Re^5: Put the formatting information above the posting text box?

[ambrus]

It might be possible, but it's futile. No matter what you do, you can't get most newbies to read the instructions. After a level, it just doesn't matter how obviously you present the instructions, people will just ignore them no matter what.

[stevieb]

They may, but it might have even a slight impact. I like the idea of codifying some form of validation like ww said in Re: Put the formatting information above the posting text box?, but that might be a bit too heavy-handed without some serious thought. However, a check for things like sub \w+ { or $\w+ = and such could notify a user after submit and prior to post that they may have code that hasn't been wrapped in <c></c> tags, etc.

Clearly, I don't want to lose new people to PM because of restraints/constraints, but on the other hand, if we can't/don't change how we post on PerlMonks, perhaps we should consider a new avenue of approach... an appreciation of sorts. 'Come to PM to be part of a community and learn, not just get your immediate question answered.".

There have to be some out there who still appreciate being part of a community; not just blindly answering questions that have to be precise and perfect in every way, without any means or facility for discussion.