general question

Good morning dealer

What you have to remember is that all posters here are volunteers : nobody gets paid for what they do. Quite often someone will answer a question and never get to find out whether their answer is satisfactory or not. Sometimes the OP will give a rep point, or post a thank you (sometimes both) but too often nothing more is posted. Also obody likes spending ten minutes longer to post more than they need to when they don't know the OP's abilty (explaining something the OP may already know - which is just wasting their time)

Those who answer questions could probably answer, say, 5 questions in the time it takes to explain a formula, so a formula could be posted without explanation in order to answer others.

If you like a formula, or want to know more then post the formula asking for someone to explain it. Somebody certainly will. The same goes for any code.

Just remember to follow the forum rules (eg titles, my friend, titles - I've let this one go as it's more of a watercooler issue (I moved it) which is a little more relaxed) and you'll get your answer.

DominicB

well put, zbor!

Interesting suggestion.

But it's hard to detach what combinations of formulas is better than other...
Here you have hundreds of very similar questions -> but every so different that sometimes require totaly different approach...

And also every user has his own style...

because it's not about formulas.. it's about combination of formulas...
Basic formulas are in Help of MS Excel...
Combinations are in skill of every of us

pike tried to do something like that few weeks ago.. I don't know how it's going...

Even if there is such a thing: Most of people that look help here:

- wouldn't recognize his solution
- if he recognize it wouldn't know how to implement it
- if he know how to implement it wouldn't know how to optimize it

At the end... It would end on same way as it's now...

But every suggestion is welcome...

Hi dealer

Originally Posted by dealer

One chapter has a complex sumproduct formula with minus minus before it.I have seen this here before but never understood it but that book explains it very well.

There is always the search function : if you look at a formula, and like it (whatever turns you on, I suppose), chances are, you're not alone. the "minus mius" thing is actually called a unary minus and quite a few members have their own explanations of the subject scattered around this forum. Why? For no other reason that someone asked the question.

For mine see Post 9 in this thread.

Look forward to seeing you getting stuck into some questions : just remember that we've all been where you are right now.

DominicB

I think that the people that do most of the solution posting around here have come to realize that the majority of the question askers are only interested in the solution and not in the hows and whys. So they don't post an explaination unless asked. I always try to give an explanation when asked. If you don't want to hijack a thread, start a new one with a link to the old one asking for an explaination of a formula. I've done that here and always gotten good feedback.

Asking for an explanation is not really hijacking, after all this site is to promote Excel learning.

As someone said, many questions get answered but the originator doesn't bother asking how it works. In fact some of them, at a later date, ask virtually the same question.

Hi dealer,

Here's another article on SUMPRODUCT by Daniel Ferry who is one of the forum members

here are some more general questions

Who played General Robert E. Lee in 'Faith in God and Generals'?
Who played General Omar Bradley in 'Patton'?
Who played General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. in 'The Longest Day'?
Who played British General Charles Gordon in 'Khartoum'?
Who played General George Armstong Custer in 'Santa Fe Trail'?

you have transgressed rule 12345678.43 by putting a general answer in a topic of general question!

Originally Posted by zbor

Major Payne?

Now, that's funny!

oooooooooooh bitchy

Not to drag this back to topic, but my tuppence on hijacking:

It's all about the purpose of the tool.
The 'no thread hijacking' rule is a tool designed for the purpose of making 'final answers' easy to determine for each thread and to make new questions as easy to find as possible for others searching the forum.

In that respect:
Any question which seeks to clarify the original answer is not a 'hijack' at all and shouldn't be considered that way by poster or mod
Any question which augments an already solved (and optionally explained) question should be a new post with a cross-reference in order to maximise the usefulness to others using the forum
Any question which is simply unrelated corrupts the useful searchability of the site and should incur infringement

Basically I'm trying to make it clear that I think asking how a solution works improves the quality of an already-solved thread and why.