The resources section

[m0nkey_]

Any way to make the resources section more prominent? A lot of questions asked on the forum can be answered if a visitor was encouraged to look their first. Maybe include it on the "Create thread" page to say "Hey, have you checked out the resources section before posting?".

 

[Ericloewe]

Is it mentioned in the newbie message? New users get a message urging them to check out a few things before posting. It disappears after a few posts/likes or something.

 

[Tigersharke]

I believe it appears until a number of posts have been made, I forget the threshold (I'll have to check that). There is also the "Resource" box on the right sidebar/panel that highlights a random resource. Any other ideas will likely not be any sort of flashing or sparkling highlight with words like "Go see the resources" because even if those were more effective they are not "professional" or something. We can only suggest perusal and not force it, unfortunately. Users are likely to continue to ignore many things that stare them directly in the face, and they'll make another repetitive post asking the same answered question(s).

UPDATE: The condition for the message appearing is: $visitor['message_count'] < 15

<<-- How it appears (highlight not included).
Does the message need to be larger, different color background, any other garishness to be seen more, or should it stay visible permanently or a different amount of posts? The concept is fine, it has been in place a while now. If it is ignored, it may be possible to make adjustments but something like moving it to another place on the edit box page could be more involved.

 

[m0nkey_]

Does the message need to be larger, different color background, any other garishness to be seen more, or should it stay visible permanently or a different amount of posts?

Even veteran posters often forget about the resources section, so hiding it after the N posts won't make much of a difference. Having it below the content text box sort of defeats the purpose, because by the time the poster has finished, they may see that and think 'Why look in the resources section now when I've already prepared a huge wall-o-txt?'.

Maybe moving the message towards the top near the topic subject and remove the $visitor['message_count'] < 15 rule could help?