I enjoy providing helpful answers on line - just have a look at how active I am (for example) on Opentalk and you'll see questions and answers flowing back at the rate of several per day over several years. I'll even "research" the more interesting issues although I can't guarantee complete solutions from a free service.

But occasionally I get frustrated. A question is posted, and (less that 24 hours later - which is our stated target) I'll get a few minutes to look at it / follow up. "Oh - I sorted that out just after I posted" comes the reply. "I'm fixed" .... well ... thank you for telling me!! Thank you for having me, out of the kindness of my heart, wasting my time over you!!

This is an endemic problem. I was reading a message elsewhere just a few minutes ago - looking through a history. "Can you advise me where to find" .... and a couple of responses. Then another response "I've been looking around - have you tried xxxx" to which the reply from the original poster was "oh - we got that fixed a long while back".

And so I make a case for putting an expiry date on web requests and web pages. With a newspaper advert, you knew it would be active for a day or a week then history. A card in a newsagent's window is paid for a week or two then expires. A timetable says "until 30th September 2005" or something like. But a web page goes on and on.

Netiquette suggestions for time-dependent pages:
* Provide the date and time for event(s) if you're talking about events
* Give an idea of how long you'll be leaving the question open
* REVISIT THE PAGE and post when the issue is sorted (the flat found, the car sold, the code working)
* When you revisit, post what the solution was, and thank anyone who's helped you.
(written 2004-11-12, updated 2008-05-11)

Commentator

says ...

Graham:

Posting an update in February 2005. Bearing in mind the title and story of this post, I thought in a whimsical moment that it might be worth adding that it STILL applies. I get a huge warm glow when someone comes back and says "great thanks", even if it's "great, thanks but. And I have a pile of answered questions, requests to provide assistance that I have done that, it seems, weren't even worth the recipient confirming receipt. (comment added 2005-02-02 18:35:48)

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  [130] Spelling and grammar - (2004-11-25)
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  [22] Falling out over the silliest things - (2004-08-21)

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