This could help with answering questions on the board

It can be beneficial to not use search and ask for one-on-one help at times, too.
On the forum, we have seen a great many instances where a user searched, wasn't quite sure about things and ended up in worse trouble either due to following an outdated guide, poor advice, or just maliciousness (See the Wall of Shame Thread, which covers cases of malicious articles about Direct Upgrading Zorin OS 15, which are 100% false).

Zorin OS is aimed specifically toward those who are new and unfamiliar to Linux. it makes sense then, that we would see more help requests since those who are new and unfamiliar are less willing to simply trust a search result without knowing for sure.

There are many cases where a simple search would have avoided a new thread. But I think it is OK for us to be understanding and forgiving. I often see an alert for a new Badge on my profile because a Link I provided was followed or an answer I gave helped someone. It's anonymous. I do not know who they were, only that ten or more people silently stopped by and were helped. So the search function is working.

I doubt it.

True.
Many times, I have kicked myself when I realize I had forgotten to go back to an active thread that the O.P. was waiting on. Primarily due to being swamped.

Items 1, 3 & 4 apply to this;
I often just mark a solution, without comment. I just mark it and move on. I tend to stay wary of doing it too much as I am human and therefor cannot trust my own ego. I am far more likely to mark Other Posters Solutions than my own... Yet, when I know mine was the solution or at least the likeliest, I prefer the O.P. to confirm it rather than trust my ego.
Goofy... but realistic.

It is worth noting that not every thread needs to have a solved tag attached. Sometimes, a solution is not found... and I believe this can be useful feedback to the ZorinGroup for things to focus on and pay more attention to.

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I agree with you 100% .... when using the search selection you wade through tons of stuff that doesn't apply to your exact situation even though you type in the search box say python as an example .... you will find dozens of posts and if you do find an answer specifically tailored to your search it may send you to the wrong website like it did me yesterday ....

This was one of several times this has happened to me and I love to do searches on DDG and do so every day .... but you have to know what to ask for and if you don't understand why your 1958 Chevy Bell Air won't start and you are not a mechanic or mechanically inclined you have no idea where to start or what to search for .... and if you find it it is the correct answer for you and not for a 1958 Ford Ranchero

Is the board search function useful .... sure it is but not all the time .... and certainly not for newbie's with a question like "Help my laptop won't log into Zorin any more"

As to people not checking the solved box .... that is not an easy one to solve as if the OP checks it OK it is solved .... if the person solving the problem checks it and it isn't solved hopefully the OP will return and tell you so you can correct it .... if he doesn't return and it isn't fixed .... well you guess is as good as mine ....

By the way thank you for going through and checking all the solved boxes ....

I am in a different time zone than the majority of users and I open the board between 5:00 am and 7:00 am everyday and so I see all the questions and answers from the proceeding 15 hrs .... when I first joined the board about 4 months ago there were on average 20-30 questions per day it dropped way down to about 15 around Christmas time and dropping .... today it was 7 new and 3 other? and as I keep the board running in the background for 98% of the time I am plugged in and I get notifications through out the day of new posts on the board .... many of which I will come back to read ...

So what does this mean .... I'll leave that up to your interpretation ..... but it isn't because people are doing more searching to solve they problems ....

I have some other thoughts but I don't want to ruffle any more feathers .... so I'll just keep them to my self ..... :innocent:

This is likely due to the release of Zorin OS 16 which brought a flood of help requests. Interestingly, Zorin OS Lite did not bring a flood, LOL.

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Much appreciated carmar.
My routine is to look at "Unread" posts first, then "New" posts. I was beginning to get a bit annoyed with time spent finding "Unread" posts were simply your "Marked Solution nnn" posts, but was worth it for the forum Spring cleaning you have accomplished.

I take note of suggestion of marking threads as Solved where there has been an obvious solution posted to the OP's question. That may be more certain than nagging the OP, who may or may not do it. It will also avoid more Spring cleaning, when Spring does arrive this year.

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Good Job. And Thanks for your work.

Because It's Awesome...!! That's why.

True. :stuck_out_tongue:

But I think there are other factors, too. The XFCE forum with the Phenomenon Toz and others like MountainDewManiac have long been a steady and reliable source for all distros using XFCE. XFCE also has its own extensive documentations pages:
https://wiki.xfce.org/start

So it may be that with more resources available, Zorin OS Lite users have a bit of an edge.

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