So, in an effort to provide as many reference points as possible to those of us who would attempt to answer the questions we often get, it's time for a format with required information and some rules when it comes to asking questions about audio/video/security questions in the Car Audio forum.
We get a LOT of questions that, while it may not seem vague to the person asking the question, do not provide enough background or otherwise relevant information for people to PROPERLY answer the question or at least point the person in the right direction.
To help US help YOU better, you must use this format when starting a new thread in which you are seeking advice or guidance. It helps us with reference points to give better advice, ensuring that you are getting the best help possible. Also, it will cut down drastically on off-topic arguments and discussion, and will help the many people who lurk but rarely post, but may have similar questions themselves.
It has become more and more apparent that such a format is needed, since many of the same types of questions are asked (which is fine, we love to help and learn ourselves
), but many questions need answered by the poster before the initial question can be answered. For example, if you simply ask what the best car in the world is, it's pretty difficult for us to even NARROW DOWN the answer without knowing some things about the person asking the question, and their preferences and such, etc...Any threads made from this point on out, or any that appear on the first few pages as of the creation of this thread, that do not adhere to the format to the best of the poster's ability, are subject to closing. Again, this applies to threads not adhering to the BEST OF THE POSTER'S ABILITY. There will inevitably be some information which cannot always be given, and that's ok to an extent. If your thread is closed, please PM myself or any other moderator of the Car Audio forum with a copy/paste of the required format for the opening post and we will be happy to edit your opening post and re-open the thread, as well as editing your thread title. I can only speak for myself when I say that I'm on almost daily, and will do my best to be very quick with such updates to keep things as current as possible, but please be patient
.Thread titles- Thread titles need to, AT MINIMUM- include the year/make/model of the vehicle in question, as well as SOME description of the question or issue at hand. For example -
'2002 WRX, aftermarket speaker install question'. The more information you can pack into the thread title, within reason, the better.
Opening Post- The most common threads here are those in which people are seeking purchase guidance, install guidance, or just wondering about experience with a particular product. Anything from new speakers to full systems, to combinations and complications of both... we see it all. When you're asking a question, there are almost ALWAYS a few bits of relevant info that WE need to answer the question. The following is only an example, but the information provided is REQUIRED, again to the best of the poster's ability. What is in black is required. Even if you don't have exact answers to them, add them to your post. This tells us that you've included all that you can.
*example*
2002 Subaru WRX- aftermarket system
Vehicle- 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX
Current system- stock
Music Choice- Yiddish folk music, death metal
Music Style- ear-bleed inducing, if it doesn't hurt then it's not loud enough
Installer- me and my helper monkey
Installer experience- I once hot-wired a car I stole, does that count?
Budget- $13.70
Future Goals- this will be it, I have no intentions of upgrading later.
Reference- I once heard a system in my friend Audiosavvy's car, it had XXX speakers, XXX amps, XXX head unit, and XXX subwoofer, and it was teh awesome, I want something that sounds that good, maybe better.
That does NOT present the question that particular poster might ask, but it does give us a healthy amount of info on the person asking, so that we may better answer whatever question he/she may have, and that's the whole point.
Also, make sure that if you're looking at something specific, you not only provide the make and model, but IDEALLY the part number as well. As a quick example, if you ask about installing the Type-S Alpine speakers in your front doors and whether they will work well with your proposed setup, we need to know the exact size and what model-year you are referencing. Providing the part number, if you can, will tell us all that and more
Now, there will always be different types of questions or advice seeked, but hopefully this will help narrow things down.
I will be stickying this, but for now I'm going to leave it in the open forum, open for any and all advice/questions that will help us make the best format possible, to provide the best help we can to those who need it. All questions about this format, advice or input on making it better, or moneyz you'd like to send me are ALL welcome
Brandon
