What's with all the repeat questions?

by 9 replies
11
<rant>
Which is better, PHP or Ruby?
...
What programming language should I learn?
...
Which is better, HTML or PHP?
...
What should I learn, Java or PHP?

Followed by the inevitable signature:
| |

And we all fall for it, every time.... Do yourself and the forum a favor, and stop answering these questions.
</rant>
#programming #questions #repeat
  • I love the ones that ask how to get more backlinks to their site and offer backlink packages in their footer. Then there are the "SEO Gurus"" that ask how to get better SERPs. And of course the new webdesign businesses that are looking for a free WordPress template for their website.
    As long as people are trying to increase their post count and have the intent of spamming with their footers, this will never end.
  • Agree 100%... make that 1000%!

    Maybe we can have the mods make a "sticky" for all these way too common questions.

    Then next we can work on eliminating the "Thanks for the information, that helps me lots" post-building replies! And we could also do without a few WordPress-related ones that seem to pop up all the time.

    I love helping people in the technical forum, but the "real" questions are being outnumbered by this trivial nonsense.

    Bill
  • What's better: Wordpress or a web site?

    Is Javascript better than HTML?
  • Maybe people are just lazy to click the search button. Some are even too lazy to search google.
    • [1] reply
    • Better still, report them by clicking the little red triangle to the left of the post. These "questions" posed by SEO spammers are solely for getting more backlinks. Same with the "thanks for the share" type of post.

      If enough members report this type of post whenever they see it, the garbage will go away and the forum will be more useful for real people.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • I'm the most suspicious of questions that are only one line.
  • Probably because it's an easy thread to start to increase post count. I see the same thing on other forums too.
  • WarriorForum could solve this issue by adding the "nofollow" attribute to all the links on their site. Then all of the legitimate posters would be punished, though.

    I admit that part of the reason I'm using this website is the lack of the "nofollow" attribute in their links. I intend to post legitimate questions and answers, however.
    • [1] reply
    • The lack of "nofollow" links is not the only reason for trying to increase post count. You need to have a minimum number of posts to take advantage of all the forum features (like personal messages), as well as to be able to post a WSO or a post in the Joint Ventures forum. The ability to post a WSO can be far more valuable than getting a couple of links back to your site.

      The self-policing on this forum works great however, and stops the majority of these clowns in their tracks. By reporting posts that are obvious advertisements or "junk posts" many of these spammers are stopped cold in their tracks.

      But the issue that is the subject of this thread is a bit harder to control. You can't really report someone for asking whether WordPress or Joomla or Drupal is "better", despite the fact that it's a stupid question that has been asked dozens of times before (and was equally stupid the first time it was asked several years ago). Nor can you report someone who is just too lazy to spend a minute on Google to get answers to a well-documented question.

      Duplicate posts in different forums are another pet peeve of mine, by that I mean posting the exact same question in the Programming Talk, Website Design and Main forums. While the questions themselves may indeed have merit the duplicate posting is completely unnecessary and dilutes the quality of the responses. I suspect it's probably a misguided attempt to get the question in front of as many eyeballs as possible, but it also may be a deliberate method of increasing post count.

      Bill
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