Ive been shot down with flaming arrows for this before but I dont care Im doing it again.

Take a few minutes of every day and read the help center. 90% of all questions can be answered there and 90% of all misunderstandings could be avoided if more people read it. Its easy to navigate and search and almost all the info you would ever want about PBS is in there so read the help center. Not for me not for anyone but yourself. Its a very HELPful portion of this site.

The Help Center is our Friend. :)

Chris, why have you been shot down for that?  It's good advice.  The forums are still here if something is unclear, but it's a great idea to be reading the Help Center just to know what is there and also to go there first if you do have an issue come up!

well said, Bernie, lol.

No flaming arrows here!

I got shot down the last time because people felt I was telling newbies not to ask questions which is not at all my point now or then.

I never take it as you are telling folks to not ask questions. Just giving a gentle reminder that its there. I know I have had to go peek in there from time to time.

Its always nice to read the FAQs and Help Center as soon as one joins something like this. You never know what might pop up that you never even thought about asking!

 I know I have had to go peek in there from time to time.

Exactly!  Things change (get added or deleted), too, so even if you knew the answer a couple of months ago, it might be a little different now.  (the whole cracked/cleaved thing comes to mind.  That one changed along the way)  I'll admit that I have wished (along w/ others, I believe) that there was a places that "updates" could be posted so we can keep track w/o stumbling on it, lol.

Only throwing chocolate kisses for making this public service announcement, Chris. MANY easy to find answers are in there. The search feature is great, too. It does a comeplete word search. Pick a keyword for your question to get an answer:

Get a book with the WRONG cover

• What if I mail the wrong book?
• If the book cover image on a listing in the database is wrong...
• I sent a book to the wrong person!
• I received a book I didn't request!
• If the information on a book listing in the database is incorrect...
• A requestor says there is a problem with a book I sent!
• There is a problem with a book I received!

how about wanting to know if the POSTAGE on the wrapper is correct?

• I forgot the postage!
• Does the postage print out on the wrapper?
• Is the postage amount shown on the PBS wrapper always correct?
• The *recommended postage* on my wrapper was wrong!
• I received a book postage-due!
• How much does it cost to mail a book?
• Do I have to mail from a post office?

Or whether you can hand WRITE your wrapper?

• Can I hand-write the address to send a book?
• Do I have to have a printer to use PBS?
• How do I get the address to mail a book?
• How to Mark a Book Received
• How do I provide/edit my review of a book?
• How to Wrap a Book
• What's New with transactions
• Why don't book listings mention book condition?
• My request was canceled but I already mailed the book!

Give it a try next time you have a question. Or just try it once a day, like Chris suggested, There's really a lot of good stuff in there. I think I've read the whole thing at least twice. I want to know what I can and cannot do. I don't like doing things wrong and getting yelled at for it. And throw Chris some more chocolate kisses for sending you there!   :)

there was a places that "updates" could be posted so we can keep track w/o stumbling on it, lol.

I'm with you on that one, Beth.

Aww thanks Sherry. *blushing*

There's nothing wrong with themasking questions, and I know you, nor any of us are saying that, but there is just so many things they might miss by not even knowing to ask the question! The answers to their UNKNOWN questions are in the Help Center. The forums can then be used if you don't quite understand what you read, more for discussion and clarification.

WE all want to be able to function self-suficiently, we don't want to wait until we do it wrong to find out how to do things right, that's just not fun! That's all Chris is suggesting. Just a little bit of time helping one's self become independent and complete in our ability to navigate the site, and find all the possible goodies that might be here.

I love the help center :) it's so easy!

THANK YOU CHRIS!!!!

I am continuously amazed at the questions that get asked  from a group of supposed readers, LOL...

Chris..---------you changed before my eyes!!!!!!   I hardly knew ya!

Sorry June I messed around with that pic and liked it so much I had to show it off. It was a normal eye when I started but I photoshopped it to make it a cats eye.

The PROBLEM with directing people to the help center is that (and take it from a search moron..I suck at searching) it is not easy to find what you're looking for! You type in "I ate the pit of a cherry" and it tells you what to do if your best friend's neighbor eats a peach pit.

I wish the help center was formatted as an FAQ instead of prompting me to ask my own question. Every single question I've ever asked here, I've first researched (or tried to anyway) at the help center.

Michelle Im not saying not to ask questions Im saying read the help center. Not for a question but to make yourself familiar with the site and its rules and regulations. I dont mean if you have a question go to the help center and seek it out (although that should be everyones first move). I mean read a little bit of it every day until you have read it. At least most of it. If not that then at least the FAQ on the first page.

Too many times there are arguments that could have been so easily defused before they even came about if the person posting would have just made themselves aware of the site rules and regulations by reading the HC.

Michelle, the HC is laid out like a FAQ, just hit the browse docs button and your FAQ is there! It's all laid out by topic.

Oh, and also, for your hypothetical search above, you would simply type either PIT or CHERRY and this HC will give you the question you are asking, then you click the question and there's your answer.

I went back and read the Help Center recently myself.   We all forget now and then what we should and shouldn't be doing.

I'd shoot flaming arrows Chris, but 1) I wouldn't come close to hitting the bullseye, 2) more then likely I would burn my finger before I released the arrow, and 3) the stupid thing would probably fall down and stab me in my foot. lol.

Yep, I've been here 2 years and things have definitely changed in that time frame, so I occasionally go back and read portions of the HC too. The HC is not just for newbies! Sometimes a new person will ask a question that I'm not sure of, so I go and look at the HC and am surprised by the answer I find there--because it's "not the way things used to work" when I had a similar situation "x number of months/years ago."  Then I'm glad I checked before answering so I don't look like a total moron! LOL

New folks asking questions is great, and there's lots of folks willing and eager to help--it's just that when the same questions are asked repeatedly, especially when you find two or three threads on the very first page of this forum asking the very same thing that it can get tedious at times because it's obvious that some people are not even trying to find the answer to their question by at least browsing through these two great resources, the Help Center and this Questions About PBS forum. The "Tips for Newbies" Sticky Thread (in red) at the top of this forum has some great advice too!

Cheryl

Bumping this up.

It's not a bad idea to read the Terms of Use section (link at the bottom of every page) once in a while as well. I just re-read it and there's a lot of information there.