Best or Worst kept secret?

Hey folks;

I have been a long time lurker and an occassional poster and was curious if you think that PLC.net has got to be the best or worst kept secret on the internet when it comes to PLC knowledge.

I have done Google searches before for problems I am having with devices or programming and more often that not my results have a post from here within the top 10 searches.

So Google knows the secret.

Over the year I have and i am sure you all have, lost count of how many PLC programming students come here for answers to their assignments.

The Students know the secret.

But... Do the teachers know about this place? It seems to me that if some of them would use a little bit of the knowledge available here and incorporate it into the course there would be a lot less Waaaaaaaaaa DO MY HOMEWORK FOR ME (For Free).

And to any students reading this. If you managed to google your way here for answers...Take it one step further and SEARCH the forums. There are answers to 99% of your problems here. The last 1% can be figured out by the experts that regularly visit here.

It is my daily routine to visit this site and I expect to do it for many more years. Keep up the good work guys I look forward to learning with you in the future.

Happy Holidays and see you on the other side of the end of the world.

Hey Dallin,
as a teacer at a Comm. College, I have found this forum to be a great source of info, the guys here have helped me solve a number of issues in the short time I've been coming here...A great resource!

Jim

What's a "worst kept secret"? A great secret not kept well...or a well guarded but useless secret?

But... Do the teachers know about this place?

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Yes, many of them know about this site, and check regularly to see who is having trouble, or who is able to do their own work, or not!

raccjim said:

Hey Dallin,
as a teacer ...

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A Teacer!?! Isn't that one of those offshoot Republican parties?

Oh, you meant a "Teacher"... Sorry, nevermind...

Dallin said:

...But... Do the teachers know about this place? ...

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If a PLC teacher does NOT know of this sight, I would question their capabilities as this is a great resource that the students should be told of and to use when needed. Part of the student's learning experience here is handled by the forums experts that don't just answer questions w/o forcing the students to think for themself/ problem solving which is a life skill they need to master if they are to be successful.

I began teaching automation at an elite tech school level about 6 months ago and almost every answer i receive to the questions i ask (around once a week) gets incorporated into my lectures. I try to keep everything as industry applicable as possible, but then again I had the freedom to develop the entire curriculum myself, something a lot of teachers in a lot of places don't have the luxury to do. I spend at least half an hour a day surfing this site from my phone when on public transit, walking anywhere, laying around, etc. There's really no better resource for educators. In fact, i plug this site anytime we have international plc educators visiting who are interested in expanding their knowledge.

I am always surprised when i meet fellow integrator that few of them know and use the site. I have been on the site for a good 8 years now. Most issues i have encountered were discussed and resolved in length. Some fellow members have even assisted me in creating complex algorithms and functions and mailed them to me. In all honestly i think anyone that does any form of PLC work and does not use the site is missing out on the GREATEST resource available on the Web.

Although there are other sites, their threads seem to collect dust but you are almost always guaranteed to get a reply within an hour on PLCTalk.

Dallin said:

So Google knows the secret.

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Google also knows to crawl this site often! Occasionally I copy/paste text from posts into Google in order to try and help someone. More often than not, the top result is the thread I am trying to help with, even though that thread was just recently posted!...

RheinhardtP said:

I am always surprised when i meet fellow integrator that few of them know and use the site.

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Sad but true. Most of the programmers I've run into over the years give a blank stare when I ask them if they are a member here...

:site:



-Eric

Same here. I have met four guys out of the dozens I've met in various classes and semiars over the past five or six years that use this site.

Being a member from the beginning and teaching PLC from 1993 till 2009, I've spoken about this site, showed it and recommended it to 1000+ of my trainees here in Belgium. So a lot of people here know about it, yet I only see a handfull Belgian techs passing by here. Maybe the others are only lurking, who knows?

Kind regards,

My Bad...

rootboy said:

A Teacer!?! Isn't that one of those offshoot Republican parties?

Oh, you meant a "Teacher"... Sorry, nevermind...

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Probably more like teacupper!


Yikes, nice example I'm setting, mispelling teacher, Sheesh!

Rootboy, can I ask you the origin of your PLCS nickname?

raccjim said:

Rootboy, can I ask you the origin of your PLCS nickname?

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Probably "Ratboy" but miss-spelt

I shouldn't have done that as I don't know him, but it was too much of a gift.

Maybe the others are only lurking, who knows?

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There are a lot of lurkers. I landed a good service contract with a local facility because of my participation on this site. When the facility manager mentioned to the engineer who commissioned a new piece of equipment that he had spoken to me about providing support, the commissioning engineer replied that if I was the same Steve Bailey who posts on PLCs.net, they would be in good hands. When I met the commissioning engineer he told me he had never signed up as a member, but he looks in regularly.

Ever since then I've considered my participation here as part of my marketing efforts.

AS with all who post on this site - I am happy to share my knowledge
- even to have it altered (forgot to correctly read a post - happens with age)
Occaisionally I have requested help and received it within 30 minutes.
- Recently a customer said - I have been reading your posts here.
they were having problems - called me in to fix it - but - I said why didn't you either post or PM or ring - I would have helped
this is in my nature...
And I am sure the same with the fellow posters on this site.