On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 09:24, Hannes Magnusson
<hannes.magnus...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I do like the ideas, and it shouldn't be to hard to implement.
I had similar ideas myself, but never got off my ass to put them
out there, so I'm glad someone else did. Between Salehpoor and
Egeberg, the rest of us may as well go on vacation.
If/when we do implement this stuff, though, we should also finally
rewrite some parts of the page for user submissions. Things spelled
out quite plainly, like: this is not a forum. This is not a place for
advertising your code or your favorite package. Do not refer to other
user notes, because they may wind up being removed themselves. Do not
pass Go. Do not collect $200.
We should also add to or modify some of the options editors have
when dealing with user notes. Many times a note should be deleted,
but doesn't fit into a given category. As such, the best option is to
delete for "other reasons," and the submitter is never notified of our
decision. Often, they find that their note hasn't been added, and
they will resubmit --- sometimes a half-dozen times over the course of
a week. I've sent emails to literally dozens - if not a hundred or
more - submitters over the years to inform them as to why the note was
removed, and to offer tips on how to stand a better chance of having
the note accepted. This garners mixed results from the masses: most
are happy that a human actually took the time to read and reply, but a
few take on the "how dare you?" approach instead.
And while we're at it, a simple regexp to see if the email address
is at least valid in format when replying with a rejection/deletion
email would be beneficial, particularly when newer editors join the
ranks. This means they can just click the option that best-fits the
category of rejection, without having to worry about filling up the
spool with bounces.
Finally, I would argue that we now have the resources and manpower
available to incubate an official forum. While folks do know of the
mailing lists, many still seem to find it easier to ignore the
guidelines and post a note in request of support. Taking on the task
of getting the forum going in the beginning, as well as handing
moderation and such, would be a bit of a job for a month or two, but
after that, it will become evident who will continue to contribute to
the project, which is where we will (a) find volunteers to co-moderate
the official forums; and (b) be able to recruit more people who can
see, on a daily basis, the variety of ways in which we need help, and
where they can fit into the project. I'm positive that, within 90
days, the community would be self-policing, and I'm further sure that
we could get enough people to handle it in the beginning that it
wouldn't be very problematic. I believe it would be a significant
investment into the future of PHP - particularly in community
involvement and awareness - at a cost of very little. And we may want
to start taking more aggressive actions like this, because if we
don't, one of those gemstone-on-trolley-track things will take away
even more of the share.
--
</Daniel P. Brown>
daniel.br...@parasane.net || danbr...@php.net
http://www.parasane.net/ || http://www.pilotpig.net/
