Assistance for newbies?

[David Maier]

Scot L. Harris wrote:

>>    
>>
>>>What's missing, IMHO, is a regular posting of a "Help for Newbies", which
>>>should also go out to new subscribers and be mentioned on the trailer that's
>>>at the end of every post.
>>>
>>>Such a posting would cover how to search the list, point to the FAQs and other
>>>important info and (most important!) point to ER's page on how to ask
>>>questions.
>>>
>>>Thoughts?
>>>      
>>>

My best experience is lurking on the newsgroup that Corel set up for 
WordPerfect support, which uses a volunteer support network.  They have 
a set of FAQ's, and for repetitive questions, they simply reply with the 
link to the particular FAQ; I'd guess they have it scripted to the point 
that the response time is minimal, and the questioner gets referred 
imediately to a helpful resource.  That may not be do-able on a list 
like this, but you all know what questions you answer over and over 
again, and being able to paste a link to the precise answer would 
probably be fairly satisfying.  As a lurker, I find myself going to the 
link without having asked the question myself.