On 08-10-2016 18:35, David Woolley wrote:
On 08/10/16 22:49, Alex Oren wrote:
Are there any compelling reasons not to use an internet forum?
Their many advantages over mailing lists include: - Easier
searching for existing solutions. - Fine-grained control over
email notifications. - The ability to display prominent explanation
of what support can be expected.
This subject produces very polarised response whenever it comes up
on other mailing lists, but from my point of view:
I would like to comment on your points.
But before I do, please keep in mind that I am advocating the use of a forum
for the SUPPORT mailing list, which is supposed to be open for a wide array of
users, who cannot be assumed to be technically savvy, familiar with
nettiquette, etc.
- I can afford to be on a lot more mailing lists that forums (with
forums you have to go and visit each one to see if there are
updates);
No, you do not. The forum software can be configured to send email notifications for
responses to the threads you are following, as well as for new posts in the sub-forums
that you are interested in, including the full text of the message. So in effect you can
treat them as a mailing list but with finer control, with the only
"inconvenience" of having to click a link when you want to reply.
And, contrary to mailing lists, I can choose not to be sent replies to threads
I am not interested in.
- mailing lists provide a consistent user interface;
See above. Plus, core BBCode is standard across most (if not all) forum
software.
- although possibly not an issue with Pidgin, forums tend to result
in fragmentation, as people tend to belong to just one forum, and
forums are often advertising funded, so their operators tend to have
an incentive to get people to use their forum, rather than any other
forum covering the subject, exacerbating that fragmentation;
This is completely irrelevant to the Pidgin support list.
- forums don't allow you to maintain an offline archive that you can
search and search tools for them are often not very effective;
1. Forums that are configured to send email notifications (with full text)
offer the same offline capabilities as a mailing list.
2. To the casual user, forums offer VASTLY superior searching functionality
compared to email archives
- forums cannot be read offline....
And https://pidgin.im/pipermail/support/ can?
Also if you are going to assume that there is one direction of
progress
I don't give a rodent's posterior about "directions of progress". My argument
is not ideological but practical: during the short time I have been on this list, several
people asked about Pidgin on mobile, others wanted support with their providers, and yet
others had questions that could be easily avoided if there was a decent and friendly way
to view and/or search old threads (and no, Google with site:pidgin.im does not qualify).
And let's not forget about users that hit "reply" instead of "reply all", and
the emails admonishing them for doing so.
I am not arguing against mailing lists in general, and it may as well be the
best tool for the job for the DEVELOPER list, but it does not appear to be the
case for the SUPPORT list.
Best regards,
Alex
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