Harold: I like your ideas. A web forum (like OOOForums) is a 'good thing'. There used to be several sources of forums but it looks like OOoForums is the only remaining one.
As to the FAQs/Wiki, it all depends on who does the writing. If they are well written, they don't sound and appear as if they are written for a young child. I've seen FAQs written in very poor taste (like why did you not read the fine manual and one actually gave page numbers (see page 31, but page 31 did not exist in the most recent version.) Wikis are a better idea but controls must be in place that insure the information is correct and current. E-mail should ONLY be sent if a person is a violator of the forum's rules or has a specific problem or issue that is in the process of resolution (as is the case in the use of the Issue Tracker). Information gathered by the forum's registration process should NEVER be used for any purpose other than to send a confirmational message to the new user that they are on the forum. Login/Logout processes should be used. As a part of the OpenOffice.org registration process we may want to introduce the forums and FAQ locations. James McKenzie -----Original Message----- >From: Harold Fuchs <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Jan 6, 2007 3:28 AM >To: users@openoffice.org >Subject: Re: [users] Forced Registration For This List (was Re: [users] Return >receipts) > >On Saturday, January 06, 2007 3:05 AM [GMT+1=CET], James Mckenzie ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > ><snip> >> I know your opinion on this. Commercial products do not allow >> open posting of messages to them. You are forced to go through >> the FAQs and possibly more. This is what our 'users' should go >> through. >> Also, the Readme makes it look like this is a commercial help desk, >> not a group of volunteers that support this product. ><snip> >Nobody is ever forced to read the FAQs. Same as nobody is ever forced to >read the EULA. Clicking "accept" doesn't imply (other than possibly in a >formal, narrow legal sense) that I've read the document. > >We are talking at cross purposes. You are still talking mail list. I am >really talking web forum. > >I never mentioned "open posting ..." I said that we should require to >authenticate the user's mail address and then only e-mail him/her when >someone reponds to his/her specific question. This avoids the garbage a >truly "registered" mail list generates. > >I don't have any issue with re-writning the Readme. Excellent plan. >********* > >> I work with many products. Some are as large as Oracle (yes I am an >> Oracle DBA of sorts) to little products that cost $9.95. All of them >> require >> that you register and not only to get your e-mail address, but in some >> cases to make sure that you are a legitimate user of their product. >> We have a registration form too and it is in the product. >Again, registration is fine; I don't have a problem with it. I do have a >problem with registering for something that is going to generate >hundreds of irrelevant e-mails a day. Actually, if I were a newbie >asking an OOo question and was forced to register, I would seriously >regard all OOo messages that didn't address my question as Spam. I'd be >*very* cross to have to plough through dozens of *unsolicited* (ergo >Spam) explanations of how to upgrade X11 on the Mac I don't own and >don't have any intention of ever owning. >*********** > ><snip> >> You can filter mail any way you like. However, it does get rather >> tedious >> to see the same stuff in messages, time and time again like "Please >> respond >> to [EMAIL PROTECTED]'. This is a MAILING LIST.... >I didn't mean mail filtering. I meant letting the web forum categorise >stuff and then letting the users "subscribe" to any/all of those >categories. >Again, for a fully registered system, a mail list is inappropriate so >filtering it is irrelevant. >********** > ><snip> >> Web forums already exist and one was shut down for the Mac. There is >> a reason >> that mail lists exist. However, this list is abused and some folks >> from SUN have even shut down their subscriptions because of it. >The list is abused. It's the nature of mail lists to be abused. Why was >the Mac forum shut down? What is the reason for mail lists? > >OOo is the only product I know that is supported by a mail *list*. Other >products for which you can get help via e-mail don't let you see e-mail >traffic other than yours (you might be able to searcg/browse the >archives but the messages aren't *pushed* at you like OOo's e-mail is). >That's not a "list" in the sense we mean it. I too have worked for many >years in product support. That was done by e-mail and phone because it >was a long time before the web. But nobody saw answers to anybody else's >questions unless an answer was explicitly forwarded for some reason. >********** > >> I am and will be for subscription to this list only after reviewing >> the FAQs. This is the best compromise and will allow us to help >> those with problems that they >> cannot solve by reading through the user guide or in the FAQs. >You can't force people to read the FAQs. They will still send "dumb" >questions. The only choice then is to be rude and say "go read the *&^$! >FAQs" We *might* be able to cut down the number of "dumb" questions by >re-writing the documentation *including* the FAQs (is the thing about >X11/Mac in the FAQs? What about starting Calc/Impress/... on a Mac?) and >by making them prominent on the support and download pages. But forcing >people to read about esoteric Linux issues (like sending mail doesn't >work) when they want to know something relatively trivial about Windows >Writer is still not the way to go. > >I hate FAQs. They are nearly always condescending; frequently >sententious, pi canting nonsense; usually trivial and more often than >not don't have the answer to my question or, if they do, it is to be >found under some heading that I never thought of. > >If you really want to do FAQs, do them as a Wiki so they can be easily >updated with new issues like X11/Mac. It is easy to control who can edit >your Wiki so it's not a free-for-all. >************ > >> It can also help us have enough time to improve documentation for >> this product >> to that of those commercial books that are written for and cost a >> great deal >> of money (I've seen what is basically an improved user's guide >> selling for about >> the equivelent of 15 pounds here in the U.S.) >No arguments with this bit ;-) > >Regards, Harold > > >--------------------------------------------------------------------- >To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
