I prefer a personal answer, and try to give them to others.

But there is alot to be said for links, as there can be a wealth of information given to someone very easily and quickly.

I think maybe the best thing to do when a subject has already been discussed to death is to give a short personal answer and then say "for more information..." and give the link.

[This message has been edited by Mikey (edited 10-17-2000).]

aflyer: If you use the "search" function to look for previous threads on this topic, you will find the answer to your question. Consult the oracle for new thoughts.

Seriously though, I think there's nothing wrong with posting a link to previous threads when people ask about something that was recently discussed. It's the manner in which people reply to the question which matters. Terse replies consisting of just a link and nothing else, or messages of "use the search function, we already talked about this one" do not make new members feel welcome. Somehow, such responses seem rude.

Topics will always be revisited and old discussions restarted on FT, because of two main reasons. First, there are always new people joining this community who are just starting to learn about the FF game and/or familiarising themselves with this bulletin board. (A sound reason for the "New Member"/ "Member" and "Total posts" bylines.) Second, because things are continually changing, there will always be a need for timely discussion (e.g. "the latest FF buzz") on current topics, so new threads and discussions are needed and will contain more up-to-date information than previous threads on the same or similar topics.

So how about not just saying "this has been discussed before", but also adding "Here's a link/some links to previous discussions. Hope this info helps, but feel free to post any follow up questions here." Not only is a link provided to previous relevant material, but also new discussion can be encouraged in this new thread.

FewMiles..

The search function whilst a bit slow, does seem to work IF you know what Forum to look in, and to use the key words that answer your query.

I yesterday needed to find a thread from a few months back where someone had mentioned Falkland Islands, and inward flight details, as I want to go there for Christmas. Vaguely remembering it was in General Travel Talk was the key - otherwise search could have taken an hour.

The ones who generally of course do NOT know how the SEARCH function here works are the newcomers to the board.

I guess we often see on the Starwood board a question like "can I check out late" or on UA/AA/Delta etc "is there any trick to upgrading" or whatever. Doing a searh for "check out" or "upgrade" in message body in either forum will bring 1000 thread matches I suspect, most having no bearing on the question. To search in headings only often is not the way to get the answer as we all know.

So to Doc and MrLimo et al, helping other new visitors with applicable links is a great service IMHO.

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~ Glen ~

[This message has been edited by ozstamps (edited 10-17-2000).]

I think that references to old threads are very helpful, and especially admire the patience and hard work of doc and MrLimo for finding so many of them for so many people. The flipside of NOT posting the earlier thread is that the new inquirer may otherwise not get the benefit of some of the wisdom, tips, tricks and good advice that some of us here have to offer. Quite frankly, I don't always time to post to all the threads I might have useful information on. When making these decisions as to whether to add some information or not, one of the things that goes through my mind is "didn't I already post this advice/tip/trick/recommendation on some earlier thread?" If I have already posted it somewhere, I am less inclined to spend my valuable time to repeat it (although I frequently do), since I know that someone with diligence could find the earlier thread if, for example, they want to find out all the prior references to the May Fair Intercontinental in London, one of my favorite hotels.

Glen's comments, however, raise another VERY GOOD REASON for people to please try to post in the appropriate forum. It makes it SO MUCH EASIER for people to find information that they are looking for in search if they go to the forum where the information should be, and it is actually there.

Djlawman