This same topic keeps coming up on the 'users' mail list. Nothing can 
be done there, it seems, and the thought was to raise it here......

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. This manifests in various ways:

** The question's been asked many, many times before; the answer could 
be found online with a little effort.

** Poster can't be bothered to put in a subject for the email.

** "How do I unsubscribe?" questions (or outright demands to be 
unsubscribed!)

** Poster isn't  subscribed in the first place (and won't necessarily 
see a reply anyway)

** Poster doesn't understand at all how the list functions, and thinks 
they're talking to a paid support facility.

Well, the list could go on. Frankly, I think the regular support team 
have a marvellous amount of patience (I've lost count of how many times 
they've said very temperately that OOo will indeed run on vista :-)  ). 
But is it a good use of skilled people's time to give the same answers 
over and over?

To cut to the chase, my initial thought is to replace the moderators 
with some sort of FAQ engine: an /unsubscribed/ user's email would be 
scanned automatically for keywords and matched against a selection of 
common FAQs. The most likely answers to be returned, along with a 
reference to the online documentation (including the list archives) and 
maybe google; also a note on how to subscribe if that doesn't help. A 
subscriber would get straight through on the basis they probably 
understand how the list works.

What does the team think? Or am I alone in finding the present setup 
somewhat unsatisfactory?
-- 
various incoming sites blocked because of spam; see 
http://www.scottsonline.org.uk for a list and openpgp crypto key
(key fingerprint 2ACC 9F21 5103 F68C 7C32 9EA8 C949 81E1 31C9 1364)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]    Mike Scott, Harlow, Essex, England

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