A RV "frequently asked questions" section of the Canada & Alaska section of this forum. Several of the forum sections have a FAQ sticky. The Class A section does for example. Many of the questions asked by people considering a trip to the north country, are repeats of the questions asked in the recent past. Many newbies, and geezers like myself, don't find being told to "do a search" to be very helpful. Last week, I spent over an hour trying to search for comments on a particular Ford engine fix, as used in RVs. Finding the "exact" key word(s) for my question, proved difficult to find.
Several of the forum topics already have a FAQ sticky, some done by a moderator, others done by a forum member and kept up to date by them.
If someone that is good at doing searchers, not me, could compile a list of common "going to Canada & Alaska, questions and make a "clicky" to the previous posts would be so helpful, IMHO.
Anyone willing to put together such a list could more than likely get the Admin to make a sticky of it. There are many commonly asked questions of which we are all aware, such as "do I need a reservation?", "what to see on the way?", Where to see the best igloos?", "where is the best fishing?", "border crossing questions?", "where can I exchange American or Canadian dollars, for Alaska money?" and the list goes on and on. Some new folks, appear to have such a limited knowledge of the north country, it is difficult for them, to know what questions to ask. Such a FAQ list would help everyone.
Anyone up for this? Everyone could feed their lists to Frank, Eric or the forum member handling the sticky.
joe b.
Stuart Florida
Formerly of Colorado and Alaska
Chevy 3500 DRW Dmax CC - Rockwood 8281 SS 5th Whl & 2008 Lance 845 TC www.pajbcooper.com web site
Alaska Trip 2011 posted
Colo-Utah-Ariz 2012 trip posted
"Without challenge, adventure is impossible".
Eric, I would suspect the forum Admin is going to want to know "who" is going to be the "head" person of the sticky. That person wouldn't be the one doing all the search lists, but would be the one adding or not adding, the received lists from forum members. Sorting the wheat from the chaff sort of idea. It would seem to me that one of you two moderators, would be the ideal person to be the "inputer" of received information, or someone acceptable to both of you and the Admin.
I sure agree that someone needs to keep the old myths, war stories, etc. out of the FAQ, especially the second or third hand ones. LOL But often, in past threads on Canada & Alaska, RVers that have first hand information, will point this out. Seldom are any of the second hand stories of a positive nature or very factual. This section of the forum, for some unknown, to me, reason, attracts more of the "my wife's boyfriend's last roommate in rehab said, blah, blah, blah about his trip to Alaska" than any of the other part of the forum.
Perhaps you or Frank could bounce the idea off of the Admin? The FAQ could start out small and grow over time. Between now and mid summer, I am sure we will see a half dozen questions asking about, the ferry systems, caravans, reservations, what to do and see, Alaska Hwy or Cassiar Hwy, the National Parks of Canada and Alaska, boondocking, etc for a start.
On Edit: I think I would see most of the content of the FAQ to be "clickies" back to previous posts, asking the same basic question. Some would be factual but much is going to be opinions. Good, bad or indifferent ones.
* This post was
edited 02/11/12 10:00am by joe b. *
I'll ask Admin and solicit comments from the other moderators. Inputting the information would not be a problem but vetting it would definitely require an 'expert'.
The main FAQ topic would have to be limited to a particular set of destinations, i.e. travel through Canada to Alaska and perhaps the Yukon and NWT. I really don't see any need to have FAQ's for other destinations or topics relating to Canada.
I personally enjoy reading about travel to Alaska but I have never traveled there and have no first hand knowledge myself.
I think it's a good idea. However, before anyone starts sending lists to either Frank or myself, we'll need to run it by Admin.
Another thing we need to do in my opinion would be to separate fact from fiction. In my mind, FAQ's must contain information that is accurate and timely.
As as user, I usually get turned off by FAQs. Why.
They are not organized by subject. & the subjects aren't in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd word. People are most often expected to browse.
I confess that this is one site where I read them, especially the ones in Beginning. 8 years ago I read them and they were better organized than most.
So, whoever, does it, expect me to be saying "start it with these words:" followed by my suggestion re. topic summary, subject heading.......
& on that score, if this thread is getting read by many, once again a request. Would askers please say where they are going, NOT "going to Canada". At least say "western Canada", "The Martimes", even US expressions "Eastern Seaboard" would give more information than "going to Canada". That's all 4,000+ miles, 6,400 kms. or Trans Canada Highway's 7,000 or so kms to include Newfoundland.
It's so nice when you know what you're going to read about.
& also, each person's interest varies from the last asker. In 8 years where I have made many travel suggestions, I doubt if I have answered any thread the same way.
Thus, if a answer in a thread or an FAQ topic is something like the topic you want to know about, gets asked, don't let that stop you from asking about your wants.
& why do I use point format all the time. Because I find more people read and ask for more, when I use point format vs. long paragraphs.
& please, let us keep from trying to identifying what are true tourist attractions. Most rvers are tourists at some time or another. Or, if a type of activity is mentioned by an rv.net member, it is something to do with rving. Please let the thread run its course.
* This post was
edited 02/11/12 03:20pm by Little Kopit *
PackerBacker wrote: In my mind, FAQ's must contain information that is accurate and timely.
Yes, and that's the biggest problem with them: maintenance.
Many threads in the RVing FAQ above were compiled in 2002, and never updated for example. Most folks don't want info that old, even if it is still timely. Heck, many people don't want *anything* other than a personal response.
FAQs appear to be rarely used, if at all. I will see a poster write "I did a search", but never "I read the FAQ."
Stickys serve a useful purpose but need to be updated regularly since changes are made within the different countries and that info is not always readily available to the general public. It is hard to keep up to date like something that is hard and fast. We can ask ADMIN but I am not sure that a sticky for FAQ is the answer here due to the assorted types of questions and possible answers.
Frank
2011 Palomino Maverick 1000SLLB on a 2004 Dodge Quadcab CTD Ram3500 SRW long bed equipped with Timbren springs, Stable Load bump stops, Rickson 19.5" wheels/"G" range tires and a Helwig "Big Wig" rear anti sway bar.
Offline
