Related
request to mods/admins
please,please,please
I GET SICK WHEN I SEE THE GENERAL DISCUSSION THREAD
the general discussion is full of LG,Samsung,Sony-Ericsson threads and posts about roms,apps,whole bunch of stuff which we don't support because they aren't htc
some guys/girls asked for separated threads for those listed above,but they didn't get them because they aren't htc products
and now they are clearly allowed to post about those devices in general discussion
(because you don't stop them)
so when we look it in technical way...it is spamming,as talking about cars,pc's, estates is
in general or any other thread (except for off topic thread)
PLEASE STOP THIS by removing those threads or by giving them a section,either ways let's keep the forum clean and cool....and easy to use and navigate
the third option is to give us shovels to dig our way out of omnias,i780-s,x-perias and whole bunch of crap
please think about this and let's do something
thanks
faruk
Off-Topic is the Apropos Place for this.
Ultimately though, General is a good place for non-HTC products. Most people stay within their own section.
JimmyMcGee said:
Off-Topic is the Apropos Place for this.
Ultimately though, General is a good place for non-HTC products. Most people stay within their own section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well we aren't windows mobile developers,at least it's not our name...we aren't support for wm devices,but for htc,as it's said in the welcome screen nad short "site about"
Welcome to xda-developers.com
This site is about certain PDA-phones, made by a firm called HTC in Taiwan. Their makers named them 'Wallaby', 'Himalaya', 'Blue Angel', 'Wizard' and 'TyTN', but almost nobody knows them by those names. The mobile provider O2 sells them under the brand-name 'XDA', and that's what we had in our hands first. They're also known as Qtek, MDA, SX-56, Hermes and many, many other names.
Since we develop software for it, we need information, and nobody seemed eager or ready to give us what we needed. So we 'reverse-engineered' the devices, found a lot of information, and shared it with the world. But as our site grew we realised that lots of ordinary users were also suffering from a lack of support. They started using the xda-developers forum to communicate and before long the forum was as much a user forum as it was a developer forum.
We hope that you will enjoy this site and find it as useful as we do. We encourage you to donate or otherwise support this site. Of course absolutely all proceeds from donations will benefit this community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and samsung is not htc so the place for them is off topic
farukb said:
well we aren't windows mobile developers,at least it's not our name...
and samsung is not htc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I know. If you look back at all the non-Htc Subforum request threads you will see me telling people no. But They still seem to think General is ok. I don't know what Admin's stand on this is.
JimmyMcGee said:
Oh I know. If you look back at all the non-Htc Subforum request threads you will see me telling people no. But They still seem to think General is ok. I don't know what Admin's stand on this is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is my point,i also say no, but they keep posting...but one moment i saw general full of non-htc crap and i got really pissed off
hateful child....
just kidding.
i think it's ignorant and somewhat elitist to completely deny non-HTC devices service here. We do have a forum for the XDA atom, which was NOT made by HTC. It was, however, carried by XDA. The world isn't static, and it's ignorant to say that the internet isn't either. We've opened forums for even the least used HTC devices, so we should definitely consider giving non-htc devices their own forums, especially given the number of people who have them.
fzzyrn said:
hateful child....
just kidding.
i think it's ignorant and somewhat elitist to completely deny non-HTC devices service here. We do have a forum for the XDA atom, which was NOT made by HTC. It was, however, carried by XDA. The world isn't static, and it's ignorant to say that the internet isn't either. We've opened forums for even the least used HTC devices, so we should definitely consider giving non-htc devices their own forums, especially given the number of people who have them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
personally,i'd give them their sections,and i wouldn't mind to have omnia,but the general thread thing bugs me...if you know what i mean
well, you know....
to quote some inexplicably famous guy "the best place to find order is in disorder"
fzzyrn said:
well, you know....
to quote some inexplicably famous guy "the best place to find order is in disorder"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
????self-quoter
caught me!
i guess this means that i'm inexplicably famous.
fzzyrn said:
caught me!
i guess this means that i'm inexplicably famous.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...no...
i only saw your signature...doh!
haha i keep trying to get one of the mods to say it so people don't present that reaction to me.
hint hint wink wink
anyone...please....the situation is getting bad really bad
admin opinion:
I have no issues whatsoever with the thread but I agree that off-topic might be a better place. Though this forum is for HTC made devices it doesn't stop us of discussing any other trivial matter as long as it's in the right section (whether that be the best brand of coffee, the speed of our dsl line, the color of my avatar or a different device)
We will not at any moment open forums for non htc made devices on this forum, it would open the floodgates for way too many devices and make this forum too general and unmanageble.
Best regards,
Flar
Flar said:
admin opinion:
I have no issues whatsoever with the thread but I agree that off-topic might be a better place. Though this forum is for HTC made devices it doesn't stop us of discussing any other trivial matter as long as it's in the right section (whether that be the best brand of coffee, the speed of our dsl line, the color of my avatar or a different device)
We will not at any moment open forums for non htc made devices on this forum, it would open the floodgates for way too many devices and make this forum too general and unmanageble.
Best regards,
Flar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i totally agree with you
i am a htc user so i don't have problems with the forum
but as an admin you could do something to prevent general development or any other thread being full of "off topics"
mods don't clean it up,go now and you will see more non-htc threads than eg. application development threads
and that drives me crazy
quote from my first post
and now they are clearly allowed to post about those devices in general discussion
(because you don't stop them)
so when we look it in technical way...it is spamming,as talking about cars,pc's, estates is
in general or any other thread (except for off topic thread)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
farukb said:
i totally agree with you
i am a htc user so i don't have problems with the forum
but as an admin you could do something to prevent general development or any other thread being full of "off topics"
mods don't clean it up,go now and you will see more non-htc threads than eg. application development threads
and that drives me crazy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately the life of a mod can be overwhelming at times, we can't be everywhere all the time. If you have a problem with a thread and want to bring it to our attention, you could send a PM.
We will evaluate the options and take the action we feel is best.
farukb said:
i totally agree with you
i am a htc user so i don't have problems with the forum
but as an admin you could do something to prevent general development or any other thread being full of "off topics"
mods don't clean it up,go now and you will see more non-htc threads than eg. application development threads
and that drives me crazy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As jimmy says mods do have their own lives and can't be everywhere all the time, it helps if you help point out stuff like this.
Consider the fact that some of our mods spend up to 14 hours per day here, most of that time spent moderating...
Also consider this is vacation season and for a lot of the mods (and users) this time of day is the time you start thinking about going to bed, with mods being on vacation all of us have a hard time coping with all the mod work as it is, a bit of patience will get you a long way.
Best regards,
Flar
Flar said:
As jimmy says mods do have their own lives and can't be everywhere all the time, it helps if you help point out stuff like this.
Consider the fact that some of our mods spend up to 14 hours per day here, most of that time spent moderating...
Also consider this is vacation season and for a lot of the mods (and users) this time of day is the time you start thinking about going to bed, with mods being on vacation all of us have a hard time coping with all the mod work as it is, a bit of patience will get you a long way.
Best regards,
Flar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes i know that and i fully appreciate it,they are people too
but there is a dozen of mods,not only one
i'm not rushing anyone,just asked everyone to consider it
this thread is almost a month old (7-25-08) so it won't make a difference now or next week or whenever
thanks again for your patience and dealing with some sometimes pissed off guys
i'll help,make your job easier
i'm starting to provide links of all non-htc threads in a new "report non-htc" thread
so someone could just delete them,without searching and reading the whole forum
is it ok with you?
thanks
By delete, you mean move to Off Topic?
Also, if this is the desired plan, should the General forum have a annoucment, and maybe change the description, informing users of this?
Oh and BTW, I have PM'd Meniesys about making a Roll up Sticky for all his guides, he said he is looking into it
Ta
Dave
Hi everyone,
this issue has been discussed for a very long time and to date there is no solution.
The Problem:
Many people are frustrated with HTC-devices (Qualcomm CPUs etc) and would like to switch to other devices (non-HTC devices).
Their fear is to loose the incredible support provided at Xda-Developers. To loose all the custom ROMs, themes, hacks and so on. In my opinion, this site really adds value to HTC devices.
Previous solution suggested: Add sub-forums for non-HTC devices. BUT we all know the problems (stated probably a hundred times by admins and mods).
New solution:
My suggestion is simple. Found a new forum with a similar name or take an existing one, maybe customize the design a bit so it somehow resembles this site).
Then add a small bar at the very top of each page with a list of links in a horizontal row:
Xda-Developers --- WinMo-Developers --- [whatever]
The "Pro"s:
-Everyone asking for additional subforums for non-HTC devices could be forwarded to the new forum. Not to any forum but that specific one. So all people with non-HTC devices would gather in one place.
-Xda-Devs users would notice the bar and (probably) register in this forum as well to have another place to promote their things (for example a lot of stuff in the Dev-and-Hacking section could be used for other devices as well).
The "Con"s:
-Main problem as always...servers, money, committed people (for admin/mod-jobs)
-Some may be annoyed by the bar (although it could be kept very small; 15px or so would do)
-And of course it is up to Xda-Devs users to help in the new sister forum.
But since I know this community and all the amazing, friendly and committed people that belong to it I think many will join the new forum and help with Hard SPL, cooking etc.
I really hope the Admins consider this solution. It is not that hard to realize and nevertheless it would help.
well istarted a site a while ago
winmodevs.com
Yes, I know your site..the question is if the admins are willing to turn my idea into reality. And it also depends on you of course.
i have spoken the admin here and all im willing to say is ive not been told that there wil never be some sort of recognition between boards at a professional level just not yet
i have a link to xda on my homepage already
I´ll wait for the reply of an admin, let´s see.
of course all i was telling you is what they told me
iasked if they wanted to be officail partners and the answer was not yet
I see another big con. It is all about WinMo, so there is vast number of apps which is working on almost all WinMo devices no matter if it is or isn't HTC. How are you going to deal with it? Make double topics on both XDA main and sister sites?
every replication means more coverage and also ex
tra mirrors
Now that I have a Galaxy Nexus and I'm looking threw to see what's out there to flash. I get to my favorite community here and find out that for whatever reason GSM and LTE models are mixed together in one big cluster f**k that can potentially brick my phone if I don't read the fine print. This is insanely dumb, it poses a potential risk for me even tho I feel I'm a seasoned veteran of the Android flashing community, and to anyone that is completely new to this and doesn't understand the subtle differences of CDMA and GSM. So here I am typing this out trying my damnedest to wrap my mind around WHY XDA DOESN'T CREATE SUB FORUMS FOR EACH TYPE. A lot of other sites do, and it makes the search 1000000x easier to navigate.
So please could some moderator explain to me the reasoning behind having one giant pool of ROMS and mods that are completely different from one another? Is it really that hard to create a sub forum to take you to either the CDMA or GSM version?
I'd like to get some feed back here or am I the only one that is slightly frustrated about this? I mean its completely unorganized and the whole forum just feels really sloppy already.
You're not the first to mention this and, if you searched (cause you're a vet with 47 posts), you'd know the Mods are looking into it
But in essence I agree, or you just hope the threads are labelled correctly (LTE/GSM)
Dude if you used XDA as much as you say you do then you would have done a search on this topic and realized that there are already 2 threads in the last week on this subject.
Mods can we please merge all "Separate GSM/LTE forums" posts.
yeah I did try searching for it, thanks for the most obvious response
but ya know what its hard to find something when I don't know what to call it....
you'll notice that I never used the word separate which is the key word I was missing
so thanks for the ****-ish way you gave me that info it was slightly helpful i guess...
Just for the record I agree with the op. However I'm not too worried about it. This site has given me so much and asked for very little in return. I'm just greatful to have access to all this great info.
robby88 said:
yeah I did try searching for it, thanks for the most obvious response
but ya know what its hard to find something when I don't know what to call it....
you'll notice that I never used the word separate which is the key word I was missing
so thanks for the ****-ish way you gave me that info it was slightly helpful i guess...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some veteran. You really can't just look at the title of the thread to see if it says "LTE" or not? The only important threads that should be looked through are on the first two or three pages. Not that hard.
If you seriously brick your phone because you can't figure out whether something is LTE or GSM, you are a bit slow IMO. So far we only have one page of relevant ROMS and mods in dev section and you're already complaining about having trouble finding things when search isn't even necessary. Come on...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
It's because this site is a joke. There are so many things wrong with the way XDA structures and manages these forums. Look at rootzwiki...or even droid forums. The mods actually do their jobs there and make it EASIER for devs to post their work and manage their users problems by preventing/deleting/combining duplicate threads. Both of those forums even provide sub-forums for popular devs to let them manage it as well. And a simple thing like separating the LTE and GSM versions into their own forum was a non-issue at rootzwiki...yet here at XDA it seems we're asking the admins to split the atom.
That's why devs are/have moved to rootzwiki to post their work. Sure they'll copy and paste their topics over here eventually, but the difference is that if you want your post to be read by someone at the developer level, you're probably at the wrong forum. You should have seen the XDA droid bionic forums before everyone packed up and went onto rootz...LOL, it was like the wild west.
mb02 said:
Some veteran. You really can't just look at the title of the thread to see if it says "LTE" or not? The only important threads that should be looked through are on the first two or three pages. Not that hard.
If you seriously brick your phone because you can't figure out whether something is LTE or GSM, you are a bit slow IMO. So far we only have one page of relevant ROMS and mods in dev section and you're already complaining about having trouble finding things when search isn't even necessary. Come on...
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Click to collapse
I wasn't talking about myself jackass, there are tons of people out there that have never flashed a phone before and not knowing the difference between GSM and CDMA can be a confusing concept for most. So thanks for trying to make me out to be the jackass when you've accomplished that all on your own.
I'm not having trouble finding anything considering there are only 2-3 ROMs for LTE, but in a month there's going to be 50 pages of crap to sift threw. So that's the problem I see, and the fact that if it was just broken down in to 2 different sub forums from the start would of been something very simple and I just don't see why it wasn't/hasn't been done.
quentin0 said:
It's because this site is a joke. There are so many things wrong with the way XDA structures and manages these forums. Look at rootzwiki...or even droid forums. The mods actually do their jobs there and make it EASIER for devs to post their work and manage their users problems by preventing/deleting/combining duplicate threads. Both of those forums even provide sub-forums for popular devs to let them manage it as well. And a simple thing like separating the LTE and GSM versions into their own forum was a non-issue at rootzwiki...yet here at XDA it seems we're asking the admins to split the atom.
That's why devs are/have moved to rootzwiki to post their work. Sure they'll copy and paste their topics over here eventually, but the difference is that if you want your post to be read by someone at the developer level, you're probably at the wrong forum. You should have seen the XDA droid bionic forums before everyone packed up and went onto rootz...LOL, it was like the wild west.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It may be disorganized and full of duplicate threads, but it is an excellent resource. I have been here since Windows mobile 6, The G1, and a whole slew in android phones... and it is the same story. The devs move to some other site. You get a new phone and everyone comes back to XDA. If more people kept their mouth shut the site would be easier to navigate. I could care less, as I mostly lurk and find what I am looking for. No need to comment in every thread, because it probably wouldn't contribute much.
XDA is a great resource, if you don't like it go to another site and browse their forums.
axion68 said:
It may be disorganized and full of duplicate threads, but it is an excellent resource. I have been here since Windows mobile 6, The G1, and a whole slew in android phones... and it is the same story. The devs move to some other site. You get a new phone and everyone comes back to XDA. If more people kept their mouth shut the site would be easier to navigate. I could care less, as I mostly lurk and find what I am looking for. No need to comment in every thread, because it probably wouldn't contribute much.
XDA is a great resource, if you don't like it go to another site and browse their forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely agree, I started flashing my first droid and found everything I needed right here with super helpful devs and a mostly wonderful community that would aid you. I personally don't care what gets posted in General though. I think only dev's should be able to post in the development forum to keep things to a minimum, but if a topic needs to be brought up multiple times to get it done then so be it. That's how things get done if a topic is shoved back into the darkness then it needs to be brought to light over and over til something gets done.
I agree totally, I started using rootz instead because they seperated the 2 devices. Also it should be GSM or CDMA. LTE is GSM. Lots of confusion can happen here.
To answer my question; yes, I do. I always feel lost when I come here, so for this time, I want to try something new.
1) The main issue. I recognized (unlike all other forums on the Internet), it has three, distinct "layers" with a different visual appearance depending how deep you go into levels.
Level 1: https://forum.xda-developers.com/
Take note of the distinct visual appearance.
Level 2: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android
Take note of the distinct visual appearance. Remember that one level up (https://forum.xda-developers.com/) you had actual descriptions of what each category is about. At this level the descriptions have disappeared (for some reason), so you always have to go a level up to figure out which category you want to enter.
Level 3: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games
Take note of the distinct visual appearance. Now this looks like your regular Internet forum. I wonder why can't Level 1. and 2. look just like Level 3. for an easy overview of navigation.
Am I the only person all these levels are not intuitive for or you as well? What forum engine XDA Forums runs on? I noted that Level 3. is fine, it looks like just any other Internet forum, but I'm puzzled and perplexed as ever about the distinct designs of Levels 1. and 2.
For a comparison of some neat and friendly forum interfaces, I encourage you to check out:
https://forums.anandtech.com/
https://arstechnica.com/civis/
+1: https://forum.f-droid.org/
Nothing special, really: just time tested, old forum interfaces that "just works" as they say. I'm not even saying they are perfect. For example, the AnandTech Forum doesn't have the descriptions the Ars Technica forum has, but due to the self-explanatory nature of the categories, I'm not lost while there. I understand XDA Forums have more complex topics, so descriptions are preferred.
+1: As opposed to the Ars Technica and AnandTech Forums, The F-Droid Forum uses a new school interface called Discourse. I find it effective as it has powerful features. If you ever want to upgrade XDA Forums, you might want to consider going with a next generation forum engine like Discourse.
Example: https://forum.xda-developers.com/general/help/budget-phones-eur-usd100-worth-buying-t3433115
I simply can't believe I'm the single person on this forum interested in this question. (It's timely as ever, by the way.) I just feel other people interested in the same topic somehow never found their way to my question because they also find XDA Forums overall just too complex to get a grasp on everything happening here.
2) Has anyone ever found checking the "Q&A Thread" was useful for their thread, and didn't regret checking that box in the end? Back then when I was without a clue, I checked the box. I learned never to check it again. See my cautionary tale here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help/viewing-internal-storage-generic-phone-t3429852
I never got a proper answer there, and totally by accident (by external Google search after gave up I will ever find my answer on XDA Forums), I have found what I was looking for in a 5-year old Samsung Galaxy Nexus thread which turned out to be completely device-independent stuff: https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...nlock-root-t1420351/post69913460#post69913460
Now why would the author of this completely device-independent guide put the guide in the Samsung Galaxy Nexus forum section where it lied for 5 years unnoticed, but being still useful today? Probably he has never figured out where the proper place for device-independent guides on the forum is. (Where is the proper place for device independent guides on the forum really, where contributors and users alike will find it equally easily?)
My related observation to this point is that I noticed many of the juicy activity on this forum in general takes place in [insert this year's hot Android phone] categories. Hot Android phone of the day or year changes at least yearly, most users change their devices at least once in two years, so even though many device-independent advice might have been accumulated in the topics for previous year's hot phones, this knowledge seems to be lost. It's still here on the forum, just no one looks at threads of old phones popular years ago looking for device-independent advice, people can only stumble upon information from this (actually huge) section of the forum by accident.
3) Idea: how about a distinctive indicator for a project is being active, still actively maintained or developed? It can be a green sign for active projects. Projects no longer being maintained and developed on the other hand could be distinctively marked with a red sign.
Example for I mistakenly thought of an active and alive project that it was no longer maintained and developed... or not? But something like this:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=71988461&postcount=17847
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72580936&postcount=17958
(Poor developer @M66B, I have no idea what negative experiences he may refer to: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=69284003)
Example for me being lost here 1.: This project has been abandoned for sure: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=888181
The thread has been closed for 5 years. I have no idea whatsoever in which section should I ask about a similar project which is alive and well. (And expect for answers, which is equally important! A few paragraphs above you can see examples that even I asked the right question in the right place according to moderator, I never received any answer whatsoever, or any meaningful answer.)
Example for me being lost here 2.: I really want to ask somewhere
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/135711/is-apkmirror-com-safe
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/74618/how-safe-is-it-to-use-aptoide
Example 2, for not finding my way around XDA Forums. I noticed there are many worthy, distinctive projects that seem to be abandoned by their developers: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=888181
It seems to be pretty abandoned; the thread has been closed for 5 years.
Aren't just too many separate categories? I just never was able to figure out the "overview" of XDA Forums the way I had no problem to overview AnandTech Forums and the Ars Technica forums. Even if you say there are exactly as many forum categories as needed, I can accept that. But sure, you could do more to make it visually intuitive - just like most other forums on the Internet are. Thanks!
Update. Another case in point: https://www.xda-developers.com/goog...-with-root-and-android-pay-in-the-xda-forums/
Poor Google engineer @jasondclinton_google has some good, general info on rooting vs. Android Pay (Google Pay?) security but why he had to post it in an obscured thread under xda-developers > Google Nexus 5 > Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting > Android Pay and Custom ROM instead of a forum topic of more general interest is beyond me.
Anyone?
Theres quite a few threads on this subject, perhaps people dont feel the need to contribute to another one?
magicphone said:
To answer my question; yes, I do. I always feel lost when I come here, so for this time, I want to try something new.
1) The main issue. I recognized (unlike all other forums on the Internet), it has three, distinct "layers" with a different visual appearance depending how deep you go into levels.
Level 1: https://forum.xda-developers.com/
Take note of the distinct visual appearance.
Level 2: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android
Take note of the distinct visual appearance. Remember that one level up (https://forum.xda-developers.com/) you had actual descriptions of what each category is about. At this level the descriptions have disappeared (for some reason), so you always have to go a level up to figure out which category you want to enter.
Level 3: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games
Take note of the distinct visual appearance. Now this looks like your regular Internet forum. I wonder why can't Level 1. and 2. look just like Level 3. for an easy overview of navigation.
Am I the only person all these levels are not intuitive for or you as well? What forum engine XDA Forums runs on? I noted that Level 3. is fine, it looks like just any other Internet forum, but I'm puzzled and perplexed as ever about the distinct designs of Levels 1. and 2.
For a comparison of some neat and friendly forum interfaces, I encourage you to check out:
https://forums.anandtech.com/
https://arstechnica.com/civis/
+1: https://forum.f-droid.org/
Nothing special, really: just time tested, old forum interfaces that "just works" as they say. I'm not even saying they are perfect. For example, the AnandTech Forum doesn't have the descriptions the Ars Technica forum has, but due to the self-explanatory nature of the categories, I'm not lost while there. I understand XDA Forums have more complex topics, so descriptions are preferred.
+1: As opposed to the Ars Technica and AnandTech Forums, The F-Droid Forum uses a new school interface called Discourse. I find it effective as it has powerful features. If you ever want to upgrade XDA Forums, you might want to consider going with a next generation forum engine like Discourse.
Example: https://forum.xda-developers.com/general/help/budget-phones-eur-usd100-worth-buying-t3433115
I simply can't believe I'm the single person on this forum interested in this question. (It's timely as ever, by the way.) I just feel other people interested in the same topic somehow never found their way to my question because they also find XDA Forums overall just too complex to get a grasp on everything happening here.
2) Has anyone ever found checking the "Q&A Thread" was useful for their thread, and didn't regret checking that box in the end? Back then when I was without a clue, I checked the box. I learned never to check it again. See my cautionary tale here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help/viewing-internal-storage-generic-phone-t3429852
I never got a proper answer there, and totally by accident (by external Google search after gave up I will ever find my answer on XDA Forums), I have found what I was looking for in a 5-year old Samsung Galaxy Nexus thread which turned out to be completely device-independent stuff: https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...nlock-root-t1420351/post69913460#post69913460
Now why would the author of this completely device-independent guide put the guide in the Samsung Galaxy Nexus forum section where it lied for 5 years unnoticed, but being still useful today? Probably he has never figured out where the proper place for device-independent guides on the forum is. (Where is the proper place for device independent guides on the forum really, where contributors and users alike will find it equally easily?)
My related observation to this point is that I noticed many of the juicy activity on this forum in general takes place in [insert this year's hot Android phone] categories. Hot Android phone of the day or year changes at least yearly, most users change their devices at least once in two years, so even though many device-independent advice might have been accumulated in the topics for previous year's hot phones, this knowledge seems to be lost. It's still here on the forum, just no one looks at threads of old phones popular years ago looking for device-independent advice, people can only stumble upon information from this (actually huge) section of the forum by accident.
3) Idea: how about a distinctive indicator for a project is being active, still actively maintained or developed? It can be a green sign for active projects. Projects no longer being maintained and developed on the other hand could be distinctively marked with a red sign.
Example for I mistakenly thought of an active and alive project that it was no longer maintained and developed... or not? But something like this:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=71988461&postcount=17847
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72580936&postcount=17958
(Poor developer @M66B, I have no idea what negative experiences he may refer to: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=69284003)
Example for me being lost here 1.: This project has been abandoned for sure: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=888181
The thread has been closed for 5 years. I have no idea whatsoever in which section should I ask about a similar project which is alive and well. (And expect for answers, which is equally important! A few paragraphs above you can see examples that even I asked the right question in the right place according to moderator, I never received any answer whatsoever, or any meaningful answer.)
Example for me being lost here 2.: I really want to ask somewhere
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/135711/is-apkmirror-com-safe
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/74618/how-safe-is-it-to-use-aptoide
Example 2, for not finding my way around XDA Forums. I noticed there are many worthy, distinctive projects that seem to be abandoned by their developers: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=888181
It seems to be pretty abandoned; the thread has been closed for 5 years.
Aren't just too many separate categories? I just never was able to figure out the "overview" of XDA Forums the way I had no problem to overview AnandTech Forums and the Ars Technica forums. Even if you say there are exactly as many forum categories as needed, I can accept that. But sure, you could do more to make it visually intuitive - just like most other forums on the Internet are. Thanks!
Update. Another case in point: https://www.xda-developers.com/goog...-with-root-and-android-pay-in-the-xda-forums/
Poor Google engineer @jasondclinton_google has some good, general info on rooting vs. Android Pay (Google Pay?) security but why he had to post it in an obscured thread under xda-developers > Google Nexus 5 > Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting > Android Pay and Custom ROM instead of a forum topic of more general interest is beyond me.
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To your first point, I actually like the separate layouts for the different layers of the forum. I love modded forums in general, and I enjoy when forums step outside of the basic forumdisplay page.
As for the other points, I agree. I've spent the past few hours searching different forums for a few topics, and a lot of "general" info is split between a myriad of specialized, nested forums. I assume this helps the admins manage topic threads more efficiently. I'm sure it just takes some getting used to. I wouldn't describe it as "complicated" or "non-intuitive," just unique to xda. I run specialized message boards myself, and some forums are born out of general discussions that need to be compartmentalized for better management.
If I understand the whole situation, it goes like this: XDA has been around before Android was a thing, but got a high popularity boost with the introduction of Google's mobile operating system.
The original motto was along the lines of 'by developers, for developers.' But then a lot of new Android people came, not just developers, users as well and XDA couldn't keep up with the surge and you guys still try to find out ever since how to best manage such a huge and diverse community with developers and users alike, how to manage projects, bug reports, while maintaining a community of users, who might as well insightful feature requests for the projects. Does this sound about right?
So. Is the motto of the forum still supposed to be something like 'by developers, for developers,' or perhaps, it has changed?
Old, clip from your YouTube channel: You are a Noob on XDA-Developers. It's your second most watched video on your channel, actually. I just wonder if it's still the dominant attitude of you guys who run this place towards users (some of whom, perhaps want to remain users, just want to get out the most of their phones) and they should piss off and better go elsewhere, or perhaps you have toned down the communication and you are in the process of figuring out how this place could be more fruitful for all?
See more at the Google search: xda site:https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/
I Google searched to find this forum because I am just trying to understand XDA's layout. I'm currently using the app, and I am always so lost here. The only way I find anything at all is through Google searches. Right now I'm trying to understand this place's layout.
Yup same here from me. In general, have not found the XDA mods and Devs very helpful at all unless you're part of the inner circle of geek. Without wasting any more of my time trying to find a simple answer to a simple question on this convoluted diabolical forum I'm going to just join another more helpful more friendly, less up my own arse type of forum where you don't need to be a tech geek to get an answer.
Thanks for nothing XDA
leahcimewol said:
Yup same here from me. In general, have not found the XDA mods and Devs very helpful at all unless you're part of the inner circle of geek. Without wasting any more of my time trying to find a simple answer to a simple question on this convoluted diabolical forum I'm going to just join another more helpful more friendly, less up my own arse type of forum where you don't need to be a tech geek to get an answer.
Thanks for nothing XDA
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See ya.
leahcimewol said:
Yup same here from me. In general, have not found the XDA mods and Devs very helpful at all unless you're part of the inner circle of geek. Without wasting any more of my time trying to find a simple answer to a simple question on this convoluted diabolical forum I'm going to just join another more helpful more friendly, less up my own arse type of forum where you don't need to be a tech geek to get an answer.
Thanks for nothing XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See ya.
leahcimewol said:
Yup same here from me. In general, have not found the XDA mods and Devs very helpful at all unless you're part of the inner circle of geek. Without wasting any more of my time trying to find a simple answer to a simple question on this convoluted diabolical forum I'm going to just join another more helpful more friendly, less up my own arse type of forum where you don't need to be a tech geek to get an answer.
Thanks for nothing XDA
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K bye!
Ciao!
It's turning into a bye bye thread
I admit my post is not helpful
Okay, I'm looking for a new phone. I've been on this site (maybe not having an active account but using it at least) since I got my first Android phone. This site has been a beacon or at least a jumping off point to anyone who has wanted to get into customizing and modding their phones for YEARS.
This gave me the idea of why not have the forum statistics posted in an easily viewable format? I figure the phone with the most activity should be the most developer friendly phone (or the most popular one anyway, and I know just because something is popular doesn't mean it's good.) Still I believe phones with more activity are probably more friendly to devs than those with less activity, because they're in the hands of more people looking for exploits/vulnerabilties to make the phone do what they want it to do (and then hopefully patch those as well.)
Now indeed there are a LOT of spam posts as well, I see them when I get nostalgic and visit the Atrix 4G forums. Maybe you can filter out all the 1 or 2 post accounts/anything that has gotten banned from those metrix somehow?
it would be good idea, but at the same time, not good idea.
imagine how much that would make this forum even messier?
how search engine will handle such tasks?
popularity quickly changes, and there are no way to determine what is popular or not.
if post is getting a lot of views, is that indicator?
a lot of downloads? what if he post download on third party website?
and, when devs release ROM, mod, they go silent for some time, so they can develop more ..
as, indicator can't be what is viewed mostly, and what is downloaded mostly.
think of something that will make it do automatically, to determine what is popular or not.
as computer algorithm can mark some old phone dev friendly, because it have a lot of views, or posts, and when you look at those posts, you see it don't make sense, posts are about "how to unlock this unlockable phone".
TL; DR
there's no way to instruct it properly (machine), and it will clutter forum and forum search even more,
but we can make separate section which is maintaned by all moderators, so one person don't have to handle all., and that section can be properly handled by search engine in forum.