"I answered that in another thread" is a silly answer.

Obviously the person asking the question did not read your clear and correct answer. This is especially insulting if it is someone new to the forums asking a question.

If you are going to post at all, why not just answer the question? If you are too busy to answer the question again, just don't post. After all, not everyone reads every thread, or even most threads. They come here looking for answers.

Just my opinion, and there I have said it. Feel free to disagree. Not aimed at anybody in particular, but to all of us in general.

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Rosie Perera

That's a valid criticism.

I don't think people should be required to answer the question again, though. Especially MVPs who volunteer hours and hours of their time here. I think it should be sufficient to include a link to the other place where they've already answered the question. But I do agree that this courtesy (rather than just saying "I've already answered that in another thread") is a must, with so many people who just drop in infrequently to the forums.

In defense of those who do sometimes leave you frustrated this way, it is sometimes quite difficult to find that other thread where you've answered a question. Google search is way better than the forum search, but even that doesn't work very well if you can't remember any exact keywords you used when you answered the question. So it's understandable if some people give up. However I think you're right. If a person is not inclined to make the effort to either re-answer the question, or find where they've answered it before and provide a link, then it's probably best to say nothing at all and hope someone else will come along and answer it.

William Gabriel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/502560#Comment_502560

I believe that sometimes two people think about the same problem in different terms. So even though you might do your Google search with site:community.logos.com, you may still have difficulty finding what you're looking for if it's been expressed differently than you expect.

So one benefit of someone asking the same question that's been answered, if someone is willing to at least post a link to the previous answer, it will enable others who search in the future to find what they're looking for with a higher likelihood of success.

That's why I appreciate people like KS4J who are patient and willing to point us in the right direction even if it's previously covered territory.

Of course, none of that is license to abuse the generosity. Everyone should give searching their best effort before starting a new post.

Mike Childs

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/502560#Comment_502560

I agree that "I don't think people should be required to answer the question again" either. I don't even think people should be required to answer the first time, unless they want to be helpful and know the answer. Frequently, the "I have already answered that" comes after several have answered the question for the person. Go figure.

A link would be helpful. But often just the answer would take less effort unless it is a complicated problem. I don't think someone new should be expected to have read previous answers.

One of the major purposes of the forums, I think, is to answer questions for those who are new. It is not surprising that the same questions come up often.

Don't pay me any attention. I am a grouchy old man who has no patience for people with no patience.

Rosie Perera

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/502565#Comment_502565

In my experience most of the time people do not mind answering the same questions that come up over and over, and they do understand that there are newbies (and even regulars) who won't have read every single other thread.

If you've experienced some people being rude and expressing to questioners that they ought to know because it's already been answered in the forum elsewhere, then that's a bummer. There's really no excuse for that behavior. Thankfully, I think it's a rare occurrence. If you could point to a specific example of it being done (or when you notice it again in the future) (with a link; wink, wink), that might help the guilty party realize what they're doing and amend their ways. I know you said you weren't trying to point out anyone in particular, but the tone of your post leads me to suspect you've experienced this again recently and it rubs a sore spot in you.

Bruce Dunning

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/502565#Comment_502565

Don't pay me any attention

I think we should pay attention and heed your wisdom. You make some good points which are worthy of reflection and perhaps application.

William Gabriel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/502565#Comment_502565

Don't pay me any attention. I am a grouchy old man who has no patience for people with no patience.

Ha, I'm a grouchy young man. This prayer from a few days ago was convicting to me: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scottysmith/2013/06/29/a-prayer-for-being-less-easily-annoyed/ (A confession from it: "I’m annoyed at people easily annoyed.") Found myself praying along the same lines.

MJ. Smith

Not aimed at anybody in particular, but to all of us in general.

The two places I've noticed "I answered that in another thread" are:

Logos employees responding to bug reports
forum users when the original poster posted the same question in multiple forums

In both these cases, I consider the response appropriate. In other contexts, I agree with you.

Jack Caviness

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/502570#Comment_502570

A confession from it: "I’m annoyed at people easily annoyed.")

Is that bad? Do I need 1 John 1:9? [:D]

Dave Hooton

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/502565#Comment_502565

A link would be helpful. But often just the answer would take less effort unless it is a complicated problem. I don't think someone new should be expected to have read previous answers.

Unless the answers were in the same thread (a question is asked because the thread title matches their issue but they haven't read the existing posts!).

If I make an indirect reference it is because I know they have read the other thread!

Mark Barnes

I was tempted to create another thread with this reply, just so I could link to it here. But I'll be good! [:P]

I'm not sure I do agree with the suggestion, though. The underlying principle is that we should be of the most help that we can. If it's most helpful to link to another thread (or to the wiki), then that's what we should do. There are advantages in doing so, not least because other threads can often provide context or additional information that might be hard to capture in a single reply. Moreover, the original poster might prefer to add his/her voice to the original conversation. Of course, all this assumes that you're linking to an exact reply that answers all of the OP's question, not linking to the thread in general that only partly answers the question.

Of course, this is lazy, and can appear rude. But this is just about OK, in my opinion, although this would be better, as it (very) briefly answers the question before providing the link for the full answer. But I'm not sure you need any more than that…

Joseph Turner

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/502673#Comment_502673

Not aimed at anybody in particular, but to all of us in general.

The two places I've noticed "I answered that in another thread" are:

Logos employees responding to bug reports

forum users when the original poster posted the same question in multiple forums

In both these cases, I consider the response appropriate. In other contexts, I agree with you.

This is as I see it as well.

Rosie Perera

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/503484#Comment_503484

I'm not sure I do agree with the suggestion, though. The underlying principle is that we should be of the most help that we can. If it's most helpful to link to another thread (or to the wiki), then that's what we should do.

The way I read the OP, it was a critique of people saying "I answered that in another thread" without even having the courtesy to provide a link. I've actually never seen that happen. Am I being naive, Michael? Is that indeed what you were on about? Or do you really object to it when people provide a direct link to the answer which is somewhere else, rather than typing it in again (or copying and pasting it)?

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/503737#Comment_503737

If one googles the phrase, it's amazing:

(in response to EviL_EsKiMo). Re: This Thread Is A Failure v.2.0. i answered that in another thread.

I thought this was another "what will it take to get to the title" thread. I answered that in another thread and it involves nuclear disaster. So yes ...

now that I got my new 5 disc ultrasonic pond fogger. Pins aplenty. As for the culture question Apprentice, I answered that in another thread.

I don't know how they expect to spend RL CURRENCY on things that are so vague and possibly useless. I answered that in another thread in ...

joey, i answered that in another thread, but in case u didnt get it its "everything" by a cursive memory ...

Not and admin, No it is not saved on the server, How do you know? I answered that in another thread you posted it in... check one of those .

sangwe11: I answered that in another thread. Might be best if you take your questions to another thread though as it's getting confusing.

I answered that in another thread just minutes ago: Quote: Originally Posted by trini View Post. This is particularly applicable to this forum:

Rosie Perera

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/503739#Comment_503739

If one googles the phrase, it's amazing:

(in response to EviL_EsKiMo). Re: This Thread Is A Failure v.2.0. i answered that in another thread.

I thought this was another "what will it take to get to the title" thread. I answered that in another thread and it involves nuclear disaster. So yes ...

now that I got my new 5 disc ultrasonic pond fogger. Pins aplenty. As for the culture question Apprentice, I answered that in another thread.

I don't know how they expect to spend RL CURRENCY on things that are so vague and possibly useless. I answered that in another thread in ...

joey, i answered that in another thread, but in case u didnt get it its "everything" by a cursive memory ...

Not and admin, No it is not saved on the server, How do you know? I answered that in another thread you posted it in... check one of those .

sangwe11: I answered that in another thread. Might be best if you take your questions to another thread though as it's getting confusing.

I answered that in another thread just minutes ago: Quote: Originally Posted by trini View Post. This is particularly applicable to this forum:

Interesting. However the only Google hit for that phrase in site:community.logos.com is this thread.

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/503744#Comment_503744

True. But I'd been off the forum for several months, but returned in the week before the 5.1-gold. I saw the phrase and was surprised (not the exact spelling but I remember the writer and it's thread location). So when I saw Michael's note many days later, I figured he must have thought about the problem for a while.