can learn from the problem and the solutions are from the gurus here ----> BOOKMARK IT! otherwise: slink away with my tail between my legs

- Homework questions: If asked politely (and I know the answer of course) I might tell them what possible routes of investigation are open to pursue and to do their homework themself. Otherwise, well, I don't know what to do - ignore or post once just to push it off the radar, see my post above