Introduction

[mklotz]

Too many categories in a forum can be counter-productive. If everything is pigeon-holed, you lose the synergy effect. Many of the best ideas arise from taking a tool or idea and applying it to some problem totally unrelated to the original application. Readers who never venture beyond their favorite pigeon-hole will miss out on that.

I agree that non-obvious tools should have a lead-in description. When I was working the first slide of every one of my presentations was of the form "why do you want to listen to this presentation". OTOH, there are many levels of tool knowledge out there; a tool whose purpose seems obvious to many may be unknown to you due to lack of exposure. When that happens ask questions; most of the forum members are quick to answer such queries.

Writing a good, concise description of what you did and why you did it is not an easy task. Unfortunately, writing skills are only one of the many casualties of our declining education system. Many contributors are intimidated by the process and write less as a result. It's going to take a cultural upheaval to change this so, in the meantime, we'll all just have to puzzle through.