r/SQL • u/mgdmw Dr Data • Oct 15 '14

What do we think about tutorials, especially basic tutorials?

Hi there,

Moderator here.

I check the moderator queue regularly and invariably there are links to tutorials in there which have been picked up by the auto-moderator. Now, that auto-moderator is not perfect; it routinely blocks text postings that are perfectly fine, so just because something has been blocked by it doesn't necessarily mean it is spam.

When I see these tutorials I try and err on the side of useful information being good for the /r/SQL SubReddit, and look to see if the poster has ever contributed anything else and so on.

However, it's getting perhaps a little much. How many tutorials do we need on joins?

In our sidebar we state "The goal of /r/SQL is to provide a place for interesting and informative SQL content and discussions."

Do we consider that tutorials - generally always basic tutorials on fundamentals, not something more advanced - are "interesting and informative"?

I am thinking I would like to start banning these postings with the opinion they are not contributing to the SubReddit, but merely providing easily-obtained basic SQL information which can already be found in a better form via the links on our Wiki page.

However, this is not a dictatorship; I would be interested to learn of any alternate viewpoint. Perhaps some readers find those postings very helpful.

Thanks !

11 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

7

u/israellopez Oct 15 '14

I think a /r/LearnSQL subreddit would be a good resource to nurture. Especially since /r/java has /r/javahelp to separate the discussion from the learning. My 2c.

4

u/AlienHairball Oct 15 '14

I prefer that structure, but is there enough activity here to divide into discussion + learning subreddits?

6

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '14

I'm always annoyed by basic tutorial links.
I usually think it's a new user with a very simple question, then boom I'm reading a pointlessly verbose W3Schools article on joins.
It's even worse when the tutorial is database or software specific. Nothing that shows you how to use SSMS or SQL Developer belongs here. Those should be in /r/sqlserver and /r/oracle

10

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '14

Most if not all of that content is trivial and covered by the wiki links on the sidebar.

I vote 'ban'.

3

u/leodavinci Oct 16 '14

Same, I'm nowhere close to being a SQL expert, but joins are going to be about the first thing anyone serious about learning is going to pick up.

Join tutorials do nothing to promote interesting discussion or real learning.

1

u/mgdmw Dr Data Oct 15 '14 edited Oct 15 '14

For those interested, here is the recent history as listed in the moderation log:

whenwhoactionwhat
4 mins agomgdmwdistinguished link"What do we think about tutorials, especially basic..." by mgdmw
11 hours agomgdmwapproved link"How to Recover SQL Database Backup Without Restori..." by pavithra101
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16 days agomgdmwremoved link"Sequence Object in SQL Server" by Festimm
19 days agomgdmwapproved link"SQL joins" by pai1009
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1

u/mgdmw Dr Data Oct 18 '14

Thanks all. Tutorials shall no longer be permitted on this SubReddit.

0

u/[deleted] Apr 27 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/SQL-ModTeam Apr 27 '23

Your post was removed for uncivil behavior that is unfit for an academic forum

3

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '14

It'd be mighty silly if people kept posting tutorials on how to boil water at /r/cooking.

2

u/narayanis Oct 18 '14

I vote ban as well. It would be so valuable if this were like /r/truefilm, where only text posts are allowed and the whole sub is based on genuine discussion and Q&A. Even for links to blogs, I feel like many people who join here already follow the best blogs.

0

u/HumbleEnigmatologist Nov 30 '24

Perfectly understandable but there is a difference between a tutorial and a training session. I was going to direct beginners to a YouTube video featuring some unique content but automoderation instantly removed it.
I mean, I earn nothing but motivation from that video but now, because of this, probably many learners will be deprieved of some free unique practice experience. Link to the video is in my bio.

2

u/mgdmw Dr Data Nov 30 '24

The r/SQL community does not need yet another “here’s how to use SELECT” no matter if you dress it up as a “training session.”

This is not the community for basic SQL how-to content. If you want to make something of interest to a community of our level of experience go make one on Window functions or CTEs.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/mgdmw Dr Data Dec 01 '24

Look, you’re not quite the “humble” enigmatologist. You insist your material is useful. I’m not denying it is but saying it’s too basic for THIS subreddit. This is a subreddit for experienced professionals. I told you the content that would be appropriate here and you say “why would I do that?”

You should go post on r/learnsql.

Nobody is saying your content is not useful to a beginner audience. However this subreddit is not a beginner audience.

You’re being too emotive over your pride of your material to bother paying attention to where it has best effect and where it does not.

I mean, you even argue about it in a 10 year old thread where we first set this rule.