At 10:52 PM -0700 6/10/98, Jason L Tibbitts III wrote:
> I believe that is the intention of the section. (Which frankly I don't
> agree with, which is why I want the thing clarified. But until it is, I
> will write software that automatically sits at -request.)
Which is what I do. but I make sure that -request points a person at an
address where a real human can be contacted if necessary.
As someone who runs some fairly high-volume sites, the idea that a
human being is there to handhold everyone is a laudable, but
unrealistic goal. Many users have a tendency to ask for handholding
first, and when you have sites with 700+ admin operations a day going
on, a certain percentage of them will go sideways. And the admin ends
up having to do triage, trying to take care of the stuff that's broke,
so the folks who are just in too much of a hurry to do it themselves,
well...
I try to use automation to help folks figure it out for themselves, but
always leave that side door for those that can't or for whom the system
just plain old breaks (and it happens). but it's a side door, not the
front door, because it honks off a few people to have to deal with a
mailbot instead of a human, but it'd honk off many more if my response
time were 2-3 weeks instead of 4-5 days, and if I didn't triage admin
requests and push people back on the docs, FAQs and the like, that's
what'd happen.
You can push back too hard, too. It's a fine line and a judgement call.
I'm (finally) actively rewriting all my stuff, trying to fine tune it a
little better with some months of real-world usage and feedback under
its belt.
I sometimes get the feeling that the people who write these "thou
shalt" docs run one or two lists with 100 users who never change e-mail
addresses... It's sorta like folks who cook a burger at home on the
grill telling McDonalds how to run their business....
(chalk this up as some long-winded "me too" in Jason's direction...)
--
Chuq Von Rospach (Hockey fan? <http://www.plaidworks.com/hockey/>)
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