On Tue, Aug 23, 2011 at 7:18 PM, Dave Fisher <[email protected]> wrote: > It can be hard to find the Tuna with all the Herrings tossed around :-D >
Hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day. I was overdue ;-) -Rob > On Aug 23, 2011, at 4:05 PM, Jean Weber wrote: > >> I've started a new thread, because I think Rob Weir's very important point >> has got lost in the discussions about forums and lists. Rob wrote: >> >>> Support is important. The question is >>> how best to do it. If all we're doing is considering the merits of >>> different access methods to support, without looking at the >>> implications of fragmenting the repositories and the resulting >>> knowledge base, then we are doing a poor job at thinking this through. >>> Remember the best support site is the one that allows the user to >>> answer their own question, without signing up for a mailing list or >>> posting to a forum. We should be looking at how we can prevent user >>> support questions. >> >> This ties in closely with end-user documentation and how it is delivered, so >> I am very interested in this topic. Later today I'll go through the archives >> of this list to find the earlier discussions, which I believe occurred while >> I was traveling and thus weren't given enough of my attention at the time. >> Or, have ideas and suggestions, perhaps examples of good practice, been >> posted to the wiki? Apple is IMO a brilliant example, but they have a lot of >> resources >> >> It's clear to me that we need to do better than we have in the user support >> area, if we can do so. Not only will that benefit users and improve our >> reputation, it will allow us to work smarter, not harder. I will pursue >> this, along with other interested people. It's something valuable that I can >> do while the techies are moving websites and working with code etc. >> >> Setting up a suitable system and populating it with suitable information >> will be a big task and take quite awhile, especially if we don't have enough >> skilled people to do it. (I'm referring to content, not infrastructure.) All >> the more reason to get started now with planning what we want to do, so we >> can start doing it ASAP. >> >> BTW, the Docs mailing list at OOo gets quite a few enquiries from people >> wanting to contribute, and a few of them sound like they have relevant >> experience and skills. I don't want to lose them. Yes, we point them to this >> list as well as ODFAuthors, but I don't know how many have actually joined. >> If we're actively discussing topics of interest to documenters, perhaps more >> people can be persuaded to get involved. >> >> --Jean > >
