FAQ thread..work in progress...need some input

[Pugsy]

So....some people have suggested a sticky FAQ thread for the most common questions or problems we see here.
Everyone knows that there really aren't any new problems...and the answer to most questions or problems is somewhere in the bowels of the forum discussions but people don't look or they use wrong search parameters.

How about a numbered FAQ thread and I can make it a sticky and then all we have to do is point to the thread and the FAQ number???

This is where I need your input. I can't remember all the questions but we all have a few that annoy us when we see the same thing being asked over and over and over again. Then we have to go type the answer again and again and again.

The plan is to take the member input.....and combine it into one clean thread so we can quickly and easily refer to it.

Just list the question in this thread along with what you normally would say as a response....or just do the question if that is all you want to do.
I can then start a FAQ topic/thread. It will be read only because I want people to start their own threads with their own problems and not create a massive novel that is hard to read like the SleepyHead tutorial has become.

Here's the first one I can think of brought on by it happening 3 times in the past 10 days or so.

Question: I got a new mask and it won't fit on my long hose/tube....what's the deal here?

Answer: The most common cause of this happening is a little piece of the old mask has got stuck in the hose. Check the mask end of the hose carefully to see if something is stuck in there that causes the diameter to be reduced. If you can't tell...post a picture of it and let us look.

More later as I have time and think of things.

Dry mouth issues would be a good one.
What is this software everyone is talking about.

Try to keep the answers short and sweet if you can. This part is hard for me as I can't seem to be short and sweet easily.

Thank you for your help.

[ChicagoGranny]

I can't seem to be short and sweet easily.

Short, no; sweet, yes.

[Janknitz]

I think this might be really helpful, but I also worry that it will allow the forum to grow Nazis who will be nasty to any newbie who doesn't check the FAQ's first. I think one of the strengths of this group is we let newbies come and ask the same questions over and over again, so that they get individual help. Sometimes they don't even know what to ask, and I hate to see them get a nastygram because they didn't check the FAQ's first.

In that vein, some of the questions I see most often:

"How long is it going to take for me to feel better?"
"I wake up with the mask off. What do I do?
"Why is my mouth so dry?"
"How am I ever going to learn to sleep with this thing?"
"Isn't this just a scam?"

[Pugsy]

I think this might be really helpful, but I also worry that it will allow the forum to grow Nazis who will be nasty to any newbie who doesn't check the FAQ's first. I think one of the strengths of this group is we let newbies come and ask the same questions over and over again, so that they get individual help. Sometimes they don't even know what to ask, and I hate to see them get a nastygram because they didn't check the FAQ's first.

I have thought about this but the FAQs are really for me or the other members....so we don't have to keep typing the same thing over and over again.
I don't expect newbies to go through a long list of FAQs. Hell....I can't even get them to read the "newbies please read before posting" thing.

As far as the nasty grams....the people that do those kind of responses...they already do it now anyway. Won't be anything new.

The FAQs is more to shorten our work load when answering questions.
I already accept the fact that newbies won't read or search for anything....it's just the nature of people today.
The FAQs are more for me and the others who type the same thing over and over and over again.
I will try to sort of put the FAQs in some sort of order though just in case a newbie does read them.

[jnk...]

can't seem to be short and sweet

The tall and sour are welcome here. And I would certainly not expect everyone to be as concise, succinct, and pithy (three obscure words instead of just one!) as I always am.

Pages 10-12 of the following may provide a model for a start: https://www.usa.philips.com/c-dam/b2bhc ... re2011.pdf

I grabbed a stack of those brochures years ago at an A.W.A.K.E. meeting, and I still hand them out once in a while. Sometimes with a dog-eared page and a highlighted sentence. Some of it is way out of date. And all the 'consult your blah, blah, blah' isn't very helpful, but it lists what Respironics considered the more common questions at the time, anyway.

My position is that it is up to us to find fun ways to respond to repeated questions. FAQ's are what people go to when they can't find the personal attention they seek from live people in forums. We should always try to be more personable and human than what people get asking Google, Siri, Alexa, or the like.

Hey, just me.

But a decent FAQ never hurts any site.

[zonker]

"how long does it take to get approved?"
"when can i send a pm?"
"how often should i clean my equipment?"

[Pugsy]

Folks...I am not going to try to answer all the world's potential questions in the FAQs.
I just want to do some of the basics that we see on a regular basis.
I don't want to get into huge detail about some little something that is best addressed in a thread all of its own.

[turbo]

What does FAQ mean?

[Pugsy]

What does FAQ mean?

You get to answer your own question.

Hey folks....you all can answer your own questions and not just leave it up to me to do.

[turbo]

What does FAQ mean?

You get to answer your own question.

I usually hit the search button, but I'll try that too

Thank you for the turbo response

[jimbud]

When someone has the "Airsense 10 Autoset CPAP Machine with Humidair Heated Humidifier" and has not put it in their equipment
Profile because it is under the R's instead of the A's. as "Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset CPAP Machine with Humidair Heated Humidifier".

Please change your profile to show the machine you are currently using:
Your machine is under the R's in the equipment Profile.
As "Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset CPAP Machine with Humidair Heated Humidifier"



This question comes up alot.
Drives me crazy for some reason.

Problem with this one is you have to ask them "is that the machine you are using" before you would even know to send them to the FAQ .

[Pugsy]

What does FAQ mean?

You get to answer your own question.

I usually hit the search button, but I'll try that too

Thank you for the turbo response

You aren't a newbie and apparently don't need any extra help with any questions since you are so helpful anyway.
You don't have to use them if you don't want to.

[Pugsy]

This question comes up alot.
Drives me crazy for some reason.

Me too. I tried to get it fixed but was told it would be way too much of a problem to fix it. Oh well......

For sure...we will cover this one in the FAQs.

[jimbud]

FAQ; What should I know about Soclean and other similar machines?

Never ever ask that question on this forum. Ever.

Now left click on the little pencil icon on the upper right corner of your post and remove this question before anyone else notices it.

This is probably the only warning you will receive.

Good luck.

[roadcycler]

Great idea Pugsy

This way when someone asks a FAQ instead of doing a search, a link can be posted as a reply. But.... does this take the personal effectiveness of an answer away from the one seeking advice. I still don't know how the main people here have the patience to answer the same question even multiple times a day, I have to give you and the other regulars kudos for supplying this service

Rob