While trying to get past my 10 post "presumed noob" penalty (I am a professional dev IRL), I tried to reply to a thread where the box at the bottom of the page said that in that particular area I could post replies, but not new threads. As a good netizen I skimmed through the entire 100 pages+ of the thread before pressing reply, only to get an error page which (somewhat indirectly) told my I had no posting rights in that subforum.
This is quite disheartening. Not only are new devs forced to do 10 posts worth of "noob help duty", but the things telling us where we can carry out this penal work seems to be wrong, thus redoubling the penalty for signing up.
What is wrong with this picture?
Is the error page wrong, or the indicators at the bottom of the thread pages?
Either needs to be fixed.
P.S.
The "Is this thread a question" box is another harassment trick. I tried to tick it to indicate this posts needs a reaction of some kind (to fix the bug or explain what I got wrong about the UI), but all I get is a message that general questions belong elsewhere.
Related
Can anyone explain to me the new policies started in the new Q&A section?
Has anyone seen this? Apparently, you have to jump through hoops to open a new thread in the new Questions and Answers section.
From RULES - Must Read Before Posting Sticky in Q&A
ALL QUESTIONS WILL BE POSTED IN SEPERATE THREADS. IF YOU WISH TO OPEN A NEW THREAD FOR YOUR QUESTION, PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING: If you wish to open a thread, you must PM me with the name of your thread, and the page number where it is located. IF YOU OPEN A THREAD, AND DO NOT SEND A PRIVATE MESSAGE TO TWEAKMAN, YOUR THREAD WILL BE DELETED. There will be no exception to this. You must send the message to have your thread open!!!
ANY NEW THREAD, NOT OPENED BY A MODERATOR WILL BE REMOVED IMMEDITALEY: If you have a question you would like posted, you will not be turned away. This is only done to ensure that your question doesn't become lost in the pages as this section grows.
TO SEND A PRIVATE MESSAGE TO REQUEST YOUR THREAD DO THE FOLLOWING:
1:GO TO THE TOP LEFT SIDE OF THIS POST AND CLICK ON USER NAME "TWEAKMAN"
2:ONCE ON THE NEW PAGE, GO TO CONTACT INFO
3:SELECT THE OPTION TO SEND A PRIVATE MESSAGE (NO OTHER FORM OF MESSAGE WILL BE ACCEPTED)
4:INCLUDE ONLY YOUR QUESTION
5:YOUR DONE!! YOUR QUESTION WILL BE POSTED IN A NEW THREAD FOR FURTHER HELP AND DISCUSSION!
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I can think of three really good reasons not to do this:
Nobody reads the stickies.
Especially newcomers to the forum. People are just going to post new threads and wonder why they keep getting deleted.
It isn't very convenient.
What happens if I have a problem when Tweakman is asleep? Or on the toilet? I really feel sorry for that guy if he is going to have to publish every question anyone asks.
It is unnecessarily difficult.
The creation of this section was to help the Development and Hacking section get rid of general question posts. But if it is easier to make a new post in Development and Hacking, then people are just going to keep on doing that. Like this guy.
And then there is this:
ALL NEW QUESTIONS WILL BE REMOVED AFTER 7 DAYS: Once a thread is opened with your question, it will be left standing for a total of 7 (seven) days. If your question has not been answered at that time, you may repost your question as many times as needed. Again, this is to ensure that your question doesn't become lost in the pages as this section grows.
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I don't get this either. What's wrong with the system as it is? Why can't we just leave the questions so that people can search for answers before they post? (Okay, granted most newcomers don't search either, but some do.) If people aren't getting answers, they can just bump their thread.
Am I wrong?
I agree, great intentions, but the whole idea is poorly conceived, just like the original thread in Development and hacking...nothing got answered, and if it did, how do you navigate to it to find it? Is anyone going to dig through this crap to answer someone else's question. I think not.
Give it time.
The kinks will be worked out.
Don't be so negative.
it will be open for all to post soon...... they are working on a team to keep the thread organized once fully opened
joel2009 said:
it will be open for all to post soon...... they are working on a team to keep the thread organized once fully opened
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Sounds good. I hope lots of people pitch-in to help.
Q&a Section Now Open For All To Post
Hi
I' like to suggest something like an opposite to the Thanks button.
It might not need to be profile-wide but I want to be able to mark a Post at least within a thread as unhelpful.
I'd suggest that button only being visible for OPs and requiring giving a reason.
Then this Post should be collapsed or gryed or something that it is easy to see that it's nonsense.
This button is NOT meant for disregarding people but to be able to have mor control over own threads when it comes to organization.
It is meant to mark posts as unhelpful not when they are just like things somebody already tried but it is really meant to mark posts like "Android of Course" which I had in my Thread.
If I ask for a decision-help it is not enough to say Android but you should tell why this would be you choice.
So the Button should only clear the thread and give the OP an opportunity to clear it by tagging SPAM, Floods, etc.
To prevent wrong usage I'd further suggest this feature only being available for OPs which have at least lets say 15 posts to ensure they are not only trolls or so who try to blend out answers which give some information about its a troll or so.
And further I (as said) think there should be a reason to be given like a dropdown:
Spam
Flaming
Stupid Comment
Off-Topic
Other Reason (opens Text-Box)
A marked post could look like this (Modified Screenshot taken out from the Spammers Thread):
It is possible to add a "thread wiki" post below the original post?
Eg in slickdeals, you have a common wiki below the OP that people can add stuff
I feel like threads should have things like that...
OP might not have time to update his/her post with relevant info that an another user can add
It might be difficult trying to look through 100 pages of posts to figure out if someone has a similar problem(or through search), while it is easy for multiple people to maintain a common wiki that they can all edit
EG: http://slickdeals.net/f/4803408-Thi...ted-by-users-like-you?p=51265310#edit51265310
paperWastage said:
It is possible to add a "thread wiki" post below the original post?
Eg in slickdeals, you have a common wiki below the OP that people can add stuff
I feel like threads should have things like that...
OP might not have time to update his/her post with relevant info that an another user can add
It might be difficult trying to look through 100 pages of posts to figure out if someone has a similar problem(or through search), while it is easy for multiple people to maintain a common wiki that they can all edit
EG: http://slickdeals.net/f/4803408-Thi...ted-by-users-like-you?p=51265310#edit51265310
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Interesting idea, not sure how adaptable it would be with the VBulletin software though. It might also be similar in effect to something I hear is going to be rolled out sometime soon, a post rating system so posts with more positive ratings will move to the top, and posts with enough negative ratings will be hidden.
I think though that the OP should either ask the mods to close the thread or hand it over to another user by contacting the forum admin if they don't have time to maintain their thread with important new information.
mf2112 said:
Interesting idea, not sure how adaptable it would be with the VBulletin software though. It might also be similar in effect to something I hear is going to be rolled out sometime soon, a post rating system so posts with more positive ratings will move to the top, and posts with enough negative ratings will be hidden.
I think though that the OP should either ask the mods to close the thread or hand it over to another user by contacting the forum admin if they don't have time to maintain their thread with important new information.
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Click to collapse
I mean small details: like "most commonly encountered problems and solutions", that the OP might have time to add or not
For a dev thread, I rather have the dev (most likely the OP) focus on developing and other people helping out in figuring out problems by common users... users can update the wiki on the un-resolved problems so that the dev can see, without having the dev to read the last 3 pages that were newly posted
you can see in the Slickdeals thread... 179 pages of posts... some of them are "useless" in saying "thanks for the deal", while some people have legitimate questions (like "is this phone quad band") that other users answered 10 pages after their post... having a wiki means common info will be presented clearly without having to dig through the thread, and anyone can update that, not just the OP <--- most important point
EDIT: Slickdeals uses vBulletin too, but customized plugins... there are probably open source plugins out there, just trying to dig through
EDIT2: i guess SD doesn't use pure vBulletin plugins for that... maybe some CMS system
paperWastage said:
I mean small details: like "most commonly encountered problems and solutions", that the OP might have time to add or not
For a dev thread, I rather have the dev (most likely the OP) focus on developing and other people helping out in figuring out problems by common users... users can update the wiki on the un-resolved problems so that the dev can see, without having the dev to read the last 3 pages that were newly posted
you can see in the Slickdeals thread... 179 pages of posts... some of them are "useless" in saying "thanks for the deal", while some people have legitimate questions (like "is this phone quad band") that other users answered 10 pages after their post... having a wiki means common info will be presented clearly without having to dig through the thread, and anyone can update that, not just the OP <--- most important point
EDIT: Slickdeals uses vBulletin too, but customized plugins... there are probably open source plugins out there, just trying to dig through
EDIT2: i guess SD doesn't use pure vBulletin plugins for that... maybe some CMS system
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I guess the problem really is that the dev thread should not be used for support, but people insist on treating them that way. I think that there should be a "ROM XXXXX Support Thread" in the device Q&A forums and that is where such questions should go instead. Then there would be no problems with the restrictions since user support questions or bug reports without proper logging, details, attempted fixes, etc. would be moved from the dev thread into the support thread if they were able to post them there.
mf2112 said:
I guess the problem really is that the dev thread should not be used for support, but people insist on treating them that way. I think that there should be a "ROM XXXXX Support Thread" in the device Q&A forums and that is where such questions should go instead. Then there would be no problems with the restrictions since user support questions or bug reports without proper logging, details, attempted fixes, etc. would be moved from the dev thread into the support thread if they were able to post them there.
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even in support threads... who would maintain the massive throve of info that many people would ask? the OP(most likely the dev himself who made the thread), or every user who wants to?
example.... if a lot of people post below us, makes it go into 5 pages... someone on page 3 found a plugin that does what it works.... does it make sense for that info to be posted just below my first post by anyone, or is it on me(the OP) to edit my first post "someone on page 3 found this info"?
This is actually an interesting idea. We are busy adding other new features but definitely will keep this in mind. Right now, we do already have a wiki and there is nothing stopping someone from creating a wiki page while adding their thread, and linking to it, but it would be nice to integrate that directly into the page.
bitpushr said:
This is actually an interesting idea. We are busy adding other new features but definitely will keep this in mind. Right now, we do already have a wiki and there is nothing stopping someone from creating a wiki page while adding their thread, and linking to it, but it would be nice to integrate that directly into the page.
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Click to collapse
yeah, but it's definitely not as seamless as having it right below the original post
lemme see if there are any plugins to "stream" that wiki page into a post...
Came here to request this too. And precisely for the same reasons as the OP.
This would be immediately embraced.
I don't understand the "I'm not sure this would be adaptable with vBulletin" comment since slickdeals uses vBulletin.
http://www.qapla.com/mods/showthread.php/309-Wiki-Posts-for-VB4-by-BOP5-BETA
another vote for this.
i have been following a thread about about the development of 4.4 for the hisense sero 7 pro (randomblame, davepmer and others are awesome)
anyway it has a post count of nearly 1,000 and people come in and try the latest build, or just wanting to ask a question about the latest builds. the same questions get asked over and over. i don't really think its the fault of the person asking since who is going to read 1,000 posts just to see if his/her problem has been discussed.
There are a lot of posts such as
[Q] Windows RT port of WinUAE
Windows8 downgrade to Win7 lost os
webcam rt
work around for 3rd party vpn for remote desktop
Disabling windows hardware button
is there any way to setup program like MediaMonkey on Windows RT ?
that have absolutely no business being in a developer forum. I got all of those off of only the first page of topics, they continue at that rate for the first few pages, at least.
There is seemingly no moderation going on in that section, unless a post is reported. Since I personally feel that reporting each and every one of those posts is too tedious for end users, and would spam up the moderators inboxes too much, I haven't been reporting them.
So, what I'd like is to see either the moderators take a more active interest in the section, or to appoint someone who is active there (My suggestions would be myself, or GoodDayToDie, though do note that I haven't contacted him about this)
I should also note that there's also a problem with users asking the same questions over and over a lot too, it's been asked to port OpenVPN, for example, at least 3 or 4 times, by users who have obviously not even attempted to use searches.
There are also a lot of threads that one of the previous moderators, chrisd1a1, made and stuck which aren't important or helpful at all, or just contain wrong info, including:
Goodbye from me Pointless
hello from your new forum mod Pointless
IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ!!! Contains some outdated info and is pretty much just a reminder to read the rules
THREAD STRUCTURE - IMPORTANT!!!! Erroneously implies that this is a phone section
Thanks.
As part of the team of moderators responsible for that forum, I'll take the blame for letting some things go for a bit too long.
With that said, a lot of moderating is based on the feedback and reports from those active in the forum. If you see an outstanding issue there, I would encourage you to utilize the report post button. If you need to point out a larger set of issues or have some suggestions, my PM box is always open to you.
I've taken care of all of the problems you've pointed out in your post and I'll be looking at some more maintenance items in the next couple of days.
Thanks for your post.
Thanks. Just for clarification, you don't mind if I report every one of those threads/posts?
Edit: I went through the development subforum, here's what I came up with. A lot of these are old enough that they've been pushed way back and aren't in the way anymore, but I posted them all for completeness sake.
Asking questions that should be in general/googled first
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2094857
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1866298
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1931088
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1879803
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2119201
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2093525 (Did have a bit of indepth stuff, though)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2099016
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1967974
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1983457
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2079290
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1862956
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2029817
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2089545
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2090055
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2082984
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001630
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2003384
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2060413
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2032271
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2033316
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2112689
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2111530
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1844275
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2105996
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2104073
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1960034
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2021973
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2014708
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2018097
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2014782
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1999506
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1996897
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1993884
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1927909 (A development related question)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1978987
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1975449
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1964909
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1953831 (Totally offtopic, also starts with "This isn't relevant to hacking...")
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1934709
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1914323
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1921347
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1916765
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1886139
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1884365
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1889911
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1832775
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1871891
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1809111
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1778235
Asking for app ports (we have a thread for that)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2109121
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2101379
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2094167
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2093543
Just plain stupid threads
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2011767 (This one was locked, and I believe the OP was warned)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2045170
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1836344
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1965335
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1957858
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1879394 (Was about a crack, previous moderators removed the links, locked it)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1818902 (Was about a crack, previous moderators removed the links, locked it)
Threads relating to piracy that still had contents intact
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1888003 (Pirating Windows 8, asking for cracks to be PM'd to him)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1881678 (Asking how to activate Server 2012)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1843586 (A mod locked this because it was relating to piracy then left the contents intact)
netham45 said:
Thanks. Just for clarification, you don't mind if I report every one of those threads/posts?
<snip>
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That's fine if you want to report problems in that forum. I or one of the other moderators will take a look at it as they come up.
As for the list you gave me, I'll have a look later on this evening and work through them. If you have any more concerns, I think PMs would be better than posting here. This forum is more for general, site-wide issues. If there's a forum issue, it's usually better to contact one of the moderators directly.
Hi,
Got an improvement suggestion for the desktop site under Participated threads section:
This section shows 15 threads I participated in. It could have been OK, if not for the following:
1. Threads are sorted by their creation date. This means that if there are new posts in "veteran threads" (and there are lots of mega threads like these), they will soon be out of the list.
2. There's no way to see the next threads in the list (next 15 or so).
This means that if there are new posts in such threads in which I participated, I will not see them at all. Of course I can subscribe to all these threads, but why do so if there's a section for it?
Just to compare, if I browse the forum via the Tapatalk app, I'm able to see new posts in this section sorted by the date of the last post. I believe this should be the right way to go.
I think this is a small and necessary change that should be quite easy to implement.
Cheers.
Anybody home? Maybe this is not the right forum to raise such a suggestion?
Thanks for the suggestion, but we recommend subscribing to a thread if you want to be kept up to date on progress. The "Participated Threads" tab sorts in order of last update.
bitpushr said:
Thanks for the suggestion, but we recommend subscribing to a thread if you want to be kept up to date on progress. The "Participated Threads" tab sorts in order of last update.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for your answer. However, it seems that at least on the desktop site, the "participated threads" section is not sorted by last update (as it should), but by thread creation order.
Kindly would like to bump this:
The participated section should have the exact effect as performing an advanced search with myself as the posting user. In this case, I'll get a list of the threads I have posted in, ordered by post date (threads with newer posts are shown first). If number of threads exceeds a page, then I can select the page for previous posts.
However, the participated section button shows only one page, where this page holds threads ordered by thread creation date.
What I think that should be done is that the participated button will simply imitate the search action described above. This is exactly what Tapatalk does, but unfortunately not what happens here. Of course I can always perform this advanced search to see what happens in the threads I participate in, but this is very cumbersome.