Finally, a post to which I am emensly qualified to reply. I think the premis here is that the Monestary could be "friendlier" to noobies. So, do we mean friendlier Monks, or more intuitive pages. Each probably have room for improvement, however, being a newcommer to perl, I can speak from experience, when I say that "this site Rocks."

If we look at WHY it rocks, we find that the common love of perl binds us all, and while we differ in almost every other facet, language, gender, age, ethnicity, programming ability, length of "service", etc. we respect each others views and abilities. I can relate to many of the previous posts. I've been programming for over 3 decades, I love perl. I'm not real good at it yet. I've asked the wrong questions here & done penance for said deed. I've been thrilled when I could answer the question without first looking at the Monk's answers. I've felt the guilt of the "all take & no give back" syndrome, and I'm working on that.

So, would another noobie site be the answer? Frankly, I don't think so. I think the risks far out weigh the gains. Would a noobie section on PM help? Possibly. There are tutorials, docs, and other things here that I haven't even found yet, but I think we (ok you) need to distinguish between finding the answer, & finding the PLACE to find it. This may quite possibly be a navigational issue, rather than a content issue.

Please don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good challange, but sometimes I think just a bit more intuitive would help. Also, a fancy GUI interface may not be seen as an advantage to some "dialup" folks.

These are just some of my own perceptions, and I applaude the Monks for being able to have such a dialog. I've used other sites (java ranch) that use a segmented (beginner, intermediate, advanced) approach. I've never even been to the Advanced forums. It seems to work for them, but would it work here? I don't really know, but I'm not willing to risk what we have to "test the waters" of such a fundamental change. I'd vote for improving PM over a new site, but at the same time, I upvote you for concept of improving the perl community & wish you all the best.