Forum suggestion: Stickies

[ksuderman]

I wonder if it might be time for the moderators (the wonderful, devoted, and patient people that they are) to do some "sticky maintenance". The Rooting forum is full of stickies with outdated (and potentially dangerous) information and just about the entire first page of the "Tips and Tricks" forum is stickies.

Maybe each forum could have an "Uber-Sticky" with links to the most important and latest posts rather that cluttering up the first page of each forum with stickies?

Edit: I am not "venting"... this just seemed like the most appropriate forum for my suggestion.

[Khassy]

We do periodically go through them. Can't see anything "dangerous" in the rooting forum. Please point out which ones you are talking about. Thanks.

[ksuderman]

For people with the new hardware (003, 004) and/or the new software (3.30.651.3) I think pretty much all instructions before the end of November are "dangerous" (best case it won't work, worst case is a bricked phone). However, the first thing any newcomer sees is the "Rooting for Dummies" sticky, stickies for Unrevoked 3.x, etc. People have to read quite a bit of stale/incorrect data before finding a link to the instructions on the XDA forum, and I'm still not sure if they've worked out all the bugs with the latest hardware. I think having a single sticky with links to the most current information would be easier for new users and easier for moderators to maintain. Of course, that is just my opinion, do with it what you will, but it would reduce the number of "Try this" messages roblin has to post

Oh yeah, one more suggestion... a "Forum suggestions" forum 

[Khassy]

Well apparently you haven't noticed but this thread IS in the forum/site suggestions forum.

As far as the other stuff, there is a very blatantly obvious sticky called "About Rooting - Read this first before proceeding" with a bright flashing light icon next to it. Anyone that goes directly to the rooting section should see it without any trouble. In addition, all  new people get my welcoming message which has links to the Evo FAQ, which also contains a section for rooting which includes the "About Rooting" thread. I will add a note on the About Rooting thread regarding the current status of rooting, though.

Rooting, in and of itself, is dangerous, and I personally have very little sympathy for anyone who tries to root their phone without knowing exactly what they are doing FIRST. But that's just me. The Unrevoked threads are clearly labeled as to which version they are for. Again, if someone doesn't stop to take the time and read and know what they are doing first, my sympathy level is not gonna hit very high up the chart.

I will, however, discuss the matter with roblin, as he seems to be the resident rooting expert, and see if he thinks anything needs to be done about them. As far as I'm concerned, however, I don't see anything "dangerous" in any of them. People should know that there's a good chance of bricking their phone if they don't learn what they are doing first. Life is about risks. You take a risk every time you walk out your door. So before moving, wouldn't you do a little research to find out what kind of neighborhood you are moving into?

[ksuderman]

Well apparently you haven't noticed but this thread IS in the forum/site suggestions forum.

LOL... I just clicked the "Show new replies to your posts" and didn't notice that this had been moved... (gotta pay more attention to the "Child boards" line...)

there is a very blatantly obvious sticky called "About Rooting - Read this first before proceeding" with a bright flashing light icon next to it.

That just means that will be the first thread people read after they brick their phone.

But I see the above thread has been updated recently. Thanks for taking the matter under consideration.

[Khassy]

Well in all likelihood, they bricked their phone or started having problems by trying to root BEFORE coming to our site. Nothing we can do to prevent that. Would be nice if we could have Sprint stick a little slip of paper in the boxes before they ship them out with our forum URL on it with a message to not touch their phone until they've read through our forums, but I think that's probably a bit much to ask.

[roblin]

For people with the new hardware (003, 004) and/or the new software (3.30.651.3) I think pretty much all instructions before the end of November are "dangerous" (best case it won't work, worst case is a bricked phone). However, the first thing any newcomer sees is the "Rooting for Dummies" sticky, stickies for Unrevoked 3.x, etc. People have to read quite a bit of stale/incorrect data before finding a link to the instructions on the XDA forum, and I'm still not sure if they've worked out all the bugs with the latest hardware. I think having a single sticky with links to the most current information would be easier for new users and easier for moderators to maintain. Of course, that is just my opinion, do with it what you will, but it would reduce the number of "Try this" messages roblin has to post

Oh yeah, one more suggestion... a "Forum suggestions" forum 

Well first thing like Khassy said Rooting in itself is Risky if you haven't done the research on it and if you don't like my "try this" post's don't try them which I didn't realize there were that many out there.And if you need any help we are all here to do what we can.There is a lot of good info in those stickies I see no reason to change anything.The 3.30 software has only been out about a month you can't root it what's the big deal it's in the works if you don't understand just ask.