Hi,
I've recently got a Touch Diamond and have found certain aspects of this forum helpful however I can't help but feel that this place has an appauling forum layout.
Are you afraid of creating some sub-sections or something? I mean seriously, what's the point of all the square bracket tags on the start of topic titles?
They don't make it easier to find because the topics are still jumbled up with all the others anyway and a good topic title should let you know what it is related to in the first place. I thought that maybe at least a search for a certain tag would reveal all of those topics but alas no, the search gave me no results at all even though I can see them on the screen in the forum listing it still doesn't find them.
Take the Diamond themes, apps & s/w section for example...
Why not simply create a sub-section for related topics such as Themes and hence have all theme topics together and do away with the need for tagging the titles.
Sorry to criticise your forum but I just don't see the logic in the current system as it makes things very difficult to find, especially when the search tells me there are no results containing [THM] or 1.93 etc. :lol:
Thanks for the reply regarding the search, hopefully I'll be able to find a little more of what I'm looking for now.
I've come across plenty of forums that don't allow searches for less than 4 characters but surely [THM] is 5 characters
Anyway, that's not my main point, I just think that the forum ingeneral would be friendlier to browse and need less searching if it was better organised to begin with.
Thanks again for the reply and nice little site overview
I agree that a good forum is run in a manner that keeps the members happy though it should also be as user friendly as possible. There are always people who prefer to avoid change but they will quickly get used to changes if they are for the better.
I'm a forum SuperModerator myself and my advise is that a clear layout helps a lot with finding info, where to post questions and also getting replies for those questions as topics don't get swapmed like they do in one large general section.
As for mods being unloved I would say that depends on how much of a presence they have in the forum, invisible mods are unloved because they are unknown with no personality but if your mods are active forum members they will be known and more respected as well as being someone people can go to if problems arise.
lol, sorry I didn't meant to launch into a forum moderation tutorial there
It seems to be getting a mess in the dev. section lately.
Put your idea on this thread and we'll look into it.
1. create sticky for official (samsung) firmware as easy downloads
2. create sticky for some basic guides
3. create sticky with pointers to roms for the in-house cooks (rotohammer etc.)
this is a start.
MOD EDIT: BEFORE POSTING ANY THREAD IN THE DEVELOPMENT SECTION, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING:
If you have developed a ROM, or are working with others to do so, the development forum is somewhere to discuss and share ideas, post useful feedback and logs or crash dumps, and to discuss a common goal developers are trying to achieve.
It is NOT the place to post your question because it gets higher traffic, or because more experienced users frequent it. Doing this just annoys those who are working on the device, and drives them away. Developers don't want to wade through 20 threads of "Help me urgently" to find their threads for porting and fixing camera issues etc. Similarly, if a thread is designated as discussion for developers say, porting a camera fix, please do not post in there asking "When will it be ready?", "Can I flash this yet?" etc. This is both completely disrespectful to those working on the project (you evidently haven't read the important posts in the thread), and also is making it harder for developers to find comments from other developers or testers when required.
Similarly, don't make loads of "Thanks for your work here" posts in an active development thread. It's just as annoying to developers as asking when something will be ready. If a ROM is complete, then go ahead and thank the developer if you wish, but don't go into threads for devs only, and interrupt it to post "thanks". It's basically spamming, and is treated as such.
If you are posting in development, you should have read every sticky and notice there, and should be actively developing or helping in the development of something. Developing isn't installing a ROM, or using a tweak, it's creating a ROM or other hack or tweak. If you haven't read for several days before starting out on XDA, you are likely about to ask something already solved. I registered on XDA when I first wanted to post, and that was to join in a discussion on something. Sure, join up and ask a question, but read the information available in General and Q&A first, as your question will have been asked before. Search is your friend here, become familiar with it.
Regarding when to post in development if you are not actually developing something, there is one occasion where it's acceptable. If you find a leak of a new ROM, which isn't already posted, and you verify it's legitimacy via either running it, or based on the source you obtained it from, then this is assisting in development, and should be posted in development. If you want to ask when a leak will be available use search first, then if not already in discussion, open a thread in general or Q&A.
If you have a problem flashing a ROM, this is NOT related to development. It's up to you to determine if it is specific to a particular ROM, and post useful information in that developer's existing thread for the ROM. If it happens on more than one ROM, and isn't a known issue (remember you should read several times more words than you post), then find out what you are doing wrong. Check guides written by others, try to repeat the problem and see if it happens every time. Something needs to be reproducible to be fixed effectively.
Once you have identified what you need help with go to the device Q&A forum (general if device lacks one), and make a clear, informative thread that explains the issue, and what you have tried doing to fix it. Did you re-download the ROM? Did you ask a friend to flash it for you, to reduce chance of user error? What steps (exactly) did you follow? What errors did you see (exact wording)? Did you double check all the steps? Did you do a wipe or hard reset?
If you make a clear, concise, yet detailed post, you will find help forthcoming, and should get the problem sorted very quickly. If someone suggests you try something, report back on what happened, did it work etc. Then, next time someone has this issue and searches, they will find this and have a verified and tested solution.
So remember... before you start a thread in development, ask yourself what you are developing. If you can't answer, then stop, step away from the post button, and think about where you are posting. Would it be better in General or Q&A, or is some more time with your best friend, search, required?
I'd have a set of stickies including:
Flashing Guide http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=895827
Unlocking Guide http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=843323
Rooting Guide http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=859712
A *HUGE OBNOXIOUS BLINKING* Readme http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=888071
I'm by no means a Dev myself, but I'd love to see y'know... development posts when I lurk here.
Ok, now that i'm un-retired, i'll ask some major cleanup on the dev section.
Starting today/tomorrow between flashing my dev Tab
Several people posted dumped stock firmwares, maybe this should be consolidated into one "Get back to stock" sticky?
T-Mobile stock firmware! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=855851
[FIRMWARE] - AT&T stock firmware http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=847609
AT&T Production Stock Firmware (I987UCJK1) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=857608
Also, rotobackup instructions http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=850359&highlight=rotobackup
Links to Open Source archives http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=844981
Good instructions on building cifs module http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9470152&postcount=53
Also can be used to build tun.ko module for VPN.
I would recommend having tags for the different models of tablets. ( [VZW] [TMO] [AT&T] [SPNT] [EURO] etc...)
Just my .02
We really need to have them separated... This is getting bad. Take a vote and and promise everyone would be on board!!
Galaxy Tab Android Development (CDMA)
Galaxy Tab Android Development (GSM)
Galaxy Tab Android Development (...)
Please!!! lol
I agree that the Tab development needs to be split amongst compatibility.
GSM/EUR
CDMA
etc.
That will make the issues with possible flashing mistakes lower and also enable people to find the best build for them.
A third vote for at least something like a top level and sub forums for GSM and CDMA. There might be things that apply to both, but it seems like real development would be at least specific to one or the other, if not down to the carrier level (and I'm not suggesting per carrier forums).
A sticky for my directory(bible). This will be updated frequently. And will be useful for all noobs and pros alike.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk
What happened to this idea? The development forum is CRAP. I've spent the last three hours seaching for a stock ROM. Can we please, please get some mod action in here?
Sprint only section please! +100 to the splitting up compatible models.
williams37 said:
Sprint only section please! +100 to the splitting up compatible models.
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+1000000 more for spliting up!
I agree and count my vote, this forum should be easier to find and read the info im searching for it took me days to find a rom and another day to find out how to mod my device using google we should also hav more dev's more porting
wingtytn said:
I agree and count my vote, this forum should be easier to find and read the info im searching for it took me days to find a rom and another day to find out how to mod my device using google we should also hav more dev's more porting
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What we really need is a bigger community. The larger the user base, the larger the dev base. Especially in the states, it seems like no one is developing for our Tabs specifically. And from what I've found, ours are, just like the Galaxy S, different from the international version.
So do we even have a Mod ? Can they do this for us ? Its been like weeks since we asked to split it up.....
+1beeeeeeelion to split and have a CMDA and GSM and Intl section added....and then under those when people list just say [Sprint] or [VZW] in the title of the thread....
aal1 said:
So do we even have a Mod ? Can they do this for us ? Its been like weeks since we asked to split it up.....
+1beeeeeeelion to split and have a CMDA and GSM and Intl section added....and then under those when people list just say [Sprint] or [VZW] in the title of the thread....
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Your official mod is taking a break, just busy with life lately. I'll be taking over until he comes back.
I've forwarded this thread on to the admins, being that after being here for 2 days I can already see how bad it is. Hopefully we can get the sections split up and I can start moving posts around.
Can we please also have teh same tagging as HD2 section has, ie the date at beginning of title..
example...
[19.MAR.2011][ROM] Rom Title Rom Version [KERNEL]
is it possible to get this "stickie" out of the developers section?
it would be more helpfull to get serious content into there. also the actual official thread is sticky and dead.
a sticky should be something important or something must read. this thread is not a "must read"
sorry, constructive critics
I agree we need some reorg. PLEASE look at my sig, and follow the HD2 url,
Seems the HD2 overall section has recently had a makeover. It is much easier to navigate, and the people whe are not devs can op in on the thread.
The devs, on the other hand, have their own section, that requires you be a dev in order to get into it and exchange ideas. This keeps the riff raff from convelouting the threads.
So, can you please look it over. What ever work is needed to be done, I will offer my assistance to reorg the threads and topics.
Thanks
StarLog said:
I agree we need some reorg. PLEASE look at my sig, and follow the HD2 url,
Seems the HD2 overall section has recently had a makeover. It is much easier to navigate, and the people whe are not devs can op in on the thread.
The devs, on the other hand, have their own section, that requires you be a dev in order to get into it and exchange ideas. This keeps the riff raff from convelouting the threads.
So, can you please look it over. What ever work is needed to be done, I will offer my assistance to reorg the threads and topics.
Thanks
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I just looked at HD2 section, and theres nothing new there.
They have a section for NAND dev, and for SD Dev, thats it.
There are some plans in the works for the site in general that may do what you're referring to, but nothing is done yet for any of the fora.
If they give you guys the new sections, It will take me a day or so to move everything around. And I dont know tis section as well as I'd like so it may take a little longer as I'd have to go through every thread, but it would get done.
/IF/ that happens, it should clean up the sections a lot and make it easier to find everything. If not, I'm open to suggestions.
I'm not very good with MSPaint, but I mocked up something I think could help a lot of people navigate this site a little easier. The search function works, but why shouldn't you be able to see a list of ROMs at a glance? A lot of the development forums here have several sticky posts, and things become difficult to navigate.
When threads that just list ROMs contained in a forum have to be stickied, it shows that a change is necessary because people aren't able to locate the one they're looking for. There are several threads in the same dev forums that have the same keywords, and this makes searching very aggravating sometimes.
Let me know what you think about this mock-up. I know it looks kind of ****ty, but try to see what I was getting at. Instead of drilling down into the forum to find an official thread about a specific ROM, just click the icon at the top of the forum page... or you could put this type of list on it's own page separate from the actual developer forum.
generic.imitation said:
I'm not very good with MSPaint, but I mocked up something I think could help a lot of people navigate this site a little easier. The search function works, but why shouldn't you be able to see a list of ROMs at a glance? A lot of the development forums here have several sticky posts, and things become difficult to navigate.
When threads that just list ROMs contained in a forum have to be stickied, it shows that a change is necessary because people aren't able to locate the one they're looking for. There are several threads in the same dev forums that have the same keywords, and this makes searching very aggravating sometimes.
Let me know what you think about this mock-up. I know it looks kind of ****ty, but try to see what I was getting at. Instead of drilling down into the forum to find an official thread about a specific ROM, just click the icon at the top of the forum page... or you could put this type of list on it's own page separate from the actual developer forum.
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They are currenty working on a Dev tool, that will make finding Roms much easier, plus lots more features, so your idea is a good one, just they are already on it.
I don't knock anyone who has an idea, good or bad. At least it shows ppl are thinking and want to share their idea
It has been a couple months since I've been on the site and quite often I am directed to what I want to find via a google search.
However when trying to access the forums today from the top banner bar, the options seem extremely limited.
It lists things like "Top Phones" "New Phones" "Root Tools" "Top Apps", etc. and each of these has a small sub menu of choices.
However I can't find a way to just access the General discussion forum...the one I'm posting in now.
In order to get here I needed to google "XDA general discussion" and then clumsily navigate to this "About XDA" sub section.
Am I missing something with how this site has been updated and how one is supposed to navigate it?
thanks.
TraderJack said:
It has been a couple months since I've been on the site and quite often I am directed to what I want to find via a google search.
However when trying to access the forums today from the top banner bar, the options seem extremely limited.
It lists things like "Top Phones" "New Phones" "Root Tools" "Top Apps", etc. and each of these has a small sub menu of choices.
However I can't find a way to just access the General discussion forum...the one I'm posting in now.
In order to get here I needed to google "XDA general discussion" and then clumsily navigate to this "About XDA" sub section.
Am I missing something with how this site has been updated and how one is supposed to navigate it?
thanks.
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https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72689104&postcount=2
sd_shadow said:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72689104&postcount=2
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Thanks, that does give me a little bit more control.
However (to anyone listening who cares) - this still has problems. In order to search for a forum to jump to, I must first know its name to search.
In my case, since I've been here a while I know/knew there were general forums, so I typed "general" and I was able to pull some of them up.
But for new users, or anyone unsure of where to post a topic that doesn't have to do with a specific device it still obscures the entire forum structure from them.
Also, unless I was referred to the link above, there is really no way for me to know that typing in that box is how I find a forum, since it says "Type device...& more"....that "more" is pretty broad.
Wouldn't/couldn't it be a good idea to both write somewhere up there that the box is how you are meant to navigate to a specific forum rather than just search? Also couldn't there be a link within the list of results that always shows that allows one to view an entire structured list of the forums?
Part of the issue as I see it is that while many thinks are device based, there are certain issues that have the same solutions across a wide array of devices. For instance I just had an issue with APN settings being grayed out (non editable) on my wife's Galaxy S5, but I saw similar posts and partial solutions scattered throughout device forums for dozens of devices. I know that there will never be full consolidation into one "general" topic for these, but I think having a "general" forum (or forums) as the first landing page for these types of questions is more beneficial than forcing users (simply by the current design) to post in their specific device.
Anyway, I might be late to the party and these discussions may have already beat the horse dead, I still love the site for the wealth of information it provides but IMHO the redesign in this aspect borked functionality/ease of use when it comes to "finding" the right place to go to post a new thread.
/
TraderJack said:
Thanks, that does give me a little bit more control.
However (to anyone listening who cares) - this still has problems. In order to search for a forum to jump to, I must first know its name to search.
In my case, since I've been here a while I know/knew there were general forums, so I typed "general" and I was able to pull some of them up.
But for new users, or anyone unsure of where to post a topic that doesn't have to do with a specific device it still obscures the entire forum structure from them.
Also, unless I was referred to the link above, there is really no way for me to know that typing in that box is how I find a forum, since it says "Type device...& more"....that "more" is pretty broad.
Wouldn't/couldn't it be a good idea to both write somewhere up there that the box is how you are meant to navigate to a specific forum rather than just search? Also couldn't there be a link within the list of results that always shows that allows one to view an entire structured list of the forums?
Part of the issue as I see it is that while many thinks are device based, there are certain issues that have the same solutions across a wide array of devices. For instance I just had an issue with APN settings being grayed out (non editable) on my wife's Galaxy S5, but I saw similar posts and partial solutions scattered throughout device forums for dozens of devices. I know that there will never be full consolidation into one "general" topic for these, but I think having a "general" forum (or forums) as the first landing page for these types of questions is more beneficial than forcing users (simply by the current design) to post in their specific device.
Anyway, I might be late to the party and these discussions may have already beat the horse dead, I still love the site for the wealth of information it provides but IMHO the redesign in this aspect borked functionality/ease of use when it comes to "finding" the right place to go to post a new thread.
/
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Did you try the Search Plus feature?
Wood Man said:
Did you try the Search Plus feature?
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I've looked at it, but it doesn't really remediate the issues I mention above.
While it can help you "find" answers to questions, google is just as capable in most cases of directing you to the relevant threads on XDA.
The problem is not really where to go to find answers, as much as it is to ask a question.
It seems the way the site is now structured as far as indexing/lookup is concerned is more of a "knowledgebase" then a forum.
I'm not sure if that is necessarily a bad thing - but it is different from how things used to be and for long time users it makes things a bit more difficult to adapt.