On Wed, 2011-08-24 at 13:26 -0400, TJ Frazier wrote: > On 8/24/2011 12:40, Rob Weir wrote: > > On Tue, Aug 23, 2011 at 9:30 PM, drew<[email protected]> wrote: > >> On Wed, 2011-08-24 at 09:05 +1000, 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. > >> > >> > >> Hi Jean, > >> > >> Before I let another thread slide away from view - I agree completely > >> with approaching this with a unified view of user support, not just > >> stove pipes for different delivery vehicles. > >> > > > > Does anyone have a sense for how far we can take this by extending > > phpBB? It looks like we've already enhanced it quite a bit. > > > > In other words, is phpBB the best way forward? Is it easy to hack? > > For example, do we think it would be possible to eventually add > > collaborative features like question/answer ranking, etc.? > > > > > >> //drew > > > Not quite on topic, here, but re hacking forum code: > We have a divide between support users (who prefer forums) and support > providers (who prefer email).
Not at all - there are some who prefer email and they tend not to be on the forum, so lets not mix apples and oranges. > How well could forum code provide > email-like interaction for the providers? E.g., Email for new topics / > comments of interest; link for fast reply entry. Email /for/ entry? Some > of this is probably available already. Design input from providers would > be nice. >
