Re: [Perfparse-devel-int] Support forum on sf.net

[Ben C. <BCl...@pe...>]

Yves wrote:

>>>People usually subscribe or say they did not subscribe and would like to be in CC for
>>>the answer.
>>
>>KISS:  Give them a single page with the archives and a posting form :)
>>
>>This is not possible with our mailing list.
> 
> 
> Why ?

Because the mail archive is hosted on a server to which we have no 
control.  We cannot give the novice or new users a consistent clean 
method of posting, searching, checking FAQ.  These are on different 
servers which can't be linked together cleanly.  We also can't search 
the Sourceforge mailing list without using their search tool, so we 
would have to use their page.

It would look so much better if the support forum mechanism was all 
contained in the same environment.

I note as well your past comments about not wanting to be tied too 
closely to Sourceforge.  For example, in case their license options 
change.  This would be a great way of ensuring that all our facilities 
are not tied into sourceforge.

The system kindly provided by Flo is controllable, fast, looks great and 
would keep the users in a consistent PerfParse environment.  It would 
give a more professional look to the support.

It would work better for users.  The mechanism to sign up to the wiki is 
faster and cleaner and can be run by users who don't want email sent to 
them.  For instance users who have email at home and their work place, 
it would not tie them into one or the other.

The legal aspect of anonymous postings.  I agree that moderated 
anonymous posting is probably the correct mechanism.  Truly anonymous 
systems are probably a thing of the past :)

With the permission of Flo I would like to try the wiki forum as an 
alternate mechanism for user support and see how it works, whether users 
use it, whether it does look and work better?

Finally, the html forum on sourceforge.  I will delete those now :)

Ben






> 
> I suggest that users who have not subscribed can post. And wait for moderation. That
> way, you can control that no spams (porn, money...) is sent on the list.
> And a posting form would just be an interface for the mailing-list if you really want an
> html portal to the mailing-list.
> 
> I thought to the law, and Flo to porn and such messages that anonymous can post. If you
> allow anonymous posting, wherever it is (mailing-list or forum or mail form), you have
> to control !
> 
> btw, in France, forums that are hosted in France that allow anonymous posters are
> illegal :)
> This is a recent law.
> But it is not an argument because wiki.perfparse.org is not hosted in France :)
> 
> 
> 
>>>You can (additionnaly) edit the web page where you explain where to subscribe and add
>>>that users should read on wiki.perfparse.org before asking for something.
>>
>>This would be this page:
>>
>>http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_id=43072
>>
>>Unfortunately I don't have the option to edit this.  This is a dead-end
>>URL.
> 
> 
> I was meaning that you can make your own page with a similar content.
> Put that page on the wiki and you have all the information about support and the FAQ in
> the same place. Isn't that what you want ? :)
> 
> Put "how to get support" in evidence on the wiki, write that you can get support thanks
> to the FAQ and then to the mailing-list, and you are a winner :)
> 
> 
> 
>>>>3 Email alerts possible for the rest of us.  (Check, is this possible?)
>>>
>>>I prefer a form that send the question directly to the mailing list and returns to the
>>>user that some answers may be found on the mail archives. I prefer it this way in
>>>order
>>>to centralize everything in the mail archives.
>>
>>Agreed, would be great.  My problem with this is only that it takes them
>>away from the nice wiki site where there is no link back home.
> 
> 
> Just make a link :)
> 
> 
> 
> 
>>I want to give the novice user another mechanism which is fast,
>>in the PP style, and keeps them close to the FAQ and other documentation.
> 
> 
> This is what we have to think about :)
> 
> 
>>I want to turn a disconnected group of servers sites and mailing lists
>>into a consistent PP support tool...
> 
> 
>>I would like to see it as just two:
>>
>>www.perfparse.org <----> wiki.perfparse.org
>>    |                           |
>>    |                           |
>>    v                           V
>>Static front site.        Dynamic documents, FAQ and Forum.
> 
> 
> Yes. But not the forum.
> Forums work well when there is a community around the forum.
> Same for mailing-lists.
> With the mailing-list, we are now a little community, including Tim Wuyts who sometimes
> answers before us, and somebody else that I lost the name. With us answering a lot, it
> makes support correct on the mailing-list.
> On the forum, it would need the same effort of us before you make a community. I can
> spend time on perfparse development, answering the mails, but the forum is too much for
> me. And I think it's probably also too much for you and others.
> The forum would be a good idea if there was too many mails on the mailing-list. But the
> traffic is correct there :)
> 
> 
> 
> Yves