There are frequently questions being asked on this forum where they have been asked before, for example the best way to access the internet, questions about Sky & Freesat and how to get it, advice on where to shop, security matters, access to health services, what there is to do, etc.

The frequency that these get repeated seems to suggest that the FAQ section is not working. Looking at some of the information in it I can understand why the questions reoccur.

Parts of the FAQ section are very out of date: golf prices relate to 2005, the guide to shops talks about the Portimao Retail Park in the future tense and makes no reference to the newer one where C&As is, it still refers to the Plus supermarket at Lagoa, the guide to webcams hasn't been updated since one of the main hosting sites went bust, walking in the Algarve makes no mention of the excellent guide available from the Turismo, the Activities page refers to Fabrica do Ingles which went bust, the Autodrome doesn't get a mention, and so on.

I suspect part of the problem is that this area is locked to everybody (bar moderators). This creates a couple of problems: residents or owners rather than a very infrequent visitor are more likely to know the best answers to some questions and although they are happy to reply to questions in postings it is too involved to try to get a moderator to raise or update a FAQ. Similarly some matters change with the seasons so you really need input from people with current seasonal knowledge, e.g. recent changes on road layouts and where to park, or seasonal opening hours for restaurants and changes to ownership.

If all forum members were able to update FAQs I think it would improve accuracy and scope. This would allow anybody with useful information to easily just post it in FAQ if they think it appropriate or for them to easily extend an existing FAQ with additional and/or newer information. The existing moderators could still police the section to ensure posts stayed strictly on-topic and that no advertising creeps in.

What do others think?

The whole point of FAQs is that it is maintained by just one person. You should know full well that any thread on these forums have tendancies to go off topic and then the whole point of them is completely lost!

I am not sure why you think it is "too involved to try to get a moderator to raise or update a FAQ", have you tried to do so?

If you or anyone else notices there are anomolies, changes or updates then I suggest you contact Michael who will update that information! FAQ is only as good as the information supplied for it!

The whole point of FAQs is that it is maintained by just one person.

I think you are wrong. The whole point of FAQs is to provide an accurate answer to FAQs.

I addressed posts going off topic by reference to moderators policing content.

As regards updates recently somebody wanted details of the nearest hospital. Michael incorrectly directed them to the private hospital in Alvor. When his error was pointed out he said that he would update the FAQ. However he never did. It would have been an easy matter for anybody else to update the FAQ if they had access.

Farol wrote:

The whole point of FAQs is that it is maintained by just one person.

I think you are wrong. The whole point of FAQs is to provide an accurate answer to FAQs.

I addressed posts going off topic by reference to moderators policing content.

As regards updates recently somebody wanted details of the nearest hospital. Michael incorrectly directed them to the private hospital in Alvor. When his error was pointed out he said that he would update the FAQ. However he never did. It would have been an easy matter for anybody else to update the FAQ if they had access.

Farol - I think critism of anyone who is prepared to manage/update these type of sites is unfair - they do what they can in an unpaid and voluntary basis.

This site relies on certain people (Steen, Mods and Michael etc) to inform and do the best they can. Allowing anyone to update certain types of information could lead to misinformation and litigation - the site is for information, but is really "best endeavours" - treat it as such.

As Sharen said, the FAQs need to be managed or they become a wiki and potentially unreliable. MC does a good job and I'm sure if anyone wants FAQs added, he will do it in a flash.

I agree with the point that FAQ's should be monitered by just one person. Having everyone submitting to it would be unreliable as some folk would maybe post wrong information. However, I think Farol's point about the FAQ's needing to be updated on a regular basis is a fair one. Perhaps Michael will take this as a gentle reminder rather than a serious critiscism and perhaps review the FAQ's, say once a month, surely that wouldn't cause him too much trouble.

It is unreasonable to expect Michael to review the whole of FAQ's once a month. We could make it easier and start a thread called FAQ corrections that we can add to as and when updates are required. Michael could then close the thread and start a new one whenever he has had a chance to make the updates. Hope this works for you MC

Graham

Thank you all for the support for Michael. It is a thankless task sometimes!

Michael thinks the "FAQ Corrections" thread is a great idea Graham and I thank you for starting it off for him.

OK Farol, what needs correcting? Can you please post it in the "FAQ Corrections" thread and Michael can deal with it next time he is on-line!

Thanks again