Recognition for the humble ME!

[UniMord]

I enjoy using the MrExcel Message Board and appreciate when people take the time out to answer my questions. Even if the person misunderstood the question or is plain, flat out wrong, the fact is, he was trying to help, so I thank him. This, I would think is common courtesy.

At the moment I'm fuming because somebody asked a question which required some time, ingenuity and about 35 lines of VBA code. I worked hard on that (okay, so I'm not the fastest VBA'er around, it still took time), and nothing but silence. Not a thank you, not a response, zilch. Yes, the asker could be away on vacation, in jail, sick or dead, but in all likelihood, it's just plain ol' bad manners.

My question to the members of the jury: is there an acceptable way chide ingrates on this board? If yes, in what way, and how much time do we give them first? I was thinking of something along the lines of posting a link to some article about saying thank you, similar to how we deal with cross-posters with a link to http://www.excelguru.ca/node/7. On the other hand, perhaps we shouldn't get started with this sort of thing at all. Bear in mind, I'm not talking about short answers (for which a thank you still doesn't hurt), I mean where the answerer went out of his way to help.

Thank you,

UniMord

 

[al_b_cnu]

Dunno about that, but If I reply to this thread, will you thank me?

 

[Patience]

I agree UniMord. It is common courtesy. But I wouldn't want to go down the road of pointing people towards a commmon courtesy guidlines thread as most of the people who use this board will be adults and should be aware of those social niceities. If I get a thank you for an answer I would rather know that it is a genuine one rather than one that someone felt they had to write because board guidlines suggest it. Those persistent offenders - who post a question, get a response time and time again without a thank you or a response from them are the sorts of people I would feel far less inclined to lend my skills to.

I am a big fan of politeness, and will make sure that if ever I have kids it will be one thing I do not fail to istill, but I don't want to have to remind adults whose parents did fail to teach them please and thank you that consideration and thought for others is considered pleasant.

My two pennies worth.





Edit - BTW I notice above me are possibly the two best signatures. EVER. !!!

 

[al_b_cnu]

Why, THANK YOU Patience

 

[Patience]

OK that was quite funny.

 

[UniMord]

Of course you're right. I don't have any interest in being the thank you police either. There's always going to be an endless supply of impolite people - I just needed to vent. I figured the Lounge would be a good place to get some sympathy - if I've bumped up against this type of behavior, then the board's prolific big guns probably deal with this every day. Anyway, I'm over it.

Thanks,

UniMord

 

[Joe4]

We understand the frustration, it has happened to all of us. IMO, what's worse is the double posts, when you take a lot of time and effort to work out an elaborate solution to a problem -- only to realize that it has already been answered in another thread asking the same question.

That was more prolific on the board, when there was slowness issues and people would hit the Submit button multiple times, accidentally creating multiple posts on the same question. But there are still is the occassional person who will re-post the same question, sometimes worded just a little bit differently.

That being said, the best advice is to let sleeping dogs lie. We don't want to turn into a "bickering" board, and we don't want people to play "back seat Moderator" (which is against forum rules). When all is said and done, it is the questioner's loss, because the next time they ask a question, you might not be so inclined to help them out.

 

[Norie]

Unimord

Getting a thank you is always appreciated.

But what I find more frustrating are the following.

1 Cross-posting, I've seen people cross-post in various forums apparently almost simultaneously.

2 People posting back with a one-liner like 'Got it' but not sharing the answer.

 

[NateO]

I find that if you set your expectations very low you'll be pleasantly surprised. Thank you's are even more appreciated when you don't come to expect one.

Besides, I find there are more benefits to posting here than the all-mighty thank you, I use the site as a research tool and a virtual code database, to a large extent. That in itself is invaluable to me.

And then you have other members who balance the scale by being all too gracious in their feedback, e.g., I've had people offer to be my host in a foreign country or offer Christmas gifts, etc...

Think Bell Curve, sure there's a mean and we all have expectations, but you end up with outliers on both ends in the realistic spectrum of things.

 

[Richard Schollar]

I must admit I do find it frustrating when I've spent a while crafting a solution and then the OP doesn't respond but at the end of the day I like to think the best of people so if someone hasn't replied I prefer to believe they have a very good reason for not doing so (whatever that may be). It makes me a happier individual.

I just don't get so wound up about cross-posting. If I was desperate for a solution I think i would probably post a question on every board I found too. I prefer it when cross-posters provide a link to their cross-posts, but it just isn't a big deal for me (but I know it is for others). I think this Board has a much better approach to cross-posting that two other boards I could mention...