Can we PLEASE end "ask someone"

It just doesn’t work

I love this website, but “ask someone” is a failure, near as I can tell

Get rid of it, and don’t re-introduce it until you’ve got it fixed

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It needs some work. Provide some suggestions on how to improve it. If it doesn’t work after. Few months, then ask for closure.

I don’t even understand the point of “ask someone”

It’s redundant

In my opinion, many of the people would be better served, if they just posted a question in the “maintenance” or “general discussion” section

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It’s a different way to connect people with questions to people that can answer them, like you. Eventually, more traffic could mean more fun for the usual list of suspects that hang out here.

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I agree. I don’t understand it. It tries to connect like minded people together. But we are all like minded people. With a common goal of helping each other regardless of make and model.

They aren’t here. They probably don’t even know the site exists. I think the devs are trying to raise awareness of the site considering the show isn’t around to drive traffic here anymore.

Way I see it, we can try things like this, or we can fold.

I can’t believe the information we are being given is the only information these people have posted. I think we are only getting the last post in a dialog or there is a lot of information they are giving in their sign in process we are not getting.

If this website folds, I have plenty of books to read :books:

There are a few regulars that post on many of those “Ask someone that owns one” threads, should this be taken away from them if it does’t appeal to the next person?

The ‘Ask Someone’ could be a separate heading with a drop down menu listing the make.

My guess is that for the CarTalk message board to continue, site traffic has to increase to keep the ad revenue coming. I don’t consider “Ask Someone” a failure yet; it needs a couple of months to work out the issues. If it’s just as bad at that point, then I would call for its demise.

Personally, I’m giving the “Ask Someone” posts little or no attention. I figure if the poster didn’t come to the CarTalk site, they won’t mind if I ignore their post.

I too believe “Ask Someone” was done in an attempt to increase traffic and hence add revenue.

I also agree “Ask Someone” doesn’t add value.
Though if I were the CarTalk management person responsible for it, I’d want more time before declaring its flaws are real.

Shouldn’t the regulars know that the ask someone is almost a dead end so far and poor Carolyn has to move them to the main board.

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I’m still trying to make it work, I understand trying to get more traffic over here…but yeah, many of the posts that slide through here are rather brutal in the complete lack of information. We’ve had some people respond to posts, but (and this is a completely non-scientific number) I feel like it’s 5 or 6 non-responders to 1 responder

What needs to happen is required fields on the other site. Year, make, model, trim level, mileage. If they don’t fill those out, then they can’t submit the question.Then those fields auto-fill at the top of the ask-soemone posts here so that we always have the info we need to help.

Not sure what you mean by that. If you mean by posting on the ask someone area that just makes more work for Carolyn and Victoria.

What I mean is I try to engage those posters and try to convince them to come back and actually give us some useful information. Supposedly those posters do get an email notification when someone responds to their question or inquiry.

And no I have not added any new posts back there. As far as I can tell, they’re only moving posts that have salvageable quality to them, not the random complaint posts or gibberish posts that come over

Car Talk Plaza staff meeting notes : After consuming 2 or 3 Calorie laden Star Bucks lattes and overdosing on sugar donuts we have decide to link two different sites so we can annoy people on both at the same time.

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Like win 10, life is different but it goes on. You can ask the poster all the questions you wish, It does not seem much different than day to day posts on this site to me.

The public is becoming fixated on shotgunning the merest of information regarding a problem and waiting for someone to latch onto them offering all manner of advice. On a few occasions I have read a question here and jumped to a site somewhat specifically associated with the OP’s problem and found that the OP has posted there already also. I don’t blame anyone for getting all the free help that is available but when every site must dig the year make and model car out of them I don’t as a rule get too interested in the problem right off the bat.

BTW, how did the old Car Talk pay its bills?