Haha speaking of grammar issues-
http://foodnetworkhumor.com/2010/07/aaron-mccargo-closed-captioned-for-the-grammatically-impaired/#more-5391
TexasSugar, I assume you are a Mod. and maybe you can give some insight to my idea. I believe the reason people are having search problems is because of the titles of posts. They are incomplete as many have said. For example, I was searching for dendrobium orchids. Found only a couple cakes that had them. Now, if I made a wedding cake that I wanted to post, my post would be titled: BC, 3 tier, GP orchids. This way, when I do a search, I could type in: wedding, buttercream, tiered, gumpaste orchids and I should be able to find cakes like that. Do you agree? I know there are hundreds of thousands of posts here and I would bet that you could probably delete 1/3 of them for various reasons. WHen I want to save a post, I add it to my FAV file on my computer. I will title it
the way it makes most sense to me so I can find it faster. JMHO
Tags, yes. Many times there are no tags indicating what the cake is. And, the forum is listed and the search will say only "flowers". There are also some cakes posted that have no search word. I would never find a cake I needed to find using: wedding, flowers. It should read what the specific flower is. So, if I wanted to see a wedding cake with purple orchids or yellow tulips, then I think it would be easier to find. I'm sorry if I'm not explaining myself right. I'm assuming that the search engine is built around the tags? (I couldn't find anything that would explain this).
I don't think I have any particular pet peeves about things people post/ask. I'm a firm believer of "The only stupid question is one that is not asked". Its how we all learn.
I will agree that I have a hard time with the search engine on CC. If I have a question that I think someone may have asked before, I will always try to search for it first but 99% of the time, I can't find a thing. I just get an endless list of posts that don't have anything to do with what I am looking for.
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-687761.html
Check out this post for great tips on using the search feature here at CC.
As far as asking questions, I'm all for it, but when you have a thread on the same subject that asks a very close question on the same page as yours in the forum, it makes me wonder if people even looked for an answer before asking.
Using Debis example, in the time it took for them to come here and ask if they can mix yellow and blue to make green and then wait for an answer, they could have pulled out some butter cream and icing colors and tried it.
Same thing for the chocolate buttercream posts and so on
Trail and error seems to be a thing we are afraid to do any more.
I get questions will be repeated, over and over and over, because there are always new people coming to the boards. It is just the nature of message boards. I do pay attention the number of posts someone has. If they are newer to the board I tend to be more forgiving. But if you have hundreds of posts, I feel that at some point you had to see the same question you area asking posted before.
But when you seem to have the same people asking over and over how many people certain sizes of cakes will serve it makes you wonder why you posted the link to the guide any of their posts because they obviously wont use it. Or someone posts a question that is asked and answered just 5 posts down from theirs.
No I dont think people shouldnt ask questions. And no I dont think there are any stupid questions. I do think people should think before they ask questions. Sometimes the answer they need can be easily found. And sometimes if they would give more information we can actually answer their question with out playing 20 questions first.
My buttercream icing came out wonke, how do I fix it?
My cake sunk, what did I do wrong?
In both cases if they would have given more information before hitting the submit button they could have gotten a more useful answer sooner. Instead the first replies they will be getting will just be questions asked to try to even figure out where to begin with them.
I get what you mean. And I notice it a lot also. I just started reading everyone's posts and I hope someone wouldn't come along, read them and then be too afraid to ask a question for fear of "doing something wrong". That is why I said the only stupid question is one that isn't asked. It never does hurt to research for an answer first before asking though...
TexasSugar, I assume you are a Mod. and maybe you can give some insight to my idea. I believe the reason people are having search problems is because of the titles of posts. They are incomplete as many have said. For example, I was searching for dendrobium orchids. Found only a couple cakes that had them. Now, if I made a wedding cake that I wanted to post, my post would be titled: BC, 3 tier, GP orchids. This way, when I do a search, I could type in: wedding, buttercream, tiered, gumpaste orchids and I should be able to find cakes like that. Do you agree? I know there are hundreds of thousands of posts here and I would bet that you could probably delete 1/3 of them for various reasons. WHen I want to save a post, I add it to my FAV file on my computer. I will title it
the way it makes most sense to me so I can find it faster. JMHO
Nope I'm not a mod. To me it sounds like you are asking about searching photos and not threads of information? Those are two different searchs.
In the photos the more information someone can give in their description and the tag words the more likely others can find what they are looking for.
As far as searching threads for information, the search is done through out the posts and not just with the title. The key to searching for what you want and narrowing it down to what you are looking for is to search with the words and in them. Such as search for threads that have information on gumpaste orchids. If you put Gumpaste orchids in the search, it will pull up every thread that has either of those words in it. If you search Gumpaste AND orchids then it will only pull up posts with those two words in them.
Im not sure if the photo search option needs the and but I know the thread seaching does.
TexasSugar, I know EXACTLY what post you're talking about! I read it in disbelief (especially the part where the OP demanded a tutorial and added that "there must be someone on here who is willing to help me, especially with all these professionals here!"). Talk about entitled!
OK....not trying to open a can of worms here so if I do I apologize in advance. What if...the Admins posted a "new rule" so to speak that all cakes posted must have a description of what it is? ie: BC, fondant, IMBC, SMBC, gumpaste, kind of flowers, etc. I know, I haven't posted but that's because I feel my cakes are so inferior to what I see here every day. It's my insecurity issue. lol
OK....not trying to open a can of worms here so if I do I apologize in advance. What if...the Admins posted a "new rule" so to speak that all cakes posted must have a description of what it is? ie: BC, fondant, IMBC, SMBC, gumpaste, kind of flowers, etc. I know, I haven't posted but that's because I feel my cakes are so inferior to what I see here every day. It's my insecurity issue. lol
The problem with that is that there would have to be someone to enforce it, either someone to look through each and ever cake posted every day and fill in the description, or they would have to make it where the cake wouldn't be able to be uploaded with out a description. In that case many people wouldn't bother or would post one or two words to bypass the system.
I know I have had a problem in the past uploading cakes where it took me two or three tries. On the third try my description was a lot shorter than it originally was because I just got tired of retyping it.
Another thing is that a lot of people are here just to show off there cakes, nothing wrong with that, but if that is the case then people finding it later may not be much of a concern. Then you also have people that are new to cake boards and dont really understand the mechanics behind them.
If I am looking for a cake pictures and cant find what I want on here, I turn to google image search. There are hundreds of cakes out there and maybe then you will find something closer to what you are looking for.
drives me crazy that people don't add descriptions to their pictures so we can do a search for certain types of cakes. Used to drive me crazy that people would post without comments... but I am over that now.....
Another thing that bugs me is the way the recipe section is now. YOu have to scroll through pages to look at all the recipes. I liked it before where all the selections were listed on the page and you could see all the options... miss that!!!
It irks me to click on a beautiful cake picture and the description is Round cake....as if that's not the 1st thing I saw when I clicked on the photo....Zebra cake...Yeah, I noticed!
Maybe there could be a short form to fill out for a basic photo post description. Then a box if people want to add more about the cake.
My pet peeve here is when a home baker gets on to ask a question and they feel like they have to validate their license and proof of insurance before they ask the question....not saying THEY annoy me...but it annoys me because a few people will jump on and attack with that "Are you legal...." question so the poor home bakers end up feeling defensive, like their question won't be valid unless they show proof of legality. haha. I guess what I'm trying to beat around the bush to say is that my pet peeve is the self-proclaimed CC police. LOL.
And the fact the galleries are almost impossible to search.
Otherwise...I love CC.
I totally agree! Like it's hurting them.
I agree that the search function on CC is abysmal--in both the threads and the galleries.
I agree that if you're fed up and want to leave--JUST GO--don't post a long diatribe and hope for someone elst to chime in and feed your beast.
Peeves I don't think I've seen mentioned:
1. People who type before they read or research. I actually saw a post asking "What is modeling chocolate?" right above a post titled "Modeling Chocolate recipe" (with a recipe included) 
I think it should be mandatory to READ CC for at least a week before posting!
2. Where can I buy? posts 
GOOGLE.COM !!!!!! FROOGLE.COM !!!!!!!! GLOBALSUGARART.COM !!!!!!!
3. The ever lovely, F*&^ You--I don't care if it's not food safe/not edible/not practical/not legal I'm gonna' do it anyway because nobody has DIED from it why should I care if there's a food safe/edible/practical/legal way to do it if nobody's every complained about getting sick from it response ................
4. "Oh, that's too much trouble..." response to detailed instructions.................
Overall, not terribly peeved.....
Rae
One of my pet peeves is when there is a person giving tons of advice, but they have very few pictures posted and have been here for years. How can a person tell if they can trust your advice?
I love mostly everything on CC.
Ohh and I wouldn't care too much about comments on pictures because they longer it takes for someone to post pictures the less pictures they will possibly post. So I am just happy to see the great cakes, no comments and all.
I also agree with the my first wedding cake post. You shouldn't be making a wedding cake, if you to rely on CC to get it done.
I qualify for that last one.
I've been here for years, post all the time, and no longer have many pictures posted.
Don't trust my advice? Don't take it then.
Me, too!
I post my photos, along with descriptions and serving info on my blog (which can be accessed thru the www. link at the bottom of my posts).
Only so much time in a day and since I send people looking for cakes to my blog, that's the logical place to put the pics.
I only post pics here now if there's something more unusual or structurally interesting about it.
Rae
We have to be willing to actually get our hands dirty and not depend on the internet so much that we can't add chocolate to our buttercream with out coming online to find out of it will work.
Don't get me wrong, I love tutorials and how to's. I love to see how people do things differently, but at the same time I know that there are times when you just have to pick up a rolling pin and some gumpaste and just see what happens.
I think the reason people don't experiment a lot on their own is because they don't want to waste money doing trial and error. Why spend the time and money experimenting and hoping something will work when you can ask if anyone has already done it and save yourself the time and money?
One of my pet peeves is when there is a person giving tons of advice, but they have very few pictures posted and have been here for years. How can a person tell if they can trust your advice?
false assumption -- bad logic.
just because photos aren't up doesn't mean they can't.
could be -- can't be bothered (guilty! -- heck I get one official portrait about every 15 years despite being a school teacher -- so available every year -- and being the yearbook adviser---ah the power to excise my photo from the book -- tho' drat that staff this year -- they hid it teeny tiny, I need a bigger magnifying lens. Oh, and yes, I also teach photography, so I certainly know how. It's too much bother.)
could be they don't see the point.
could be they don't care to brag.
could be they are not dying for fawning attention and tons of vacuous comments.
could be they don't trust the praise of others, finding it to be empty and meaningless
could be their work speaks for itself in its local market and doesn't need a wider audience, fame, renown, or glory.
the proof is more often in the other comments, the others who agree and say the person "hit it on the head" or "ditto to...." or "couldn't have said it better" or "XXX is right!" or who open recommend that you get so-n-so's advice or say "I hope XXX chimes in" that kind of respect it earned by KNOWING what works and doesn't and giving good advice repeatedly.
Besides -- in this day and age of cake dummies (which cooperate and never slip, slide, bulge, slump, etc.) and PhotoShop -- can we every really truly know beyond a shadow of a doubt that what we see is the real deal and not an artful deception?????
Taking photos of a cake after I've finished is the LAST thing on my mind -- especially in light of that disaster zone of a kitchen I have to clean.
----
and there a couple of pet peeves in the above!
I haven't been a part of CC for long, but I love it. I am guilty of not having any photos uploaded. Am still a cake rookie and not confdent enough in my work. When I see all the awesome stuff that people have put on the site, I just hope that one day to be half that good.
I think the reason people don't experiment a lot on their own is because they don't want to waste money doing trial and error. Why spend the time and money experimenting and hoping something will work when you can ask if anyone has already done it and save yourself the time and money?
Thank god Thomas Edison and Henry Ford didn't think that way! 
Seriously, on something that's kind of pricey, I would agree with you. Yet at the same time, that's how many of us figured it out. Not to be misunderstood ..... we're happy to help and share when we can.
Some questions, though, aren't about cost.
I recall one where the question was "What color will I get if I mix purple candy melts and yellow candy melts?" I replied, "Put two in the microwave and find out." To the poster's credit, she came back laughing at herself at missing such an easy solution. A great example of it would have taken 15 seconds to find the answer in a microwave compared to the time it took to post the qustion and wait for a response.
Not want to mix a pound of each because it's pricey? I agree. But throw one disk of each in the microwave to see? Literally "priceless" (or should I say "costless"?) 
I think the reason people don't experiment a lot on their own is because they don't want to waste money doing trial and error. Why spend the time and money experimenting and hoping something will work when you can ask if anyone has already done it and save yourself the time and money?
This is a sad, sad truth...........and it deprives people of the "experience" of failure OR success.
I learn more when I fail--or at least struggle a bit-- than when I succeed.
And, you know, I've found that just because it works for someone else, it may not work the same for me.
Trial and Error is a great teacher! Heck you may be the one to find the even BETTER WAY!!!!!
Rae
How about the threads titled "EMERGENCY!!!!! I NEED TO KNOW THIS NOW!!!!" To me, this basically reads "I want all of you to drop what you're doing and answer me!" I think Blakescakes signature line is perfect: your emergency is not my crisis, so stop yelling at me!
I think the reason people don't experiment a lot on their own is because they don't want to waste money doing trial and error. Why spend the time and money experimenting and hoping something will work when you can ask if anyone has already done it and save yourself the time and money?
Thank god Thomas Edison and Henry Ford didn't think that way!
Absolutely! But what's the saying....Why reinvent the light bulb? Once it was invented, people didn't say..."Forget Edison! I'll figure it out on my own." Nope...They let him do all the work and then ran with it once he figured it out. But that's why he's in the history books and they're not!!
When I wanted a delicious chocolate cake recipe, I didn't experiment and come up with it on my own. I use my grandma's because it's awesome. I fully acknowledge that she did all the work for me!! (I HAD to find a way to mention my grandma!!)
I agree that there are some things that are easy enough to figure out on your own. There's definitely a lot of satisfaction in that! There's also a lot of satisfaction in knowing an answer and helping someone out.
By the way...I think purple and yellow would make brown because you're essentially mixing all 3 primary colors together. Right?? Could someone do this and get back to me ASAP!! I don't have time to do it myself. Pictures would be helpful, too! Thx!!!
Feel free to just ignore my advice if I accidentally give you some then, sberryp.
I've made a note not to bother you with any answers.
Most of my baking these days is home-style dessert cakes and cookies. Not allowed to be posted on CC and I don't bother on my craft blog. That's what my customers want, but it doesn't mean I don't learn the new stuff or remember how to make those fancy piped borders from the 1950s.
My CC pet peeve is reading "I'm not licensed, just a home baker." I feel all home bakers should be licensed and INSURED with a separate kitchen than is used for their family! If your county/State does not allow it (like mine) then lease an approved kitchen. And...it's not ok to not be licensed if you are "donating cakes" - people won't remember or care the cake was free if they get sick.
Also a pet peeve on CC: "my cat (or dog, or even toddler" jumped on the counter and licked the cake, but I wiped it off and started over."
I'm reading this and screaming at my computer, WHAT???!!!! YUK!!! That's disgusting!!! (not to mention illegal)
My CC pet peeve is reading "I'm not licensed, just a home baker." I feel all home bakers should be licensed and INSURED with a separate kitchen than is used for their family! If your county/State does not allow it (like mine) then lease an approved kitchen. And...it's not ok to not be licensed if you are "donating cakes" - people won't remember or care the cake was free if they get sick.
What do you mean by "home baker"? I would consider myself a home baker, I do only cakes for family and friends and never charge for anything. I don't think that I would need to be licensed and insured but perhaps we have a different definition of home baker.
Frank, You're right - I wasn't really meaning every person who bakes a cake in their home. I should have been more clear. BUT, I did mean those who bake for others and charge. If you charge, or receive a donation, you have a business. If you have a business, you need to be licensed and insured. If you make a cake and it makes someone sick, you are liable.
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