Neither project:support_desk nor project:current_issues is really meant for that purpose - support desk is mainly for user and (external) sysadmin support. And current_issues is the village pump of mediawiki.org (the website not the software)
Honestly, I kind of think that lqt was better than flow for support desk. As much as lqt sucked at least search sort of worked. Although the bigger problem probably is that project:support desk is protected so new users arent allowed to ask questions(!) On the subject of search, i do think that https://lists.wikimedia.org/robots.txt is rediculous. At least for technical lists we should let google in, and the privacy concern is silly as there are mirrors that are indexed. -- bawolff On Saturday, November 18, 2017, Sam Wilson <s...@samwilson.id.au> wrote: > Hear hear to being able to properly search past conversations. > > I know it's not the fashionably geek thing to say, but I must admit that > I always find mailing lists to be incredibly annoying, compared to > forums. Not only is searching completely separate from reading, even > browsing old topics is another interface again (assuming one hasn't been > subscribed forever and kept every old message). Then, when you do manage > to find an old message, there's no way to reply to it (short of copying > and pasting and losing context). > > Maybe https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:Support_desk (and its > sibling https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:Current_issues ?) is the > best place to ask questions about the software, its development, and > other things. If so, let's make that fact much more well advertised! > (Although, I think Flow is brilliant, when it's for discussing a wiki > page — because the topic is already set (effectively by the title of the > page its attached to). When it's trying to be a host to multiple > unrelated topics, it becomes pretty annoying to use.) > > On Sun, 19 Nov 2017, at 05:57 AM, Niharika Kohli wrote: >> I'd like to add that having Discourse will provide the one thing IRC >> channels and mailing lists fail to - search capabilities. If you hangout >> on >> the #mediawiki IRC channel, you have probably noticed that we get a lot >> of >> repeat questions all the time. This would save everyone time and effort. >> >> Not to mention ease of use. Discourse is way more usable than IRC or >> mailing lists. Usability is the main reason there are so many questions >> about MediaWiki asked on Stackoverflow instead: >> https://stackoverflow.com/unanswered/tagged/mediawiki >> <https://stackoverflow.com/unanswered/tagged/mediawiki>, >> https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/mediawiki-api?sort=newest >> <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/mediawiki-api?sort=newest>, >> https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/mediawiki-extensions... >> >> I'd personally hope we can stop asking developers to go to IRC or mailing >> lists eventually and use Discourse/something else as a discussion forum >> for >> support. >> >> On Sat, Nov 18, 2017 at 1:31 PM, Quim Gil <q...@wikimedia.org> wrote: >> >> > Hi, I have expanded >> > https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Discourse#One_place_to_ >> > seek_developer_support >> > >> > https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:Support_desk is the only channel >> > whose main purpose is to provide support. The volunteers maintaining are >> > the ones to decide about its future. There is no rush for any decisions >> > there. First we need to run a successful pilot. >> > >> > The rest of channels (like this mailing list) were created for something >> > else. If these channels stop receiving questions from new developers, they >> > will continue doing whatever they do now. >> > >> > > I'd like to understand how adding a venue will improve matters. >> > >> > For new developers arriving to our shores, being able to ask a first >> > question about any topic in one place with a familiar UI is a big >> > improvement over having to figure out a disseminated landscape of wiki Talk >> > pages, mailing lists and IRC channels (especially if they are not used to >> > any of these environments). The reason to propose this new space is them, >> > not us. >> > >> > On Sat, Nov 18, 2017 at 5:01 PM, MZMcBride <z...@mzmcbride.com> wrote: >> > >> > > Brian Wolff wrote: >> > > >On Friday, November 17, 2017, Quim Gil <q...@wikimedia.org> wrote: >> > > >> The Technical Collaboration team proposes the creation of a developer >> > > >> support channel focusing on newcomers, as part of our Onboarding New >> > > >> Developer program. We are proposing to create a site based on >> > Discourse >> > > >> (starting with a pilot in discourse-mediawiki.wmflabs.org) and to >> > point >> > > >>the many existing scattered channels there. >> > > > >> > > >What does point existing channels to discouse mean exactly? Are you >> > > >planning to shutdown any existing channels? If so, which ones? >> > > >> > > Excellent questions. I'd like to know the answers as well. >> > > >> > > I raised a similar point at >> > > <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:Discourse>. I skimmed >> > > <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T155678>, looking for some answers, >> > and >> > > I didn't find any. >> > > >> > > Quim, are you involved in MediaWiki support in places such as the >> > > #mediawiki IRC channel or the mediawiki-l mailing list? Are you involved >> > > in MediaWiki support elsewhere? I'm trying to better understand how it >> > > would be appropriate for you to seemingly suggest disrupting or shutting >> > > down these established and functioning venues. If this is not your >> > > suggestion, I'd like to understand how adding a venue will improve >> > matters. >> > > >> > > MZMcBride >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > _______________________________________________ >> > > Wikitech-l mailing list >> > > Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l >> > > >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Quim Gil >> > Engineering Community Manager @ Wikimedia Foundation >> > http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Qgil >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Wikitech-l mailing list >> > Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l >> > >> >> >> >> -- >> Niharika >> Software Engineer >> Community Tech >> Wikimedia Foundation >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikitech-l mailing list >> Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l > > _______________________________________________ > Wikitech-l mailing list > Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
