The FAQ web site for this group has been updated

I noticed that an "a" in "Zealand" was missing in this post. However it is correct in the updated FAQs.

I've said this here before, but I'll say it again. In almost every newsgroup, a FAQ is generally useless. the only people who know it exists are those who follow the newsgroup regularly, and they are those who don't need it. With very few exceptions, those who need it never saw the post (or posts) telling them where it is.

I don't object to its existence, since there's no real downside to its being there. But I do object to the effort that you, or anyone else, puts into creating and maintaining a generally useless web page.

I really do not mind keeping the FAQ site up and updating it. It now takes very little time for me to update the code when needed. It costs me nothing, as I have 2 domains which can include dozens of sub domains such as the FAQ for this newsgroup. There is a huge amount of bandwidth, so I never get close to having to pay extra for heavy usage. However it requires a lot more time for Mark Lipton who writes the FAQs with the input from many who have much knowledge about specific types of wine and wine related subjects. Although, as you suggest, some may miss the FAQ. A link to the FAQ is given in the posts from several users of this group. Also many regulars in this group will reply to a question with a link to a specific section of the FAQ to not have to write an answer to a frequent question over and over. The recent update of the New Zealand section of FAQ is a good example. A person going to New Zealand asked for some information. He was given the link to the New Zealand section of the FAQ, but was told the information there was a little old. He was given more recent information. The individual who wrote the New Zealand section of the FAQ kindly updated it, and Mark Lipton posted the revision in this group. I then made the revision on the FAQ site.

I think that many non-regulars of a group will not bother to take the time to read the FAQs even if they have the FAQs link before them in large, flashing red text. It is so much faster to just post a question. Some groups post a link to the FAQs on a regular basis, depending on how active the group is. A few regular users become rather testy if the question has been answered in the FAQ, but this does not seem to help much. And one is more likely to get an answer if a regular can give a specific reference to the FAQ rather than give a sometimes long answer that requires considerable time.

The FAQ tends to be difficult to access. OTOH with a small effort it could be made more visible on the net. We would also need to complete it, I for one have not contributed what I promised years ago, mainly because I forgot the FAQ existed... If completed it could even be the base for a very informative and intellectually stimulating book on wine, a compendium of writings by people who like to get their palates wet.

So how would it be made more visible as Goggle controls how the group information is presented?

Yes, I agree completely. That's another reason why I think FAQs are generally worthless.

But if you don't mind creating and maintaining it, I have no real objection to its existence, as I said.

In message , Ken Blake writes

I strongly disagree. I follow this group regularly, but if I am planning a visit to a wine area which I do not know I find the FAQ very useful. Even if I kept every relevant comment about every place I might some day visit, I would have to re-organise them and re-index them (some information is under unhelpful subject lines). I am grateful to those who keep it up to date and host it.

I find the comment that 'FAQs are generally worthless' rather silly, as well as offensive.

Sheila

I posted this info yesterday in response to another person, so I will try again since the post still has not appeared - at least on Google Groups.

I have Webalizer installed on the servers that my 2 domains are on including the sub domain that has the faq for this group. When a user agent such as a computer browser, player, bot, or spider and the server first connect, there is an exchange of information between them that is much information. Webalizer keeps track of all of these header exchange data and generates weekly and monthly reports. Much of this information is of interest only to the owner of the site, but there is some information about the faq for this group that may be of interest to some. For the month of April 2012, the group faq site had 2059 hits. There were 301 different sources of these hits. There were many hits by bots and spiders that collect information for search engines. These are the usual suspects such as Google and Bing as well as search engines in China, Korea, India, Italy and several other countries. In some cases this may lead some to our group when they use a search engine.

Since our group is rather specialized we can not expect the number of posts and hits to the faq site that a more general group might have. After viewing the Webalizer reports for several months, I conclude that there are enough hits to justify my making updates to the site when others write the updates.

"cwdjrxyz" wrote .........

Thanks CWD Jr. your advice does encourage one to continue contributing to the FAQ.

I had planned to revisit Australia in October, and was going to update the Australian section.

But, I have accepted an invitation to participate in the 70th anniversary of the battle of El Alamein in Egypt (my father was a combatant) - so the Oz trip is on hold until 2013.

Are there any vineyards in Egypt to be reviewed?

st.helier

Perhaps various types of dates in different locations :-). Date wine has long been made in that part of the world. Since Egypt's neighbor Israel produces some grape wine, it is likely that Egypt has produced some grape wine at some time. Of course many in Egypt do not approve of drinking wine, so that could be important.

"cwdjrxyz" wrote

Yes, I have adventurous taste - I would be into date wine.

Hmm - I don't think I shall find any Ch. Musar in Egypt, but I will try to uncover Cleopatra's long-forgotten cellars :-)

Yes, I need to acquaint myself with the dos and don'ts of drinking in that part of the world, lest I become the late Lord St.H

Watch out opening some of the amphoras. They may have old organs and not wine.

But I like music :-)

See