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This forum is for technical Q+A - it is NOT for posting unsolicited articles.
This forum is for technical Q+A - it is NOT for posting unsolicited articles.
- f you have an article on InfoPath in SharePoint do not post it here. Post it to your blog or to one of the many web sites that accept articles on SharePoint.This forum is not a location for InfoPath articles and they will be deleted.Instead if you have information that can solve a question posted in the forum, post as a reply in that thread a precis of the solution and then (and only then) give the URL of your blog/article as a source of further information.(Moderator)(Posted so a couple of people stop trying to use this forum as a blog system or as an advertising location for their blogs)
WSS FAQ sites: http://wssv2faq.mindsharp.com and http://wssv3faq.mindsharp.com
Total list of WSS 3.0 / MOSS 2007 Books (including foreign language) http://wssv3faq.mindsharp.com/Lists/v3%20WSS%20FAQ/V%20Books.aspx
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It's very disappointing that we can't share one exciting piece of news about this forum's future product after hundreds (1000+) of posts and countless hours helping people for free.
Mike, is it stated somewhere that the forum has to be so oppressive and not be open to great things that bring interest and more traffic? I would imagine 1 out of 1300 posts being about great news in the industry and 1299 answering questions would be ok, but I guess not? That's disheartening.
SharePoint Architect || My Blog- As I wrote in the sticky post, that is what blogs are for.
WSS FAQ sites: http://wssv2faq.mindsharp.com and http://wssv3faq.mindsharp.com
Total list of WSS 3.0 / MOSS 2007 Books (including foreign language) http://wssv3faq.mindsharp.com/Lists/v3%20WSS%20FAQ/V%20Books.aspx And that's where I put it, but how are people going to know it's there unless I show them? Random chance vice directing them straight to the information. My blog entry also points straight to the InfoPath Team Blog post from today that is extremely valuable to anyone who deals with InfoPath and SharePoint...namely, those who use this sub-forum.
SharePoint Architect || My Blog- Again, as written in the sticky post, forums are not for posts in which people put adverts for their blog sites.
There are plenty of ways in which Blog sites can be found. (Other peoples Blog lists; Google searches; Blog-specific searches etc.) If your blog posts are consistently good and informative your blog will be found.
WSS FAQ sites: http://wssv2faq.mindsharp.com and http://wssv3faq.mindsharp.com
Total list of WSS 3.0 / MOSS 2007 Books (including foreign language) http://wssv3faq.mindsharp.com/Lists/v3%20WSS%20FAQ/V%20Books.aspx - Dear Mike:
Thanks for your time to moderate this forum. I just submitted my first question last week and have been trying to climb the learning curve for SharePoint and InfoPath as fast as I can. This forum has been a great help. If it wasn't for people like Clayton and you contributing to Web 2.0-style information sources, we would be relying on Microsoft documentation, which has been very frustrating in the past.
When you begin your replies by referring to your sticky post, however, it shows inflexibility. I judge whether ideas are good mostly by whether the intentions are virtuous and whether the real issue is being addressed. There are reasons why I think that blogs should not be part of this forum, not because of a self-made distinction between forums and blogs, but because I don't want such things as people peddling software to help me. I want the challenge of getting SharePoint and InfoPath to dance. When I need to buy some tool, I'll search for it. Having had a quick look at Clayton's blog, I only see someone trying to help me. Please feel free to point out what is wrong with blogs like his, but I, as a user, would prefer lead-ins to honest information through this forum than relying on the hope that the information I need has been deemed "good and informative" enough for it to be readily found through a general search.
I should also mention that a blog might present information better through images.
Rather than forum vs. blog, why not offer some rules about blog links. For example,
- the article must solve a specific problem as described in the title;
- it must not involve other software;
- there must not be a section for user feedback, which should take place attached to the forum article;
- it must furnish in this forum certain bits of information, including a summary, and follow a few predefined headings; and
- must declare and link back to this forum.
Respectfully,
M2 - Sorry for the delay. I don't put alerts on these posts.I'm not sure if we are at odds here.I want to see threads consist of questions followed by answers. If the answers point at Blog items then that is fine provided the blog item was already in existence before the question arrived in the forum. (One person answered all questions he replied to with "see here" and referred to a blog item on his web site that he had clearly written to answer the specific forum question ! In such cases the reply should come in the forum.). It is however always better in such cases if the basic information answering the question is in the forum thread with additional information available from the blog (and images perhaps).The sticky post here is me saying that people should not write posts to the forum that *start* a thread that aren't asking a question and perhaps are only (as in the case Clayton was objecting to me deleting) saying look at my blog for information on X. If someone (else) had asked a question here saying "does anyone know anything about what is in InfoPath 2010?" then Clayton could then have replied with the information that he had written some details in his blog at URL xxx.One is self-publicizing - the other is being a helpful forum member. There *is* a difference. (and yes, I would see the pattern of Jim always asking a leading question and Fred always answering it - not the first time maybe but when repeated a few times)(One of the aims by the way is to avoid having "Information Posts" from forum users taking over the forums. Rather than fighting over the validity of each one, it is clearer to just ban them altogether. Experience over many years in newsgroups show that when lines are not defined to be black/white there will be endless discussion over where the line goes. Better to avoid that and stick to being forums with solid Q+A)I hope this helps.Mike Walsh
WSS FAQ sites: http://wssv2faq.mindsharp.com and http://wssv3faq.mindsharp.com
Total list of WSS 3.0 / MOSS 2007 Books (including foreign language) http://wssv3faq.mindsharp.com/Lists/v3%20WSS%20FAQ/V%20Books.aspx - What I did was definitely being a helpful forum member, which is what I spend tireless hours being almost every day. To dismiss it as nothing but "self-publicizing" is an insult and is very short-sighted. The blog post that was deleted has gotten tons of hits and is very helpful to the InfoPath community, but it has inevitably not reached as many people as it should have due to being deleted from here for a poor reason. If someone can't post 1700 times with 450 answers without being considered a "self-publicizer," then what's the point? It makes no sense to put information in a thread and let it wither/die when it can be in a blog post that can easily be referenced many times in the future. It's a shame you're allowed to restrict the forum in such a way.
Yeah, I'm just self-publicizing when I try to let people know about the awesome new features of InfoPath 2010. I guess no one here is allowed to know about that info unless they specifically start a thread requesting it, yet how can people know to ask for something they haven't heard of? That is very lame, very restricting, and makes this sub-forum a limited resource for InfoPath-related information. If that is what Microsoft wants from this forum, then great!!! That's not the impression I get from the InfoPath team when I speak to them directly, though. Luckily, we (the InfoPath community) have InfoPathDev.com as a comprehensive resource of current information on InfoPath as well as a plethora of forums for each InfoPath topic - not just one that is lorded over by a ruthless dictator. I suppose that's what Microsoft asked of its moderators - to restrict the forums so that people didn't rely on it as a primary source of information on a given topic? Yeah, that makes sense. Ask a question - get an answer: that's all that can be done here. Got it.
SharePoint Architect || My Blog
