What's the best way of getting people to use this catalogue ?

[sevenhundredandthirteen]

Kelly wrote:
> Perhaps we could provide guidance for the most common questions 
along 
> these lines.  For example, if someone posted a message discussing 
> whether Hermione likes Ron or Harry, we could simply reply "Search 
> the catalogue (http://www.randomcatalogueadress.com) for Trio 
ships".


Laurasia:

Having some suggested searches is a really good idea. We are trying 
to stop the same questions being asked repeatedly, without having to 
write a list of everything which has already been discussed and a 
message saying 'Get you own ideas.' 

To use you example, Snape Loving Lily is difficult to code as a FAQ 
(no matter how many times it is discussed) because there may never 
been one definite anwswer, so linking directly to a variety of posts 
containing for and against arguments would let people make up their 
own minds. Any question which has the ambiguous answer 'Some people 
think yes, some people think no' should never be simplified into a 
FAQ, and a link to the broad spectrum of posts would keep the 
discussion open for new arguments. Anything with the label FAQ makes 
it sound like the discussion if closed. Whereas links to posts about 
an openended idea will clearly demonstrate that what we *aren't* 
doing is just writing down a list of everything that has come before 
us. What we *are* doing is keeping all the ancient themes alive so 
that its easier to find them and use them to inspire new ones, IMO.

So, I think some links to a few good ideas is great. It will also 
help give people the idea of how they are meant to approach the 
catalogue- add a few keywords, see if your exact idea has already 
been discussed. If it has, does your POV add a new spin to it? Was 
it sastisfactorarily answered before hand? Use the canon and 
arguments which came before you to make your theory stronger.

~<(Laurasia)>~