Forum OpenACS Q&A: Response to Bboard for OpenACS non-techies?

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Posted by Jade Rubick on
I think we're going to have some difficulty coming to agreement on these things.

With regard to the newbie forum, think of it this way: if you're a newbie, and you really want to get a question answered, would you ask in the newbie section, or in the experienced developer section? I'd go for the experienced developer section any day.

I also don't like the division it creates in the developers. I think we need to see the cross-fertilization going on.

That said, I do see a need for something better than what we have now.

I put together a mockup of how my ideal version of the bboards and the documenation. It's in this thread: https://openacs.org/bboard/q-and- a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0004wL&topic_id=OpenACS&topic= 11 Make sure you click on the "navigation" link at some point, and follow the * to see the valid links.

What I liked about this particular way of viewing the bboards is that you could set up email alerts for only the types of messages you were interested in (make sure you see the "navigation" page.

I think we should focus on creating better documentation for new users, and focus on making it as easy as possible for them to be expert users. I would rather see some very easy intro guides for users than a separate forum.

The reason this doesn't seem like such a great idea to me, though, is that is reminds me of the problem set forums of old. Those forums were maybe helpful for a few people, but it seems like the real questions had to be asked on web/db to get an answer.