The Bad Threads

[ChemistB]

Not sure if this goes beyond the realm of acceptable political correctness but I thought I’d start a humorous thread where humorous fictitious examples of bad posts are presented. Include your favorite pet peeves; Who knows, this might qualify as a link on “What not to do” for new posters.

First Post:
The Nebulous Problem

Okay, I have a bunch of data and when I try to apply my formula to it, it doesn’t work but it used to work but that was on a different system and with different data. Now I’m on the new system and my data is completely different. Can anyone help me?

I guess I should explain more. In my first column I have these numbers and I want them to match these other numbers that I have. Then I want “Yes” or “No” to pop up. If it's yes, then multiply by 2, if it's no, then subtract 2.

ChemistB

[ChemistB]

One of my favorites.

"Hey, I posted 10 whole minutes ago. Doesn't anybody know the answer???"

ChemistB
Repeated at regular intervals throughout the day.

[shg]

See attached!

[ChemistB]

Nice shg!
3 in 1; title, jpgs (when it's just as easy to upload xls) and the miniature example.

ChemistB

[ChemistB]

Post 1
Hi! I have numbers in column A and I need to know if the same number is in Column B.

Post 2
Thanks, that works great but I forgot to mention that columns are in different workbooks.

Post 3
My second workbook in on a network drive and it want this to work without opening it.

Post 4
Great! Sometimes however, I have text instead of numbers.....

Post 5
Can we get this to work in rows instead of columns?

Post 6
I need this matching to work for partial matches too.

etc...............................

ChemistB

[dominicb]

Usually anything that contains the phrases "...forgot to mention..." and "...sometimes, however..." are best avoided. After answering several hundred posts you usually get the feel for those OP's that are just going to be trouble and best steering clear of : that said I have no problem helping out a struggling user in a thread spanning, say, 20 posts, if they really can't grasp a concept. However, all too many give insufficient information in the first post and spend every subsequent post addingfurther constraints and obstacles that realy should have been made in the first instance.

Another one is the OP that wants to know all about a certain subject. The post might read "I need to know all about VLOOKUP. Can you help me". It can be very hard sometimes not to answer with "Try the ****ing help files - it tells you all about VLOOKUP in there" ...

DominicB

[royUK]

Thanks for your suggestion but I'm not that good with Excel, could you do it for me and maybe improve my project with any other suggestions?

[ChemistB]

I’m not very good with Excel but here’s what I want. When the spreadsheet is opened, it automatically queries the user on his/her name. Then it will automatically import all the pertinent data from 10 different workbooks, sorting by date.

I’d like the cells to color code depending on which of the 100 users initially made the entries and for the rows and columns to autoformat to fit the cells but no bigger than 15 cm. I’d like blanks between each group of entries with hyperlinks to the previous group.

I’d like cells to have audile prompts for the user when he/she clicks on them informing them of what is to go into the cells and where the dependents are.

It should have 34 sort and filter macros each connected to a button with a user form that will engage the user in a game of chess while they wait for the workbook functions to complete.

I’d like the form to autonumber and fit on a single page.

Thanks for your help.

ChemistB
PS. If we can do this without VBA, that would be great.

[chergh]

this is a challenge for ALL OF YOU

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

please guys help me am taking this course in excel and am about to fail it

my instructor gave us this bonus assignment to get more marks

if i didnt get this assignment right am gonna fail the course so please help

and of course my instructor always gives us these HARD assignments



ok the assignment is:


in this work book we 2 sheet

sheet 1: you'll find all the semester the student took and in each all the courses


sheet 2:you'll find all the students ID and all the courses and the grades for the courses


what he want is:>>>>>>>>>>>


in sheet 1 when i write the student ID it should show me all the grades for the courses he took in each semester and also the extra ones


i hope i i made it clear for you guys i think i should use (VLOOKUP) but what do i know


plese guys am begging you help me please

[ChemistB]

I tried what you said and you're wrong! (Usually because they transcribed something wrong or they didn't explain clearly what they needed)

Or........

Excel stinks! We should go back to the abacus.

ChemistB

[martindwilson]

i have this course/homework/school.....project
I don't mind helping but please can i have the certificate/a level/degree too?
and
to chemist b

I’m not very good with Excel but here’s what I want. When the spreadsheet is opened, it automatically queries the user on his/her name. Then it will automatically import all the pertinent data from 10 different workbooks, sorting by date.

I’d like the cells to color code depending on which of the 100 users initially made the entries and for the rows and columns to autoformat to fit the cells but no bigger than 15 cm. I’d like blanks between each group of entries with hyperlinks to the previous group.

I’d like cells to have audile prompts for the user when he/she clicks on them informing them of what is to go into the cells and where the dependents are.

It should have 34 sort and filter macros each connected to a button with a user form that will engage the user in a game of chess while they wait for the workbook functions to complete.

I’d like the form to autonumber and fit on a single page.

Thanks for your help.


PS. If we can do this without VBA, that would be great.

oh dear you're not very helpful are you ?
why not just order a taxi/plane and pop around to their office/home and do the whole thing from scratch.? shame on you.

[ChemistB]

I want to write my novel in Excel and it's cutting off some of the text. How can I get around this?

ChemistB

[arthurbr]

This one's nice too

[martindwilson]

Hello all,

I hope this is the right forum location for this question! Well here goes.

I have a a cell that has a value lets say (5) we will call this cell E3. I then have a column of cells D12 thru D43. Cell D44 is for the Total.

When a user enters a value into E3 (can be any number) the values entered into D12 thru D43 cannot be larger then that number but the formula needs to devide the values in D12 thru D43 from E3 and show that number. (Example) E3 has (5) and D12 has 4, the formula converts that number to 80 because 5 equals 100%. then the 80 is added in the totals cell D44. As the cells become populated, the total increases until all 26 cells are completed.

I need to know how to create the formula for the E3 and the D Column so that when numbers are entered the number converts etc... I hope this was not to big of a question


Thanks in advance...

I hope you can help!

JOhn

[ChemistB]

LOL, what's wrong this that post, Martin? It's clear as mud. You forgot to mentioned that they posted it at least 3 forums.

[Cheeky Charlie]

Roy:

Thanks for your suggestion but I'm not that good with Excel, could you do it for me and maybe improve my project with any other suggestions?

I think you mean:

Thanks for your suggestion but I'm too lazy to work out the one or two tiny little tweaks needed to apply this to my situation, could you do it for me and maybe improve my project with any other suggestions and wipe my a**e for me, I'm having some problems?

[Cheeky Charlie]

I also like:

What you've done may or may not work brilliantly and may even be an astoundingly precise application of the most powerful features of software you've obviously invested hours in learning...

but I asked you specifically to solve my problem exclusively with use of abs() vlookup() and dateserial() and you've used a function I don't understand - I therefore brand you a fool and scorn your effort

Occassionally this is appended with "anyone who's not a total and utter moron like the guy who's already tried to help me want to have a go?"

[darkyam]

Here's one I see sometimes: The Punctuation-Free Post
hi i have a spreadsheet with two sheets in it b1 of sheet 2 has sum of column a of sheet 1 what i need is b1 to have either the sum of column a or the sum of columns a b and c if ...

Also, the Text-Message Post:
How r u? I h8 xl. Here's my prob....ne help wud b gr8!

My favorite one ever was from ozgrid. The post has since been deleted, but the title of the thread was "Do my work for me". And that's exactly what the OP wanted. No please, no apologies, no asking for help, just a demand. It was so funny I actually printed off the thread and showed it to some people in the office.

[BigBas]

I don't so much mind the posts where the user has obviously spent very little time explaining their problem; with those, I just spend very little (or no) time answering.

The ones that really annoy and frustrate me are those where the user is clearly trying to overdo things so that they look good in front of their boss. And, you know they are going to take credit for it and pretend they are some excel mastermind.

[royUK]

I think text speak should be banned.

[ChemistB]

I think text speak should be banned

LOL, I agree!

[EdMac]

And not just from the forum - everywhere!

[Cheeky Charlie]

I think text speak should be banned.

...

Please Login or Register  to view this content.

...
thnk txt spk shld b bnnd.

[royUK]

And not just from the forum - everywhere!

Couldn't agree more

[Macdave_19]

I’m not very good with Excel but here’s what I want. When the spreadsheet is opened, it automatically queries the user on his/her name. Then it will automatically import all the pertinent data from 10 different workbooks, sorting by date.

I’d like the cells to color code depending on which of the 100 users initially made the entries and for the rows and columns to autoformat to fit the cells but no bigger than 15 cm. I’d like blanks between each group of entries with hyperlinks to the previous group.

I’d like cells to have audile prompts for the user when he/she clicks on them informing them of what is to go into the cells and where the dependents are.

It should have 34 sort and filter macros each connected to a button with a user form that will engage the user in a game of chess while they wait for the workbook functions to complete.

I’d like the form to autonumber and fit on a single page.

Thanks for your help.

ChemistB
PS. If we can do this without VBA, that would be great.

This is classic!! i know i'm no legend and i ask some dumb questions sometimes but this takes the buscuit, did he ask you do take the kids to school, nip to the shop and F*** his wife as well lol!!!

[Macdave_19]

...

Please Login or Register  to view this content.

...
thnk txt spk shld b bnnd.

That's so funny i laughed hard!!!!! made my day!!!

[Cheeky Charlie]

Thanks for your suggestion but I'm not that good with Excel, could you do it for me and maybe improve my project with any other suggestions?

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-work...of-values.html


AAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHahhahahahahhaaaa

[broro183]

I had quite a chuckle when I read this thread recently & then I went & looked at some new threads & one of the first I saw was after an answer to Life the Universe & Everything aka a "Master formula". I thought it was so appropriate for here I had to throw it in the mix, check it out...

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-new-...r-formula.html

[royUK]

There's also been a few threads asking for "simple vba to...." If it's so simple why ask?

[teylyn]

another classic, posted recently

How can I write a speadsheet driven by VBA for a small office supplying 3 products, the system be used to keep track of the sales the company make.The system can use excel worksheets to display data and should create any graphs onto worksheet, provide some GUI functionality to allow easy control of the system, have controls embedded into a worksheet or user form with controls on it, and also save its records to an access DB and the database be updated whenever records are deleted, added or modified. The records that the systems keeps track of contain information such as; salesperson's lastname, company name, product name,product cost, quantity bought, total cost, discount, date. The system provide functionality such as; display all data, add a new sales record(calculating total cost automatically, including discount where applicable), delete a sales record, show company data, etc.

... which he topped replying to advice to take it step by step, with ...

I have created the basic workbook and recorded a macro, how do edit the macro to accomodate the functionalitys needed?

[martindwilson]

teyln i thought the same(since it was me that answered him/her) look in programming forum to see if anything else arises

[ChemistB]

This one is really a pet peeve of mine (is that an international term?).

Why can't people just say "It's not working on my system." or "I can't get it to work." instead of "Your solutions don't work." or "You're wrong." Sheesh!

Typically it's that they did not explain their situation clearly or that they have no clue how to modify a general answer to fit their situation (e.g. change the range) and once in a blue moon we screw up a formula or code.
Just venting.

[royUK]

The worst examples are the ones that don't explain what they want adequately & we end up with a guessing game for several posts.

Then I think the worst offenders are the ones that don't try adapt what is given to their needs, they make no effort to understand the answer!

[martindwilson]

I often wonder if some of the posters have told small fibs on their c.v. or interviews
imagine
scene 1
Monday 1st feb 2XXX
interviewer. are you fully conversant in ms office and its most often used applications ?
applicant . oh yes
interviewer. we us excel a lot in this company are you OK with that ?
applicant . oh it's one of my strong points, I used it all the time when i was with my last 2 employers
interviewer. OK thats fine can you start next week?
applicant . OK, Monday 8 Feb?
interviewer. Yes , 9:00hrs sharp
applicant . OK i'll be here then
applicant stands and exchanges hearty handshake with interviewer then exits stage left.

scene 2
10:15 tuesday 8 feb 2XXX
phone rings and is answered by employee 1
boss. Hi there ,now youve settled in i've emailed you a spread sheet,just need totals of sales figures on sheet 2 and please give me a layout showing only those that have greater than 18% mark up less those highlighted in red font
employee 1. NO prob boss,Can do! on it now.
employee 1 hangs up phone,opens mail,finds spread sheet attached.
Gives panicked look
leans over to next desk
employee 1. excuse me but can you show me how to open this ,i used to do it all the time at my old job but you seem to use different mail program
employee 2. oh ok there you go
employee 1 thanxs.
employee 1. opens spread sheet............
percentage ? font ?,last time i saw a font it was in a church! total whats all that about panic!!!!!!!!!!
surfs net ,"how to add up in microsoft excel"
ah a hit
Search ResultsExcel Formulas - The Basic Operators
employee 1. reads article,scratches head reads article again
blast ,tries another search
"excel +help +forum +adding"
ah another hit
clicks link and is directed to joseph rubins excel tip .com
now realising salvation is at hand starts first post
in Excel Workshop Discussion
with title HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
end
Curtain

[Cheeky Charlie]

hehehe, how do you know me so well?

Thing is, I kinda understand to be fair. When "one's life is falling apart before oneself", the natural response is not "how can I make it easy for people to help me?", it's "I need to convey how badly I need help right now". I get annoyed when people are awful, but I know when I panic... in reality I'm probably not much better (*shameful admission*). I've learned forum etiquette (almost), but I'm sure I'd be just as useless as these people we're ribbing if I hadn't.

I'm clearly feeling the peace and love today.

It's nearly Christmas, hooray!

CC

[EdMac]

In response to a request to post a workbook

Well .. you could make one in about 20secs from what I wrote above.
If you start a workbook and put the 6 fields in that i wrote you'll have it right there.
That is why i gave em with specific field letter/numbers.
Just put the blue text into the assigned fields and away you go.
Then it's just to get D1 to come out with an answer of 25 .. lol

FANTASTIC

[jasoncw]

This thread made me laugh pretty good. I've had my share. And honestly, I was reading through to make sure I wasn't contributing to the "bad threads". LOL

[shg]

This has to qualify:

I am looking to create a trading platform for my own product. I want to be able to input prices and quanities, be able to kill (erase) the price and quantity, and keep track of who did the trade, and match the trades bids to asks? How hard would this be for a novice excel user?
Thanks for the help!

Not hard at all!

[ChemistB]

Well, you answered their question. LOL

[chergh]

I often wonder if some of the posters have told small fibs on their c.v. or interviews

I think a lot of people must lie about their excel experience in CV's.

I've just started a new job and apparently the guy before me was an "excel guru". Here's an example of some vba I've inherited:

Please Login or Register  to view this content.

I'm almost scared to look in the other 20 modules.

[mewingkitty]

for people like me that have their heads up their butts.

I may have felt that way from time to time, but it takes a whole other kind of person to...

A. Complain about service on a free forum

and simultaneously

B. Openly admit they have their head shoved up their.... you get it.

On another note, amusing thread. Brightened up my morning reading through these. 'specially liked the teensy little jpg file submitted.

Personally one of my favorites... after admittedly having done this myself more than once is...

That solution works perfectly, but VBA scares me. I think it's going to hide in my closet and eat me if I fall asleep. I don't know how it works so I do not accept your solution in which I need only to click a button to have my spreadsheet fixed. I also do not know how to ride a bicycle because I was not born knowing how to do so, learning new things is against my religion. Please find a long and arduous formula which will barely accomplish the same thing in only the most ideal of situations.

thanks!

mew!

[shg]

Mew, is that from the forum? That is VERY funny ...

[Cheeky Charlie]

B. Openly admit they have their head shoved up their.... you get it.

I think the thread in question was edited by a mod (you to me?). But the guy was a total tool, for sure.

[Cheeky Charlie]

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...ced-sheet.html


nyaaarargargghrhrghghrh

[martindwilson]

this ones getting to me, it's the quote that done it
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-work...se-tables.html

A friend of my husband gave this brain teaser to him.

[Paul]

Even though it's not from our forum, I had to post this one. 150 lines of code, which I'm guessing the requestor didn't write a line of, and they just want to add a "Zone" as if that meant anything to the rest of us. And the user has over 900 posts there. Beautiful.

http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=372929

[madbloke]

Heh! I reckon I've been guilty of a couple of these! Sorry!

Best one I've seen recently was a thread where a guy asked a question. 10 minutes later, he posted an 'Anyone?' message. About 20 minutes after that, he posted 'I'm REALLY not happy with the lack of help I'm getting here!'

[mudraker]

Knocking a suggestion/reply is always a good respomse

I am not familiar with the working with that function, so I don’t think that it will work

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-prog...ro-to-run.html

[ChemistB]

LOL Mudraker. That one is a classic.

[mewingkitty]

I remember seeing that, Mudraker. I was holding myself back from asking him if he understood how nuclear fusion worked, and if not, why the sun was still on fire.

[mudraker]

From where i am it is 8:41 pm & dark so therefore the sun can't be on fire

[Cheeky Charlie]

+ 10 logics to you, Mudraker.

Dub yourself King of Logic and wear a paper crown around the office (out of a cracker is fine, but extra points for making it yourself).

[shg]

now want i want is to under each column date have a formula that magically looks at the date in 1. and works out how many months there are before this date to the beginning of the year stated at the top of the column and also how many from that date to the end of the year stated at the top of the column. next i need it to take the number of months before the date by 2. and then times the number of months after the date by 3. and add together

i am happy if i can get this far as the next stage still hasn't been made clear to me as to what is required but its likely to be either that the total of above then has to be mulitplyed by 4. OR take the answer the answers to above before adding together i.e. months x 2. and months x 3. are then multiplyed by two different figures then added together (hope that makes sense)

My eyes are bleeding ...

[Paul]

My brain tried to escape out my left ear half-way through reading that. Lucky for me I had my finger in there, otherwise I might be even more useless.

[split_atom18]

Hi everyone,

I want to create a form by pressing a button.I want to maka a maco to do that so can anyone tell me how to do that.

I had to hold back on this one, how do you keep calm?

[ChemistB]

This one was fielded by NBVC. It makes perfect sense

I don't want a VBA solution - I was looking for something (non macro) that I would use in a macro, but also be using outside of macros.

[NBVC]

This one was fielded by NBVC. It makes perfect sense

LOL,,I was actually going to post that very one here.. it took me several reads .. but then I figured I'd guess the OP is looking for something like the List feature... Notice how long it took before I posted the answer to that..


I guess I am a glutten for punishment as a recent one here was also fielded by yours truly too

[split_atom18]

Hi everybody,

I am getting problem in sorting the records in Access 2007.The records in Microsoft Access 2007 database table can be sorted A to Z or Z to A for text, memo or hyperlink data types. Number, currency and autonumber data types can be sorted from smallest to largest or largest to smallest. The Date/Time data type can be sorted oldest to newest or newest to oldest while the Yes/No data type can be sorted selected to cleared or cleared to selected.

Can anyone have some solution.

Thanks in advance.

Are any of you mind readers?

[mudraker]

How about a thread that it is crossposted & has no discription of what is required - Need to access another forum to read what is required

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-prog...-workbook.html

[dominicb]

...and you, Mudraker, never lifted a finger to help.

Shame on you, man.

DominicB

[mudraker]

dominicb

And here I was thinking my reply had helped

I will go sit in the shame corner for all of 10 seconds

[martindwilson]

I could just look this up, but I'll be lazy.

ok mate i'll do the searching for you no prob...NOT!

[mudraker]

Where did you find that one Martin?

[martindwilson]

here
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...f-a-value.html

[ChemistB]

OP: I need this, this and this....

Mod1: It would be helpful if you attached an example workbook

OP: Let me explain further........

Mod2: As Mod1 said, an example workbook will help us solve your problem.

OP: Here's what I need...........

Mod1: Example workbook???

etc. etc....

I mean, why are people so resistant to putting up an example workbook? Too much work to put in dummy data? Sheesh

[martindwilson]

i saw this in a recent post

You can't open the file because I don't have winzip installed and the forum wouldn't accept .rar, so I renamed it to .zip. I hoped it would work.

[Cheeky Charlie]

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...tion-help.html

Not so much the poor title but the hilarious concept:
I can't figure out what's wrong with this formula:
=linesandlinesandlinesofnestingandbracketsandhorribleinefficientspreadsheetusagewithoutanyreferencetowhatanyofitismeanttodo)))))))

can anyone else?

well... no

[teylyn]

OK, the OP is not a native speaker of English, but still ....

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...-on-table.html

[simjambra]

This was a brilliant one I saw on another forum, when I was look for some help on Flash.

http://board.flashkit.com/board/showthread.php?t=728675

Hahahaha I can't stop laughing.

[NBVC]

This was a brilliant one I saw on another forum, when I was look for some help on Flash.

http://board.flashkit.com/board/showthread.php?t=728675

Hahahaha I can't stop laughing.

There's more...

http://board.flashkit.com/board/showthread.php?t=728673

and

http://board.flashkit.com/board/showthread.php?t=728672

[teylyn]

gd 2 no th gy wdnt hv a chnc hr ta 2 nbvc & shg & th lk

<good to know the guy wouldn't have a chance here, thanks to NBVC and shg and the like!!>

[martindwilson]

another classic and the posted image link really helps,not
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...s-formula.html

[darkyam]

Here's a recent one: http://www.excelforum.com/excel-new-...se-column.html
The OP doesn't tell anyone what he really wants, complains about no responses within 24 hours, says he found something to give him a statistical advantage in roulette, then later claims it's not about gambling, basically calls everyone who responded an idiot, and finishes it off by being a complete jackass. Bravo! [thunderous applause] It's hard to get all that in just one thread.

[ChemistB]

Darkyam, that definitely goes on the all time bad threads list. Sheesh!

[darkyam]

Yeah, this is at least the third time I've seen someone come on an excel forum and claim to have found a way to improve their odds of winning the lottery or roulette or something random. It's great when people think that they have somehow outsmarted all the other mathematicians in the world and the laws of probability.

[Cheeky Charlie]

The best bit is how he's painstakingly gone back through the thread, deleting information, presumably to protect the invaluable (used under advisement) secrets he alone has uncovered.

What a Cassandra.

Here we are, slumming it in our simple ways, ignorant of the super-mind-brain-powers of this genius. All our money are belong to him.

[darkyam]

What a Cassandra.

Not familiar with that expression. What's a Cassandra?

[shg]

Curiously, the 39-ball Illinois state lottery has much higher odds for the first 31 balls (the ones people choose when they bet dates) than the balance, based on a histogram I plotted based on 4500 drawings for 1988 to 2008 (from data conveniently available of their web site).

[darkyam]

Interesting. I wonder if any of that is due to some variance in the balls and how much of that is a statistical outlier. How much higher is "much higher"?

[shg]

See attached.

BTW, the next dollarI spend on a lottery will be the first. They are a tax on innumeracy.

[Cheeky Charlie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra
In short: she's a Greek heroine who was able to see the future, but was cursed such that nobody believed her. Depending on whose history you read, she went mental trying to convince people of the future only she could see.

[darkyam]

Thank you both. I'll have to remember that reference, Cheeky Charlie. Shg, those are stunning results. I wonder why the odds drop off so suddenly after 30 and again after 35. I'm with you, though, on it being a tax on innumeracy. I just like statistical oddities.

[Paul]

Shg, one thing that sets the numbers 31-39 apart is that the number of balls must have changed a few times, notably at the end of Feb 2004, when it appears balls 36-39 were added. That would explain why those last four numbers only appear about half as often as the others. 31-35 though, should appear about as many times, all else being equal.

In your chart, I changed the x-axis to show labels from column J (J4:J42) and sorted by column J low to high, because the 1 through 39 in your chart was a tad misleading as that was the position in the data, not the actual ball number being drawn. Now it fluctuates up and down as would be expected.

Correction, once I changed cell K2, and only referenced C3045:G4541 (range of draws after 2/27/04) the percentages are all pretty close across the board.

[shg]

Nice catch, Paul!

They changed it twice, from the original 5/35 to 5/30, and then to 5/39.

Good thing I don't play, huh?

[martindwilson]

ah! but chance and probibilty aren't the same thing!
possibly

[NBVC]

oooooh! the irritations!!

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-work...tml#post219752

Why is that all so suddenly life got so complicated! Why not start the question from scratch as is required, don't build it up to the point we don't want to answer any more due to the many faces the question soon gets.

[darkyam]

It could have been worse. The OP could have gotten you involved in a 50-post thread doing this and then changed their mind several times and expected you to help them starting from scratch. I had that happen to me just a few months after I joined the forum.
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-new-...d-columns.html
I'll grant I made a couple mistakes in answering (I've learned a lot since then and still learn something new here most days), but I was pulling my hair out at the end with how many times she changed the requirements or had neglected to tell me something until after I had given her a formula.

[teylyn]

This one just doesn't give up ...

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-prog...-sequence.html

[darkyam]

I had a good laugh when I read

Yes. Also, the numbers are random.

I confess, before I started reading the rest of the thread, I took a minute to see if there was a pattern and thought I might have found one through the first 9 digits, but seeing that quote later was great.

[shg]

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...formatted.html

Mame kept quoting whole posts, which annoyed me (it always does). I asked her to stop, and she quoted that post back to me.

I gave her an infraction, and got a PM seconds later: "Why did you do that? Don't you want to help me?!" I PM'd her back, and explained briefly, and asked her again.

Meanwhile, back in the thread, she did it four more times.

I figured Mame need a day off, so I went to her profile ... and then stopped when I saw her DOB: Jan, 1915. I PM'd: "Mame, are you really 94?" Seconds later, "Yes!!"

I reversed the infraction.

Please remember my kindness to Mame when I post here at 94.

[daddylonglegs]

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...formatted.html

Mame kept quoting whole posts, which annoyed me (it always does). I asked her to stop, and she quoted that post back to me.

I gave her an infraction, and got a PM seconds later: "Why did you do that? Don't you want to help me?!" I PM'd her back, and explained briefly, and asked her again.

Meanwhile, back in the thread, she did it four more times.

I figured Mame need a day off, so I went to her profile ... and then stopped when I saw her DOB: Jan, 1915. I PM'd: "Mame, are you really 94?" Seconds later, "Yes!!"

I reversed the infraction.

Please remember my kindness to Mame when I post here at 94.

Are you still going to be around next year then, shg?

[pike]

LOL shg your a hard man

[Cheeky Charlie]

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...formatted.html

Mame kept quoting whole posts, which annoyed me (it always does). I asked her to stop, and she quoted that post back to me.

I gave her an infraction, and got a PM seconds later: "Why did you do that? Don't you want to help me?!" I PM'd her back, and explained briefly, and asked her again.

Meanwhile, back in the thread, she did it four more times.

I figured Mame need a day off, so I went to her profile ... and then stopped when I saw her DOB: Jan, 1915. I PM'd: "Mame, are you really 94?" Seconds later, "Yes!!"

I reversed the infraction.

Please remember my kindness to Mame when I post here at 94.

Are you still going to be around next year then, shg?

lol

Having read the thread, I think I would not have been so generous.

PS and yes, it is not straightforward to nest quotes like this ^

[teylyn]

http://www.excelforum.com [snip]...

Are you still going to be around next year then, shg?

lol

Having read the thread, I think I would not have been so generous.

PS and yes, it is not straightforward to nest quotes like this ^

Yes, it comes dangerously close to constructing an array formula at half past midnight

I followed the Mame/shg exchange live (except for the PMs, of course) ... it was hilarious! This forum really makes me smile!

[martindwilson]

anyone had a go at this one?
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...asurement.html
i dont understand a word(but thats me) but the pdf attached really threw me.

[darkyam]

I saw that one and opened the PDF. I was tempted to ask for a version in English. On the other hand, it's a nice compliment that the OP thinks we can all understand that with no further explanation.

[teylyn]

How about this:

I can't get my workbook below 2.46mb and its only one calendar and a list of 8 things.

source

[broro183]

I laughed like Darkyam did (post 89 of this thread) when I read the first thread of this question mentioned by Teylyn (post 88 of this thread) & feel I have to link the second/"duplicate" thread: http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...xt-number.html

Maybe my posting here (if I end up beating the others) will give the involved people a bit more time to kick back & relax - ever felt you may as well be talking to a brick wall???

Rob

[Cheeky Charlie]

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...el-2007-a.html
/unsubscribe

[shg]

/unsubscribe

That should be /subscribe, should it not?

[rwgrietveld]

I always like these:

Hi everyone,

I'm really sorry to post this in here, for some reason when I try to create a new thread in the main part of the forum it asks me to log on, even though I'm already logged on.

Anyway, when I enter my password again it just returns me to the log on page, but that's after it's welcomed me back!
Anyway, I would normally return at a later date and try again, however, I'm in a rush today as I have to complete a spreadsheet for my boss (and as I'm at risk of redundancy I want to impress him).

On to the question... I would be really grateful if someone could help me with the following:

[Cheeky Charlie]

That should be /subscribe, should it not?

Uh, yeah, maybe. Stop quoting whole posts in replies shg.

[JP Romano]

I'm just glad not to see any of mine on here!

[Cheeky Charlie]

We heard you were coming so we deleted the links to your threads

[DonkeyOte]

........

[Jo-Jo]

I've just noticed this thread and panicked in case it was all about my posts!

I'll be surprised and dissapointed if I don't end up in here soon

[darkyam]

I'll post your most recent one if it makes you feel better.

So far, though, none of yours have belonged here. Read through the thread and you'll see there are plenty of posts worse than yours.

[teylyn]

Torn between "Bad" and "Really Brilliant" threads ... but this one really threw me, so I googled it.

Hi hth, [snip]

http://www.google.co.nz/search?sourc...lr%3D&aq=f&oq=

if the link does not work, try to google

"hi hth" site:excelforum.com

[Cheeky Charlie]

Heh,

I've been called HTH a few times. Perhaps I sohuld be less generous, maybe:

blahblahblah solution

IHHPLY

(I hate helping people like you)
or perhaps:

blahblahblah solution
HYDIAF

(Hope you die in a fire)

Anyway, I just had a flash back to this monsterhttp://www.ozgrid.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100086
Sadly, the ministry of truth has been in, but you can still see at least four of the bad threads badges of honour...

WYALAHL

[sweep]

I think I screamed out loud at this one

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-prog...-the-cell.html

[teylyn]

@CC - OMG... I admire the patience of the experts in that one. There's great stuff to be had on Oz, but I must admit, my eyes hurt whenever I spend more than 5 mins there, so I tend to just google in and out.

WRT "hth" etc, I have to dob myself in, for completeness' sake. It's about "tyvm"

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...-match-id.html

[teylyn]

I have to admit, the idea is not mine (thanks, shg ), but I wouldn't have expected the OP reaction I received ....

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-misc...onditions.html

[darkyam]

Here's a new one. This is perhaps the best example I've seen of an OP not explaining what they want. It's amazing how hard it can be to get someone to answer a simple question.

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-2007...ml#post2210038

[teylyn]

That's a good one, darkyam. Here's my latest ...

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...nd-lookup.html

[darkyam]

That's a good one, too, but at least your OP is making an effort, sloppy and convoluted though it is. I didn't look at the sheet, but from the posts, I don't understand for the life of me why a VLOOKUP table wouldn't be exactly what is needed. Oh well...

[pike]

Love is every where to be found at Excel Forum
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-2007...ting-data.html

[teylyn]

pike, my parents decided that my generation would be the first in the long family tradition to go without a middle name. I like it. I've applied the same principle to my offspring. But, alas, many cultures do it differently. Not just middle names/initials, but also remnants of honors/knighthoods/regional traditions. In Dutch and South African you'd find a lot of "van", in French/Canadian there'll be a lot of "de". In Spain and Spanish speaking South America, they follow the tradition that the daughter adopts the mother's maiden name as well as the father's name, i.e. Carolina Dolores Murillo Quesada (I'm just making these up), so Murillo would be the mother's maiden name and Quesada the father's name.

I think, life would be a lot simpler with just one first name, one last name, metric measurements all over the globe and the abolishment of letter/legal in favour of A4.

(yeah, dream on, teylyn....)

[Paul]

I'm pretty sure we could do without unnecessary u's in words like color, favor and uvula, too.

[teylyn]

unnecessary u's in words like ....[snip] ...uvula

vla?

That's some kind of Dutch vanilla custard, innit? Riccardo/rwgrietveld to the rescue!!

But in general I do agree to the gray/grey or aluminium/aluminum or color/colour bit. I get confused all the time and have to check myself to adhere to the standards of the country of my choice.

[darkyam]

I highly recommend dilbert.com today. If you see this later, go back and search for Dec 7. It's a perfect description of some of the threads we've all seen.

[teylyn]

This one will be printed in A0 and up on our office wall first thing tomorrow. Dilbert is real. We live it. Every day.

For the purposes of this thread, after 10 replies from the gurus, the OP will add that VBA is absolutely not an option, because they don't understand it. And, oh, please, no helper columns and no array formulae (for the same reasons)

[Jo-Jo]

...... In Spain and Spanish speaking South America, they follow the tradition that the daughter adopts the mother's maiden name as well as the father's name, i.e. Carolina Dolores Murillo Quesada (I'm just making these up), so Murillo would be the mother's maiden name and Quesada the father's name.

If you don't have (and use) the correct part (not always the last surname) in Spain, you can be thought of as having dubious/unknown parentage!.

[teylyn]

Tee-hee, Jo-Jo, so when will we start seeing your posts about separating first/second/third/fourth bit of a complicated Spanish name hierarchy? Should be fun!

[Jo-Jo]

Hi Teylyn. Have you ever read something where you get to the end of a paragraph and have to go back to the beginning to try and work ot the overall context... that's how I find trying to decipher Spanish names

I only used to use my first & last until I moved here, now the Spanish use my middle name if I'm being called out of a queue or some such... half the time I don't realise it's me they call.

[romperstomper]

Have you ever read something where you get to the end of a paragraph and have to go back to the beginning to try and work out the overall context...

assuming Teylyn is really German, it's a safe bet the answer is yes...

[Jo-Jo]

assuming Teylyn is really German, it's a safe bet the answer is yes...

That really made me laugh romperstomper, especially as my better half is German.


I think the German language is something akin to Eric Morecome's comment to Andrea Previn... “all the right notes, not necessarily in the right places” … much like my own posts.

No offense meant Teylyn.

[Cheeky Charlie]

I was once told that arguing was fundamentally more respectful in German as you have to wait for the end of a sentence before you can determine your antagonist's point, whilst in English you often know the end of someone's sentence whilst they're half-way through and many people will jump in with a rebuttal without waiting.

Of course, I'm really polite, so I don't have this problem.

[romperstomper]

When I was doing my 'S' level German, I remember (even after all these years) one subordinate clause that was over half a page long. By the time I'd got to the verb, I'd forgotten what the book was about.

[Jo-Jo]

...... more respectful in German as you have to wait for the end of a sentence before you can determine your antagonist's point,......

Charlie, In my house, I usually get the expletive/descriptive thrown at me first. Then I know not to argue anyway.

[teylyn]

Whenever the literary German dives into a sentence, that is the last you are going to see of him till he emerges on the other side of his Atlantic with his verb in his mouth.
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

[Mark Twain didn't post it here, of course, but the quote tag just assumes that, LOL]

Does it show in my posts?

[darkyam]

In your posts, perhaps because of being something of a linguist and having learned different sentence structures, it rarely shows. (I tried to hold off on the verb. Was that German enough, or do I need to work on it more? )

[Cheeky Charlie]

Eventually Yoda-like you will sound.

[darkyam]

Yoda a German was? No idea I had. :D

[martindwilson]

Eventually Yoda-like you will sound

that just my day brightened

[teylyn]

I tried to hold off on the verb

Wow.

Das war beeindruckend.
That was impressive.

Same structure. Same # of words.

But there is enough English/American lit around to prove that Germans don't have a monopoly on long sentences. Henry James, for one, managed whole pages without a single full stop. Which led to the long awaited counter-act of "The-cat-sat-on-the-mat."-Hemingway. Finally. Books for guys. Less than 7 words per sentence and none of them more than 4 chars. Bliss. <duck>

[darkyam]

Hey, Henry James was a guy, was he not? That is ridiculous, though. Check out these contenders for the longest sentence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_English_sentence

[martindwilson]

Books for guys. Less than 7 words per sentence and none of them more than 4 chars. Bliss. <duck>

interesting words you get with 4 chars tho!

[darkyam]

Interesting is an eleven-letter word, Martin. We need to eradicate those sesquipedalian tendencies or yours and commence conversing with only grunts and diminutive lexemes like good troglodytic males.

[teylyn]

someone have a quick link to this thing the AA people always cite to keep calm? you know, about accept the things you can't change and all? I need a new mantra ...

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-work...hyperlink.html

[darkyam]

Well, mine is "Don't worry about the world ending today; it's already tomorrow in Australia." That doesn't quite work for you, though, does it?

As for the quote, the version I hear most often is, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” - Reinhold Niebuhr

[teylyn]

That doesn't quite work for you, though, does it?

GetOutAHere! rotflm*o. Nope, it doesn't. There are times in Oz, when it's already tomorrow in NZ, but there's hardly anywhere in the world bigger than a bath towel where it's already tomorrow from here.

serenity to accept the things I cannot change

That's the one. "Serenity" was the word I could not find. This OP had me so befuddled, the only thing I could come up with was "serendipity" and I just knew that wasn't it!!

[teylyn]

Haven't had one in here for a while. Everybody behaving?

This one may not yet be finished. We may get the OP to succumb to two-line replies, who knows....
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-prog...ut-as-txt.html

[darkyam]

A worthy addition to our Hall of Shame, Teylyn. I especially like his impatience at not being answered within 15 minutes. Most newbies are grateful and pleasantly surprised when they're answered that quickly.

[pike]

He never did change that title

[Cheeky Charlie]

Help, my vlookup can't find data that aren't in a list.
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-misc...t-working.html
Much as "banana" can't be found in the sentence "It's a long way to the train station"

[teylyn]

I absolutely love zip attachments with half a MB!! Makes me look forward to trawling through all that lovely data that the unzipped version will have ... Oh, did I mention I just doubled my data plan, so I can d/l more of these really, really large files ....

[romperstomper]

My new favourite is this one.
I mean really, how could anyone not see exactly what was needed from that first post...

Thanks for your answers but maybe I wasn't clear enough

Ya think??

[ChemistB]

Why are people so resistant to posting a workbook?! It seems like they jump through hoops to avoid it.

[NBVC]

I think most are probably afraid of leaking confidential data... or it is too much for them to compress it to a shareable size...

[broro183]

I suspect that the Mod's deal with these every day & perhaps it isn't that bad but...

for some reason, the level of ignorant bliss with which the OP replied to DonkeyOte & finished "with a smile", plus DO's subsequent response, gave me quite a chuckle :-)
(esp considering I was watching an add for Jo Frost's parenting programme at the time!)

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-prog...orksheets.html

RS, *sigh* well you tried!
(I do value ergonomics but I considered this a little extreme - when glancing at "my" keyboard)

Rob

[ChemistB]

I think the really bad threads are the ones where the OP just disappears, especially when a lot of work went into the threads (but even on the short ones). Did they fall off the face of the earth? Did they go somewhere else? forget the url? or are they just rude and didn't acknowledge that they found their solution?

[Cheeky Charlie]

I agree, sometimes I have a "slurge" of activity and I love to come back to my usercp to see all the threads updated with responses (ranging from "omg you're the only perfect person on earth" to "you idiot, that's exactly wrong" - when there's total silence it makes me a bit sad and I go away for a while.

I think people's posts:threads ratio should be displayed next to their name - less than 2 would be a bad sign.

CC

[rwgrietveld]

What I dislike is when I posted a solution, even took the time to upload a workbook, and it is ignored - as my post is not the last post when the OP reads his post. He/she simply comments on the last post and ignores the rest.

It's like "hello", "HELLO!!". Even worst is when the same solution is given along the line and you see the credits go to someone else (or none are given)

[DonkeyOte]

I think people's posts:threads ratio should be displayed next to their name - less than 2 would be a bad sign.

CC, I like it - you should try and come up with a scale... I'd avoid anyone with >10 ... we have a few ...

[teylyn]

Now we're expected to deliver instantaneous replies. Bumping after five (in words: five) minutes

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...-at-excel.html

[darkyam]

Next the OPs will have us building pyramids for them...until the frogs and locusts come.

[NBVC]

How can a thread get any worse than the Feedback Thread:

http://www.excelforum.com/exceltip-c...the-board.html

100's of posts, 1000's of views, yet no outcome and we all look dumb!

[teylyn]

LOL, NBVC. It certainly draws an audience!!

[broro183]

LOL, it sure does :-)

It's a bit like "Coronation St" or "Shortland St", we could ignore it for ages (some dude once said that time is relative - but I'm sure we are not moving at the speed of light), eventually come back to it & it would still be the same...

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Cheeky Charlie
I think people's posts:threads ratio should be displayed next to their name - less than 2 would be a bad sign.

CC, I like it - you should try and come up with a scale... I'd avoid anyone with >10 ... we have a few ...

So what is my posts:threads ratio?

I have about 3700 posts and I've started 2 threads outside the mods area (4 actually, but 2 were info about Excel not questions).

Is my ratio then 1850:1? Or 2/3700 = .000541? Either case appears it would be bad and I shouldn't be trusted (< 2 for CC, greater than 10 for DO). Statistics confuse me. It's a good thing I don't gamble.

[DonkeyOte]

Ha ha - once again my logic fails me Paul !

Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.

[ChemistB]

I think it should be posts per thread, not per thread initiated. That does imply that one doesn't just post once and walk away.

Although oft times, the mods solve problems with a single post (and jump buildings in a single bound) so that doesn't quite work either.

Perhaps there should be a factor taking into account thread length. And frustration factor, and time of day.......Yeah, that's the ticket.

[darkyam]

The vast majority of those who are the problem solvers on here are regulars and recognize each other. So, really, this system only needs to apply to those who have a certain post count or below because those are, generally speaking, those who are asking for help. It takes them an exceptionally long time to reach 200 posts, so by the time they do, most of the regulars will already recognize them. I vote for posts per thread, along with threads initiated. It should be obvious by those numbers whether the user is helping others and whether they either walk away or take an inordinate amount of time to get to their solutions.

[protonLeah]

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-prog...-in-excel.html

[teylyn]

Yeah. The needful. I do that often. LOL.

[Cheeky Charlie]

So what is my posts:threads ratio?

I have about 3700 posts and I've started 2 threads outside the mods area (4 actually, but 2 were info about Excel not questions).

Is my ratio then 1850:1? Or 2/3700 = .000541? Either case appears it would be bad and I shouldn't be trusted (< 2 for CC, greater than 10 for DO). Statistics confuse me. It's a good thing I don't gamble.

In my proposed metric, your ratio is 1850:1, being substantially more than 2, that indicates you are a thoughtful contributor to the board, being far more than 100 indicates that you need a new hobby.

Perhaps a sensible refinement would be user's-posts per user's-initiated threads (has someone suggested this?). Then if you started your two threads and never bothered replying, your ratio wouldn't be buoyed by your thousands of other contributions, you'd have a ratio of 1:1, and I could cast you into the mental bin of "idiots on whom my time should not be expended" (normally reserved for work colleagues)... of course, you didn't do that, so I guess there's no danger of that. :D

CC

[Cheeky Charlie]

Yeah. The needful. I do that often. LOL.

I did the needful the other day, ended up in a right mess. I'd recommend preparing for the needful by getting a towel and some wet wipes to hand first.

[teylyn]

target practice, Chuck!!

[martindwilson]

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-prog...arsing-it.html
this made me laugh, the op obviously got hold of the wrong end of the stick and threw his toys out of the pram.DOH!
and roy uk rightly banned him .
as an aside any one else noticed that the shortened url
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-prog...arsing-it.html
seems to be suggesting something quite rude lol

[darkyam]

Here's today's entry: http://www.excelforum.com/excel-work...o-columns.html. The OP changes their requirements several times, yells at NBVC, and then picks a solution that's opposite the thread title. Good stuff.

[darkyam]

That banging sound you're hearing is me hitting my head against the wall.
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...n-formula.html

[NBVC]

I had a few of those yesterday... I was looking for my Tylenol

[martindwilson]

well he is a neighbour of shg lol

[darkyam]

Sometimes, I feel like a magnet for bad threads. This OP wanted me to hold their hand even to the point of inserting the formula I gave them in their workbook, but then didn't even update it to include the necessary data.
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...ml#post2267517

[shg]

well he is a neighbour of shg lol

Doubtful; no true Texan would describe their location as "Texas, United States". I think he's from one of those Texas wanna-be states, like ... well, like all of them.

[darkyam]

This week's entry: http://www.excelforum.com/excel-2007...ml#post2273565. OP seems to want to understand the formula, but doesn't seem capable of adding a simple IF test or converting it to IF(OR.

[ChemistB]

Here's a favorite (and popular too) response;
"I can't get it to work."

Can't get it to work how??? Do these people go to the mechanic and say "My car is broken?!?" Sheesh

[darkyam]

I think I've had three of those in the last week, and that's out of maybe 30 total posts.

[tony h]

I have taken to answering a few questions by pointing the OP to the help text/training or other resource which has the answer.

[broro183]

I have taken to answering a few questions by pointing the OP to the help text/training or other resource which has the answer.

Good move Tony!
I agree. 1) Why reinvent the wheel? & 2) making friends with the [F1] key should be high on the list of things to do for a willing learner. Hopefully we find enough willing learners that we can feel we are holding our own using the subtle apporaches & not feel the need to suggest a RTFM banner (these made me chuckle & sigh in agreement) across the top of the Forum! j.k.

Rob

[ChemistB]

I know I'm having a bad week communicating. So is it just me or is this guy not telling me what I want to know? Maybe I need to phrase my questions better.

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...ml#post2296034

[royUK]

He even duplicated his post!

[ChemistB]

He even duplicated his post!

Yeah, twice actually. LOL. I think he's getting frustrated with me. If anyone knows the answer to his question, feel free to jump in with it.

[ratcat]

......If anyone knows the answer to his question, feel free to jump in with it.

Looks like your safe the thread has been maked [Solved]

[ChemistB]

Whew! And I don't even know what I did!

[davegugg]

This thread is a great read, I laughed out loud many times. I'm kind of tempted to start a thread just to see how obnoxiously bad I can make it. Would I be infracted?

[Paul]

You may not get an infraction, but you may want to test any code received on someone else's PC first. Disregard any calls to the registry or root folders.

[davegugg]

Ha ha, point taken. Hey Paul, I noticed you're from the great WI. Me too! Where abouts do you live? I'm in Menomonee Falls, but I work in Brown Deer, just north of Milwaukee. You a Bucks fan?

[Cheeky Charlie]

You know there are infractions for thread hijacking too...

[Paul]

Eh, we Wisconsinites (I think that's correct) are a mostly harmless bunch and wouldn't resort to thread hijacking. Maybe thread meandering, with a beer in the other hand, but not hijacking.

[ChemistB]

With a beer in your hand and a cheese on your head?

[Cheeky Charlie]

and a pie in your pants?




Not sure I understand this game.

[davegugg]

and a pie in your pants?

I am now sorry I started this digression.

Cheeky, they are references to geographical stereotypes. Thus, when you digress, you'd probably be sipping tea and playing cricket, or something along those lines ; )

[ChemistB]

Perhaps this will help....... or not.......

http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...og&sa=N&tab=wi

[NBVC]

Here is a fun one for you guys:

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...averageif.html

talk about wanting to be spoon-fed!!! Aaargh!

[teylyn]

Good you pulled the plug on this one, NBVC. The next question would probably have been: What is VBA and how do I use it. Teach me in less than 5 sentences and show me everything that can be done with it.

[romperstomper]

Could be the same person whose question at EE a while back was just: "how do I use excel functions and macros?"

[martindwilson]

here we go again. i can see this going wrong even before the first answer!
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-work...pins-data.html

[ChemistB]

Yep, shg had one of these not too long ago where they wanted to know a formula or macro that would predict the next number in any random sequence. shg couldn't convince them that random meant random. LOL

At least there is a formula for what this person wants, even though it is meaningless.

[contaminated]

Hi all. I'm about one year here and observed, that despite the fact that the rules say "Do not use titles such as "Help" or "Urgent" and etc", but many newbies do it with particular zeal.
Why not just create pop-up message with forum rules forr users who have less than say 50 posts...???
I'm shure that none of thos posters do not read forum rules beforestarting a thread. But hereby they will have to... IMO