While I think that the "FAQ" as outlined by swanoir was presented tongue in cheek ('the humus'), many of the subsequent comments and/or links to threads that could/should be included in a FAQ were presented in a more serious tone. And maybe they do make sense as a foundation to a real LD forum FAQ. But I've also sensed something else in these comments that may contribute to the apparent lack of communication between new posters seeking advice and those that regularly frequent this forum and offer it. And that is that the long checklist provided by Miss R must be (or should be) answered in detail before posting. Well, of course not! But it is definitely something worth reviewing and giving some thought to. This checklist, or something very similar, is what most designers utilize when first meeting with a prospective client. It gives them a feeling for what the client wants to do with the property, how they intend to use it, what they hope to get out of it and how much effort (time/$$) are they are intending to put into it. Hopefully, reviewing an outline or checklist such as this could help to refine and focus some of those blank slate questions and even educate those new posters totally unfamiliar with the process the degree of complexity, the number of variables and exactly what is involved in the formulation of a landscape design. Even DIY landscape texts intended for the homeowner with no previous design or landscaping experience offer similar checklists to get one started thinking about the process. Obviously, this is overkill for those questions that are more issue-specific, but I think very appropriate for those that are much broader and far less focused.

Up, up and not away!

[This Appliances FAQ article was moved to the Laundry Room FAQ on 28 December 2004.]

Well, after much discussion, debate, and numerous proposals on the subject, we now have a new Laundry Forum on THS! Hopefully this will indeed help relieve some of the burden in the original Appliances Forum, where the 300 thread limit was starting to burst at the seams in a somewhat desperate effort to contain lengthy conversations about *all* appliances... thanks, Spike, for making this upgrade happen! Anyway, in order to further improve access to information on laundry-specific topics, Spike and the THS staff have created another new FAQ section, specific to the Laundry Forum. I, "hardwarehack" Tom, am now working as the Editor of both FAQ sections, and will be re-posting the various laundry-related FAQ articles from the Appliances FAQ here... as well as starting into the large pending queue of FAQ files submitted to me by helpful THS participants. As Spike noted, the transition to the new split Forum system will take a little while, so for now, I'll leave the original Appliance FAQ article URLs intact, for handy reference. If anyone has additional suggestions for this new FAQ section, I'm about to create another FAQ thread in the main Forum - please post ideas, comments, and formal proposed FAQ textfiles there. Note that outside links (e.g. company sites, etc) are *not* permitted in the THS FAQs, partly to avoid advertising, and partly to avoid the looming specter of linkrot in countless "permanent" files (remember that unlike the main Forum threads, FAQ articles are here to stay!). I will also continue to monitor the "main" Forum threads, for possible interesting and helpful data, that can be immortalized in the FAQ. :) In short, if anyone wishes to contribute here, there's no need to email me - just post your thoughts in the main Forum, either in the FAQ thread or other threads, and I'll then compile and re-post them here. Thanks everyone!! --Tom. [added to Laundry FAQ: 21 May 2003]