What Should NEW Members KNOW?

[Adina P]

I would like to come up with some more permanent pages on DK.  Pages that we can easily direct members to when they ask very commonly asked questions.  It can be specific to groups (like the Food Group, Puppy Madness, Grooming, etc) or general types of questions. 

So think about "What did you first wish you knew when you joined the site?" and "To what info do you think members need quick and easy access?"

If, for example, some of these pages work well in certain groups each group can link to those pages and the pages can in turn link back to the groups if members have further questions. 

Right now every new member gets a link to this welcome page with BASIC info on using the site: http://www.doodlekisses.com/notes/Welcome_to_Doodle_Kisses!! -- But I'd like to create more than this and have specifics about the doodle experience AND using the site...for those who want more info.

So...shout out your brilliant ideas!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I put my search words in the "search doodlekisses.com" area at the top right corner of the site. For example today I was wondering if the number of hours that Tara is sleeping daily is normal or average for her age. So I searched as I described. I can't remember the exact words that I started with but I tried maybe 3 or 4 different ways then I gave up and searched the internet. Then, not to be deterred, I returned to DK and tried again. I finally did get some information under a discussion on Sleeping Habits. I don't know what group I would have searched for that info. I was pretty sure it had been discussed at some point before but it was a matter of being precise with wording or willing to do a lot of weeding through discussions.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Ricki, you can search just the discussion forum; that may cut down on the number of items that comes up. I have never used the "Search Doodle Kisses" function, but if it includes all the discussions, including those in groups, and all the blogs, I can see where you would be overwhelmed.
If you do a search of just the forum, you will not get anything that's in a group, and vice versa. It's true that you may not know which group to search all the time, your best bet is to take a guess and search the one that seems most likely. That really cuts down on the number of items that comes up. For sleeping habits, I would have either seacrhed the main forum, or maybe Puppy Madness if I had a puppy. If it was a question about something that seemed abnormal, i might also check the Health & Medical Group.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, I just did a search for "allergies" in the "Search Doodle Kisses" box you are using, and 211 pages came up. Even "comments" came up. I did a search for "allergies" in the Forum" search, and 64 pages came up. That is part of your problem with searches....stop using the box on the main page, lol.

[F, Calla & Luca]

But perhaps pollen allergies or chicken allergy, for instance, would have been easier. Or maybe people should read everything on the site : )

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Yes, EVERYTHING comes up! I even got PICTURES of sleeping doodles today when I was searching!! Not that they aren't just adorable!!! Okay, in the future NO box on main page!! Got it! LOL!

[F, Calla & Luca]

It's like Google. A lot of extraneous information. Sometimes it helps if you're looking for a specific discussion you've read if you remember a unique phrase or something.

[Adina P]

Jane: Have you seen our current "Welcome" message? What, specifically, would you add/subtract or add as a separate page for further reading? That's what I want to know. What specific info should new members get BEYOND their welcome message and its contents? They ALL get this when I welcome them. I'm not sure a separate tab would get seen any more than the Extra tab gets seen and used?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Sorry I didn't respond to your question last night....I had to get some things done. What you ended up doing with the visible New Members banner was exactly what I was suggesting. The other thing that I believe will help tremendously would be the summary of the most frequently asked questions in our key groups....Food, Grooming, Puppy, etc. If those questions were included in the New Member "banner" tab or in the separate FAQ section where people could click and it would take them to the answers contained in the appropriate group, I think that would be very user friendly. For example, if I've just brought my new Doodle puppy home, and he's had constant soft stools, currently it could take me a while to find the input I'm looking for to help me understand what's going on.....is it the Food group, or is it Health & Medical or is it Puppy Madness. If there was a list of maybe the most common 25 questions that we see on DK with the appropriate links, I think that would really help (and I'm guessing "poop" is right up there in the top). I've been doing some grant research, and I noticed that there are some breed specific rescue sites that do a good job with this. I'm also wondering if the design could generate more DK traffic through general Google searches.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I still have problems when I do a search (apparently I can't type tonight either. argh!) because I get so much information and much of it is not pertinent to the tag but an off topic comment. I guess even is veteran dkers have some techy problems.

[Adina P]

The search function is not that great. It's not a 'tag' search function it's a 'anywhere this word has every appeared' search function and it's not always complete at that. The only downside of a tag search function (which only works if you click on a tag in someone's discussion and that will link you to others with the same tag) is not everyone tags correctly or appropriately or at all. I don't tag my stuff much anymore.

[Sandi]

OK, please remember that no question is a dumb question -- and my question is: Where do I find the link to "Welcome to Doodle Kisses" other than in OP's question? Is it so obvious that I'm missing it?

[F, Calla & Luca]

Under the Extra Tab on top.