Chris Monahan wrote: >> To be blunt, the 'users' mail list suffers from beginners. Not just >> beginners, but beginners who don't seem able (or willing even) to put >> in a little effort to help themselves. > > To be totally honest we get the same problem on the discuss list, > except that we get the folks who for whatever reason, can't seem to > tell the difference between 'discuss' and 'users' > >> Fewer and fewer people actually know how to use e-mail. The "September >> that Never Ended" has started to afflict e-mail. > > I would imagine that would be because there's a larger percentage of > people who aren't interested and don't think learning will help them > in any way. Not neccesarily because the number of competant e-mailers > is actually going down, just the proportion :P
That was my first thought. Maybe is the case now, but in 2004 when I looked into that matter, briefly, it looked like the absolute numbers were not growing. > It's this rising tide of disinterested people that are probably the > one's that OOo needs to steal from MSO, so we should make it as easy > as possible for them to get to FAQ's, without hassling us in the > process. +1 > ...Yes, actually i would argue having a handy web interface where people > can ask a question that gives results based on an algorithm that > searches the FAQ's and list archives for relevance, and then a "Not > found the answer?" link that directs people's to a clear and > unambiguous page on accessing the mailing lists and issuezilla etc? > The link to this web interfacer should be clear and prominent on the > front page, possibly with links within the OpenOffice Help. Web interface needs to be worked on to get these people to the answers they need (but may not know they need). How about a chatbot stoked with decision trees for common problems and data from the FAQs and guides? Year 6 comp sci project anyone? > Appealing to the masses, i'm afraid is the way forward if we want to > start cutting into MSO heartland. +1 Regards -Lars --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
