General Forum

99.99% (.01% my good ideas?) of the frustrations Im having with TCDB are self inflicted as this is all new to me . (I feel like Bill Gates and the reality is I just discovered fire) I have met some patient members on here and have flooded them with word salad emails trying to ask how to do what I want, and/or best practices (dont wanna keep bombarding them as we were in contact for a trade) A patient member  even walked me through my 1st trade and currently have 2 more in progress. Some people have simply said look at FAQs (I made an attempt, but havent found what Im looking for.....and does anyone ever really read the instructions? skim may be more accurate lol) That being said I feel like theres a better way (than what Im doing) Any suggestions? or someone willing to walk me through? (ive got the basics down, but have more questions and didnt want to keep asking in forums questions that may have repeatedly been asked and answered)

Im fully aware that someone will read this and think "stop with the word salad overexplaining and just ask the dang question!", but I am asking so I stop doing that because it seems to end up creating more questions (for me)

I've met some great people on here that have been very helpful the past couple of years. I'm no expert but I feel I have most things down on how the database operates. Feel free to message me with any questions you have and if I can help I would be glad to try.

Try things. Be patient with yourself. If you don't collect Tennis (or Racing, or Non-Sports) and you want to play with collections and how they work, go to a Tennis set (or one that you don't collect) and try things. When you're done, you can remove everything from that one set very easily. Trying to do something else, keep trying. Very hard for you to mess things up too badly.

I also have been able to help members. I don't know everything, that's for sure, but I may be able to lend a hand.

Same here - I'm no expert but always willing to help with what I can.

I think the OP makes some excellent comments that warrant some discussion.

1. "99.99% of the frustrations Im having with TCDB are self inflicted as this is all new to me."  If you're frustrated with something, somebody else has probably had that frustration in the past and there is probably a soloution or a better way. Also, chances are someone else will have the same frustration in the future as well.
2. "Some people have simply said look at FAQs (I made an attempt, but havent found what Im looking for.....and does anyone ever really read the instructions?" The FAQs do answer a lot of questions. They are also somewhat vague and fairly broad. I believe that Admin either made them that way on purpose or leaves them that way by choice. They actually become more useful the more you explore and utilize the site. That last sentence may sound counter intuitive, but some of the issues discussed in the FAQs are better understood when you're contextually informed. And YES I've read, and often refer back to, the published FAQs. I've also searched for and read all the forum comments by Admin and I save links to my favorite forum posts on other member's thoughts/comments/ideas on how to best utilize the site. Answers to most questions have already been discussed/explored; it's just a matter of finding the discussion in the forums.
3. "Any suggestions? or someone willing to walk me through? (ive got the basics down, but have more questions and didnt want to keep asking in forums questions that may have repeatedly been asked and answered)" Yes to suggestions; That is probably one item that there is not ever a shortage of on TCDB. Related to that is; Yes somebody will be willing to walk you through any question (as members many in this thread have already offered). For every one member that says simply, "Read the FAQs", there's at least three more members that would be willing to walk you through the details of any process. Which brings me to the last point....KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS IN THE FORUMS....if you have a question, so does someone else. Share the question and the answer. Any issue you bring up, will come up again in the future. In fact, I'm willing to bet that during the next year a similar thread to this one will be started at least a half-dozen times.

Welcome to the site. Explore, enjoy, and have fun!

Same here... I'm no expert either, in fact, just yesterday I posted a question that turned out to have a very simple answer (and made me feel a bit stupid, honestly), but it's all good because it helps me know and use this site better. 

So don't feel shy or embarrased, and send me a line if you need help.