Pet Peeve with Technical Help on the Internet

I guess I am just in a complaining mood, but one pet peeve I have with technical help on the internet is the lack of documenting some the basics.

These basics include:

• timestamp of posting
• technologies involved
• versions of all technologies
• clear descriptions on how to repeat the problem or the solution
• posting the solution if it is found
• citing references for solutions or other concepts

It is amazing how many websites have obsolete and dated information on them. At least blogs and message threads do timestamp their content, but when someone creates a website with general information, it is difficult to judge how old the content is.

I guess I could also complain about titles of documents and messages in that many people like to use very generic descriptions such “I have a problem” or “I need a solution fast”. I feel titles should contain the most basic essence of the content of the document. In light of technical help, when you are presented with a list of thousands of titles, it does make it easier to search through them if they were more logically created. Yes, and I feel the same way about email in general.

To summarize: Please give careful consideration to what you choose for titles and the content of postings. It may make for better searches.