Comments on: Are there too many Office forums?

By: Mathias

Mathias — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:17:58 +0000

SuperUser is geared towards power user, i.e. computer savvy people who are not necessarily developers, for "power-usage" of applications, whereas StackOverflow is aimed at professional developers, with programming questions.

By: JP

JP — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:02:41 +0000

What is the difference between superuser.com and Stack Overflow? They look the same.

By: Gordon

Gordon — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:26:44 +0000

Stack Overflow can be a bit hostile to Excel questions since superuser.com was started, this is a better environment for Excel/basic VBA questions and the community includes many of those who use Stack Overflow, so the knowledge level can be very high.

By: The curse of the newsgroup « Methods In Excel

The curse of the newsgroup « Methods In Excel — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:49:43 +0000

[...] only need to read the first 1/2, unless you know what Friendfeed is – I don't… Jimmy had this to say, specifically about [...]

By: JP

JP — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:46:01 +0000

I'm surprised you don't find ANY useful forums! Then again, you think Excel-L is the best way to get Excel help.

I don't see VSTO as being the VBA killer because of the learning curve, and the existing ease of use with VBA.

By: simon

simon — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:29:23 +0000

Hi JP, thanks for the list, and the reviews (and the link)
'*Even* sm thought about starting one…'

PODA was doomed from early on when they declined to focus on a manageable niche IMO. If it had been Excel only or outlook only or even word only, it would have been smaller but more targeted, and relevant to its members.

I didn't really notice any high points in your list, and am inclined to agree with Bob that certain aspects of Office development are dying (finally, having been starved of any IDE enhancements for 12 years!)
Perhaps it will be reborn as VSTO/VSTA ?

By: Bob Phillips

Bob Phillips — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:08:05 +0000

I am referring to the Microsoft UseNet newsgroups, public.excel, excel.misc, excel.charting, excel.programming, excel.worksheetfunctions.

I don't find them slow, I use a mail client not the MS web portal, and I also don't see to much spam, although it seems to come in waves and is far more than it was a few years ago.

By: JP

JP — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:09:32 +0000

I judge an answer based on whether it leads me to a solution, not the source of the answer. There is no way a rating system will replace my judgment.

By: JP

JP — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:04:46 +0000

You can add the Twitter query as a feed as well… http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=How%20to%20Excel

By: Mathias

Mathias — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:38:34 +0000

I hear you on the distraction of the badges system. On the rating part, I am on the fence. Most other forums give some "experience"/creds based on how long you have lurked on the forum and posted, which is really totally independent of how good your answer is. The vote system of StackOverflow is much better, in that it provides relevant information on how much credence to put in answers…
Jon is totally right, though, the office/VBA activity is fairly limited.