Writing an FAQ

[rob hod]

    It occured to me that rather than go for the 'all singing all dancing,
not quite finished yet' approach we could perhaps approach the problem by
dealing with the really common and most simply answered questions first.

    The first candidate that springs to mind is the I5 Timing belt change.
This is a very common question but is quite easily dealt with. Also the list
consensus on how to do it and what else to do at the same time is strong. We
could also quite easily cover a few relevant hints/points at the same time
such as the best tools for the job, which crank locking options are
available (2084 or transmission bolt) and what kinds of things you should
not do (under-torque, use transmission and brakes to try and hold crank
etc.)

    Lets face it , there are at least three listers sites that cover the
topics even some including pictures, if one or all were willing to
contribute to a list FAQ 'master' version.

     When the next person asks "how should I go about a T-belt change" we
can point them to the most complete resource we know about and/or make it
very clear on the mail-list rules that this is one question that should no
longer be expected on the list unless it covers a new aspect of the job not
currently covered on the master FAQ. These new issues would then be eligible
for addition to the relevant master FAQ once the list best-practice has
become apparent.

    I know that the structure of the FAQ plan is important for the future ,
but I'm sure we could get a good start by just tackling some of the really
common issues first.

    One other pipe dream of mine is the idea that we could attach to these
Faq's guest book entries of people who have done the job concerned and add
any pertinent comments from their personal experience with the job.

    Just my 2 New Pence


rob