Kiwi should just be about iPod problems

I couldn't be in agreement any more!

Same here. Every time I go to check Kiwi and see "OMG PLZ HLP I-POD MESST UP!!!!!111!!" I just leave.
I'm sorry...but I have no sympathy for people who can't type and don't bother searching the forums.

I really do feel for people (esp newbies) who are having troubles with their new equipment. But it seems that of those 90% ipod posts, 90% of those are "my stupid ipod isn't working WTF WTF WTF [no indication of OS, iPod version, iTunes version, what they've done up to now]," posted by "ijustsigneduptwominutesago."

I used to reply to a lot of these posts asking these very questions. But no one can keep up with eight or ten a day. And it's exhausting and thankless to try.

My feeling is that posts like this [without enough information to even approach answering the questions raised] should be deleted by a mod or admin. Maybe then those intelligent enough to give us enough details to help will manage to get their questions answered.

Maybe rather than using the current new topic style form an OS, iTunes version, or whatever form could be used.

I just went over to Kiwi, and spent a while looking over some recent posts. Most do seem to be about iPods, and most seem to be about software, rather than hardware.
I'm thinking some sort of FAQ put together by someone who knows about iPods- I would but I know nothing about 'em.
Oh, and I like the idea of a form for the question post- all necessary info would be required to post, along with some info so even a complete noob would be able to determine this information.

You might consider posting it in Hardware Repair Help, a forum in the main Applefritter forum index.

Check out the Kiwi main page which contains a set of posting tips. It's pretty blunt in saying that if you don't give details, your question likely won't be answered. I'd personally rather leave the threads open and hope that the folks will add enough details to get help rather than just deleting them.

That's an excellent idea. I do not have time to implement it.

When we put together Kiwi, we tried to find the best FAQ sources we could, including Apple's own iPod FAQ. These are prominently linked on the right sidebar.

Unfortunately most would be about as likely to read the FAQ as they are to read the EULA on software they install ...

I like the idea of a questionaire type form to get better facts from people before they can post a "help me please" problem. I also recognize that this is not a quick and easy task to do.

Still being unemployed, I have TONS of time on my hands when not job hunting, being Mr. Mom, or trying to finish off the basement. What I lack is good web skills.

Mods: What would this type of questionaire be best coded in? VB? HTML? Java? something else?

Let me know and I will see if I can take a crack at it. If nothing else, I could at least draw up the draft of questions and possible answers/choices for someone use as a guide. I might be able to get a first cut in HTML if nothing else - surely this would be a help to get it started.

PHP/HTML mods of Drupals forum.module component. I'll happily drop you a copy of the modified version we use for Kiwi if you want to have a quick look around. The email you've got in your profile is ok for that?

Absolutely.

Thx!