i say you put a simple, yet very large and over-obvious banner on the first page that states "use the search function before you post a new thread". I love this place but man, i sure get tired of answering the same stuff everyday. if i see the same questions asked I just answer it with a nice note telling the asker to use the search fuction, explaining to them that it's faster than asking a question and waiting for a response. some folks just dont seem to get it. I learned a fortune of knowledge using the search. sure wish other people weren't so lazy!!
It wouldn't help -- 70% of the users come to forums through Google and don't necessarily come in to the main page. But I've kinda wondered a possibility to add a search page to the "start new thread" functionality -- when you click it, you get a page that shows you the search page and asks you "have you searched for this question already?" and only if the guy answers "yes", then the message box will appear.
yeah that would work to, anything to get people to stop being so lazy. i know that's probably harder than turning lead into gold, but a fellow can dream. good luck, hope you come up with something.
