[Feature Request] Wiki Style FAQ/Knowledge Base Sidebar for ROM Releases - About xda-developers.com

As the title suggests, I think it would be helpful to have a Wiki Style sidebar for any post marked as a ROM Release, instead of the current "New Posts" sidebar. I'm not sure how difficult it is to add additional features to this forum framework, but that would definitely be a helpful one. Most ROM release threads I've been a part of, often tend to see members posting the same questions about said ROM repeatedly. Often the answer is just a few pages previous (or worse, in the OP, in which case the user should just be given a box of Duplo and shown to a quiet corner). I'm thinking of a knowledge base style FAQ where any member can propose changes to the FAQ, but only the OP or their designated moderators can approve the changes. Of course, that's the most complex example, the simplest version of this would just allow the OP to specify a thread post as sticky and said post would always appear at the top of every page of posts and would contain, ostensibly, an FAQ. There are a few other versions of this idea I've been rolling around, but essentially what it boils down to is that better than 50% of most ROM release threads I've seen are rehashes of previously asked and answered questions that a simple knowledge base could greatly alleviate. Just my two pence on the issue, I just hate to see so much accumulated useful knowledge get buried. There are often lots of useful gems in most long-running threads (such as ROM releases) that even a decent search won't find (assuming you can convince a user to actually use the search first).

Related

Forum Layout

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

"Development and Hacking" should be splitted

"Development and Hacking" forum grown and the topics are kinda mixed up.. eg: ROM development tools mixed with Themes, "ported/hacked" Applications, user-made apps, etc etc.
I think that this area should be divised. It's hard to seek a topic. Maybe one is interested in ROM tools (eg: NBHextract, XIP port, dumprom, etc,etc), maybe someone in ported applications (omnia touchwizz interface, asus glide, xperia panels, xperia camera, htc album, etc), maybe others in development resoruces.. and maybe others in applications made by xda-developers.
So, one sugestion is to split create one new category Development and Hacking wich contains the following sub-forums:
- ROM Development Tools
- Homescreen Plugins (Manilla, TouchWizz, Asus Glide, BatteryMetter, etc)
- Ported Applications
- xda-dev Applications
- xda-dev Games
- Applications Hacking (?)
- Development Resources & Tips & Tricks
The name of the forums may not be the same.. also, other sub-forums may be added.. This is just a suggestion. This forum really contains valuable information but it must be more organized.
Regards
i would have to disagree myself. i think the section is fine the way it is (all the question threads removed ) If you know what you are after then you just need to search. I think splitting things up willo nly result in more confusion on the common user's part (not knowing where top ost with so many options) and further more this is a development website, not a cache of programs like a freeware website. Whats being developed at the moment will be on top, everything else will fade out behind but still accesible if you know what you are looking for.
First, sorry if the original version of this comes off the wrong way, I just noticed it might read a little snotty...especially since I started typing it before joel2009's post, but it as posted up later it reads like I'm arguing.
joel2009 said:
I think splitting things up will only result in more confusion on the common user's part (not knowing where to post with so many options) and further more this is a development website, not a cache of programs like a freeware website. Whats being developed at the moment will be on top, everything else will fade out behind but still accesible if you know what you are looking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The main problem I think is that there's so much traffic in that single spot that the list of threads marked "Today" stretches into the 5th page sometimes. I'm pretty sure a lot more gets lost and many good threads aren't seen at all. It's made worse by there being a couple of different forums listed under specific models of phone which are obviously resources for many others. Examples include:
Kaiser software, which has a lot of postings that apply to several other phones.
Raphael Software/Themes Apps and Software (Diamond), both of these basically cover the same thing. I've seen a number of people make requests or ask questions that are already resolved in the other thread.
The main D&H forum, even if you ignore the little groupings the OP had (i.e. xda releases vs. ported apps), is home to at least 3 very separate postings/releases; ROM Tools, Phone Apps, and Skins/Themes. For a "simple" user who's just trying to watch for themes and skins this is a lot of unnecessary noise. Imagine a Raphael or Diamond owner looking for applications, there's at least 4 groups to watch and 3 of them are kept under specific phones. A new diamond owner won't realize all the stuff they are missing. I think that's more confusing to new users.
My suggestion, to be taken worth it's digital equivalence to a grain of salt, is to break it up into ROM Tools, Apps (both ported and user-developed), Themes & Skins. I would also put them into a major category that would be consequently named Development and Hacking, and probably move the Networking and Upgrading groups over there as well.
I'd personally also like to see a single forum just dedicated to programming. It's pretty obvious that there's a good cross-section of members who are also programmers, some of which have demonstrated more talent than most other sites can boast. There's a lot of people trying to write programs but are rooting around a lot of other forums which aren't too suited to answer their questions. The other thing is that it might give more inspiration for some of the people who are good at UI and some people who are good with system/functional programming to talk to each other or even work together on apps. Many others have pointed it out, for a site to have 'developers' in the title, it's really strange that there's not even a little conversation about one of the main forms of development.
joel2009 information must be organized..
some things are contradictory in your post. you say "I think splitting things up willo nly result in more confusion on the common user's part" and "this is a development website". If it's a development website than the development area must be extended, not limited to one sub-forum that contains different kind of stuff.
Also, maybe some of us want to learn from other developers experience.. (see "Development Resources & Tips & Tricks" sub-forum)..
The way how it's in this moment create confusion not only for the developer but also for the regular users. Maybe some developers are interested only on ROM tools. Maybe some users are looking just ROM tools. It will be hard for all of us because this section of the site is constantly growing and contain all kind of stuff (themes, apps, tools, etc).
Organizing the information into sub-forums is A MUST.
+ you can add a new subforum for "Ideas for application" where people can post ideas for developers.
If detailed descriptions are used for each sub-forum there will be less to none confusion rate (additionally someone can write about these sections so everybody will understand..).
Just my humble opinion, but I think they fit well together. The difference is small between the two and it would just require me to check two boards to get the same info.
I say let's hold a vote.
DSF said:
"Development and Hacking" forum grown and the topics are kinda mixed up.. eg: ROM development tools mixed with Themes, "ported/hacked" Applications, user-made apps, etc etc.
I think that this area should be divised. It's hard to seek a topic. Maybe one is interested in ROM tools (eg: NBHextract, XIP port, dumprom, etc,etc), maybe someone in ported applications (omnia touchwizz interface, asus glide, xperia panels, xperia camera, htc album, etc), maybe others in development resoruces.. and maybe others in applications made by xda-developers.
So, one sugestion is to split create one new category Development and Hacking wich contains the following sub-forums:
- ROM Development Tools
- Homescreen Plugins (Manilla, TouchWizz, Asus Glide, BatteryMetter, etc)
- Ported Applications
- xda-dev Applications
- xda-dev Games
- Applications Hacking (?)
- Development Resources & Tips & Tricks
The name of the forums may not be the same.. also, other sub-forums may be added.. This is just a suggestion. This forum really contains valuable information but it must be more organized.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'v been thinking the same for a long time now.
Thats not contradictory at all. The Development and hacking section is for contributers, if you are contributing an app you are developing or in need of help dev, then that is what the section is for. Things start getting more complicated when you are trying to post your own work and there are several different sections you have to swarm though to find the appropriate one. I'm a fan of keep things simple.
If you are trying to follow a specific thread, then you can bookmark it or subscribe to it.
The main problem I think is that there's so much traffic in that single spot that the list of threads marked "Today" stretches into the 5th page sometimes. I'm pretty sure a lot more gets lost and many good threads aren't seen at all. It's made worse by there being a couple of different forums listed under specific models of phone which are obviously resources for many others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The list that is bold when you log on only shows the threads you have not read since the last time you viewed the page. If you are interested in reading everything than you will read on through them.
Here is an example, looking at you list of stuff:
- ROM Development Tools
- Homescreen Plugins (Manilla, TouchWizz, Asus Glide, BatteryMetter, etc)
- Ported Applications
- xda-dev Applications
- xda-dev Games
- Applications Hacking (?)
- Development Resources & Tips & Tricks
What if i ported a today plugin, then where would i put it?
This is just a small example but it illustrates my point that things can get messy upon where things go. Keeping one section keeps it simple and easy.
I understand both sides, but it seems that this point will be argued for a while longer, as it has been for the last few months.
I think the biggest problem is there are always themes coming out since newer apps are coming out with the ability to skin them. Personally, I would have to vote with the splitting of the two main sections since it is starting to grow a lot. On the other hand, they do fit together since a theme could be categorized as a "hack". But, the more and more the section grows, the harder it will be to find things. Considering all of the hard work and effort put into to these custom themes, a new section set for those who create the themes would be nice.
EDIT: lol DAMN! I thought the discussion was about themes and apps, my point still stands though.
joel2009 the list is just a suggestion - it may be modified.. What I wanted to underline is that the "Development and Hacking" forum is growing day by day, making harder to find interesting threads.
The faster you organize the information the better. If not, later the forum will grow so much that will be very hard to watch + the job to move the thousands of topics..
TheChampJT is right..
I think the real issue is that most users don't realize the amount of time it takes just to keep the forum as organized as it is. Splitting the hacking & development forum would require us to watch 7 threads instead of one, which honestly is a pretty full job in and of itself at this point.
Joel does a good job of drawing attention to how confusing it will be for users wanting to post new information. I know it's really frustrating to certain users to have to read through a couple pages of threads to find the one they're looking for, but it really is the simplest solution.
I think one issues that has been side stepped is that there really aren't a lot of developers asking us to split this stuff up. It's easy enough, and simple enough for them to use, especially after all the great work done by the Q & A team to clean it up. I find it pretty easy to find what i'm looking for in the thread now.
I think the thing that would help more than anything to simplify things for users would be for all threads to adopt the proper naming of their threads. Then it would be easy to see what threads are themes, what are apps, what are games. Unfortunately, the application of proper naming is very inconsistent.
Ultimately I feel that splitting the forums would cause more confusion, more frustration, and more work, so at this point I think it best to leave things as they are until we come up with a better solution.
Going to keep my post very short, the way XDA is split up is to help users to which commonly end up posting in the wrong sections as it is, the more sections we have the more confusion of posters, then we have the mods who have a hard enough time as it is trying to sift out the "wrong posters" so what was my point again? Lets keep things simple so simple peeps don't post in the wrong sections and the mods don't get over worked for there voluntary position

Stop!!!before you post - read this now!!!

Thinking of posting a new thread???
Use the search button on the top bar between "New Posts" and "Quick Links"
Threads posted in the wrong fora will be moved initially; however, for repeat offenders, the moderating team will look to take action to rectify the situation in a manner it believes is appropriate
WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE.
It is the responsibility of all users to keep the fora organised and clean. We need you to do your bit to keep things orderly.
To the dedicated members that care to keep this forum, subforums included, clean and organized and grouped.
Please start reporting threads to the mods to take action. Please use the REPORT button to do so.
Thank You and happy easy searching.
Forum Searching | Posting | The Basics: (Make sure you've read them before starting a new thread)
Forum Rules - http://forum.xda-developers.com/announcement.php?f=642
Forum Search - http://forum.xda-developers.com/search.php
Google Forum Search - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=304582
Advanced Searching - http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index...lopers Forum
XDA "Mantra" - http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...9&postcount=45
Post What Where:
General - general technical discussion items, news, anything else that does not fit into the other fora categories.
Q&A (Questions and Answers) - all questions, irrespective of type, get posted in here whether they be theme related, accessory related, technical, etc.
Accessories - any items to do with components and/or accessories relating to your device.
Rom Development - only meant for very advanced technical discussion directly related to ROM development activity and the delivery of actual ROMs and ROM components ONLY. Nothing else goes in here.
Themes & Apps - anything to do directly with the development of themes and/or applications. Nothing else goes in here.
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?

[Suggestion] Thread wiki

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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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.

XDA DevDB FAQ / Feedback / Bug Reports

This is relating to the announcement of DevDB: http://www.xda-developers.com/announcements/introducing-the-xda-devdb/
Please use this thread to report bugs, request features, and offer feedback. :highfive:
==============================================================
The main DevDB Access url is here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/devdb/
This is @bitpushr here, I'm hijacking @svetius's thread to put a bit more information and a quick FAQ on the DevDB for people.
The overall goal of DevDB is to give structure to the development projects on XDA. Most obviously this is for ROMs, but also kernels and other tools and projects that you wonderful people come up with. I've been getting a lot of PMs about DevDB so I thought I'd compile them into a little FAQ:
1. How Do I Add Projects to DevDB?
You can visit the main DevDB url, and if you have access to add a project or import an existing thread, you will see the following links:
Adding a project will allow you to enter a new project from scratch and automatically create a thread for you.
Importing an existing thread will allow you to "enhance" the thread by adding it to the DevDB database and let you add more detailed information about your project.
2. Why should I add my project to DevDB?
For developers, it adds crucial metadata to your project that will allows us to show your project in more locations on the site. Threads that are "DevDB-ized" show up in the device page ROM listings, for example. We also add some cool features like a new large-file download system, reviews, a bug reporter/feature requester, and more.
For end-users, it allows us to present the ROMs and other projects on the site in a friendlier format. Rather than scouring forums and threads for new ROMs, we want to give them a place to see these projects and the unique features each one has.
We have some other cool ideas 'in the pipeline' so we thoroughly encourage devs to add their projects to DevDB.
3. Who can add projects?
Right now Recognized Developers and some other beta users are able to add projects to the system. If you wish to be added to the best-tester list, please pm @bitpushr.
Eventually we'll open this up to all "Senior Members" after we get all of the bugs out.
This is really cool.
Thanks a lot. :good:
That's why this is my favorite forum.
Some characters aren't showing correctly in FF 22.0. They show up fine under Chromium. I'm using Linux.
The characters are located:
Just before the device's name;
Near each of the table's columns' titles;
The stars also seem hidden (didn't check if those were ASCII characters or images, tho);
There's a weird "fi" showing in the search bar. It's in black when using the normal theme, so it may be less visible than on my dark theme.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Also, the bottom bar ("Total Results: X") has white text on a white background using the default theme (on both browsers).
Awesome idea!
GermainZ said:
Some characters aren't showing correctly in FF 22.0. They show up fine under Chromium. I'm using Linux.
The characters are located:
Just before the device's name;
Near each of the table's columns' titles;
The stars also seem hidden (didn't check if those were ASCII characters or images, tho);
There's a weird "fi" showing in the search bar. It's in black when using the normal theme, so it may be less visible than on my dark theme.
Also, the bottom bar ("Total Results: X") has white text on a white background using the default theme (on both browsers).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's a weird binary character. It's actually a hexadecimal representation of a character which is not present in the font you are using.
I have a few issues to address. What about tools which can be used for all devices? The CASUAL project just started a new IDE called CASCADE. It will eventually allow for users to create their own CASUALs easily via guided use of the CASUAL language. Also, there's plenty of CASUAL scripts which will work on all, many, some or one device. Is it possible to link these tools cross-forum?
This is frigging awesome.
Feature requests:
1) Can/will this be enabled for [APP] threads, too? Has anyone SEEN the Nova Launcher thread lately?! But, not just for clutter--the feature request, Q&A, etc. will be very useful, too.
2) Can a FAQ tab be added? Not essential, but may keep 1st post of ROM threads from overflowing with paragraphs and paragraphs of text. Also, related to idea 6, below.
3) In bug reports, can we enter our hardware somewhere so we don't have to re-type it every time? Also, can multiple devices be selected, a la Google Play website app installing?
4) In bug reports, can we have a separate, but REQUIRED TO FILL OUT, text box for steps to reproduce?
5) Can bug reports be edited? Many times we think we know the issue, but then another user discovers the actual regression, and then instead of two bug reports, one can be made?
6) The biggest one is the last, hehe. Can we somehow have user-editable FAQs for threads? I seriously think XDA needs to implement Wiki's IN THREADS. People check threads (nobody, IMO, sees or even knows that XDA has a Wiki) and there are a handful of users who are nearly as knowledgeable as the developer who post. Maybe only OP-approved people can edit. But, seriously, you guys can make XDA legitimately 100x better if you implemented Wiki-style FAQs for these special threads.
Many people know the answer, but don't want to retype it 500 times. Now, let them put their answer in a very EASY TO FIND place in the FAQ. You seriously harness the power of this extremely knowledgeable community. If you don't, then you leave smart people upset at multiple people posting the same question.
Question:
1) Are
My two cents
Hopefully this isn't looked on as the ultimate sin or put me on any list hahaha BUT I have a question for any admin/moderator that's directly involved in this project....
How is this helping the developer?
I see a lot of things that users would love and want because they see this site more of a ROM shop then a development site but I don't see how this helps the developers, the ones doing the actual development.
I mean, judging from threads like the NOVA thread which ikjadoon pointed out above....users don't read or even search before posting which in turn causes developers to take more time away from the development process to answer questions that have been asked and answered about 100000 times if not more.
They also ignore warnings in OPs unless they're in BIG RED letters. They post in the wrong sections time after time even though there are stickies and is written in the XDA rules. The list goes on and on and on, how users repeatedly prove that they can't read 2-3 paragraphs if not less of information that will help them and/or follow simple instructions.
I'm not on any high horse here but if you ask anybody that's willing to be truthful if this is true or not, they will answer HELL YES.
With that said, by encouraging users to be even more lazy and giving them tabs is not only making it more difficult for the developer(s) by having him or her fill out these tabs BUT is not in my opinion going to fix the clutter/searching before posting issue.
This will also (in my opinion) send a wave of users harassing developers if they chose NOT to take part in the whole tabs project.
I don't have all the answers nor do I expect any of the admins/moderators that are directly involved in this project to have them BUT I believe this would be a step in the wrong direction if organizing the forums is the ultimate goal here.
ONCE again, this is my opinion. At the end of the day, is your site and you will do as you want. I'm just a member throwing my two cents in...don't shoot! :good:
svetius said:
This is relating to the announcement of DevDB: http://www.xda-developers.com/announcements/introducing-the-xda-devdb/
Please use this thread to report bugs, request features, and offer feedback. :highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about a field in the DevDB that indicates if the ROM passes Google's CTS (Compatibility Test Suite)? Some people may not want to install something that deviates too far from what Google intended Android to be like (or if something fundamental got broken), if you know what I mean.
Just my humble $0.02
ref: http://source.android.com/faqs.html#compatibility-test-suite
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
@Mazda
Some of your points are EXACTLY the reason I think each of these threads needs a user-editable (aka wiki-style) FAQ.
The developer, here, does NOT need to create and edit the FAQ themselves. Many knowledgeable users can do that and the developer is free to simply curate it.
If the FAQ is readily available in a tab, I think you will see a significant decrease in thread noise.
ikjadoon said:
@Mazda
Some of your points are EXACTLY the reason I think each of these threads needs a user-editable (aka wiki-style) FAQ.
The developer, here, does NOT need to create and edit the FAQ themselves. Many knowledgeable users can do that and the developer is free to simply curate it.
If the FAQ is readily available in a tab, I think you will see a significant decrease in thread noise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe they tried that with the WIKI's and it didn't turn out that well....
Some wikis did well and some were ghost towns.........the clutter remained none the less
OH and I would like to say that I'm not here to piss on the idea of this project or just say "none of this will work", I'm simply stating my opinion based on what I've seen as a member since I've joined.
I would LOVE to see XDA live up to it's potential and maybe remove some of the clutter and trolls BUT I just see it going a different direction at this moment in time...
Exactly! They were ghost towns because nobody knew about them and, if you did, why take the time and energy to edit something that like 10 people would see?
Thus, place them as a tab on the OP like the others are now.
Same...XDA has ridiculous potential!
This is a great idea and one I've wanted to see in XDA or any other forum for a long time. Since I own a Note 2 N7100, I contributed my part by using Google docs and forms to provide much of the same information in the DevDB for the Note 2. I would say now much of my work is obsoleted, but I agree it is a good thing for XDA.
However for improved granularity, instead of just 1 ranking rating, can DevDB also include 1 other rating for Screen On Time as an indicator for battery life?
My sig links to the thread where I made the index, you can see what I've done.
Good feedback, guys. Keep it coming :highfive:
Well, more of the same, haha:
Threads are great for a few users having a semi-cohesive discussion. With many users, many important issues are somewhere within hundreds of pages.
A user-editable FAQ would fix that. I'd like to also stress the importance of having the FAQ as a tab and NOT a link, as otherwise we'd have fewer users editing and fewer users reading.
It doesn't have to use the exact wiki format. But, maybe, a community-editable post that is otherwise normal.
Some threads that could've used it:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1727052
Galaxy SIII Annoyances Megathread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1984126
The AT&T Jelly Bean Release Thread (4.1.1 released; Kies and OTA)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1739426
[HOWTO] [ROOT] No Tripping Flash Counter - [ATT / Bell / Telus / Rogers / Sasktel]
Mention @ tags don't work with DevDB.. Rest it ok needs improvement though
Not the s3? wow.
AdamOutler said:
that's a weird binary character. It's actually a hexadecimal representation of a character which is not present in the font you are using.
I have a few issues to address. What about tools which can be used for all devices? The CASUAL project just started a new IDE called CASCADE. It will eventually allow for users to create their own CASUALs easily via guided use of the CASUAL language. Also, there's plenty of CASUAL scripts which will work on all, many, some or one device. Is it possible to link these tools cross-forum?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually we are considering this as some tools are multi or pan-device. Working on a way to show this correctly across multiple devices without getting confusing. Honestly we wanted to make sure that this system works in the first place, find out where we need to expand it, and then do it. @AdamOutler don't know if you noticed but one of the download options (if you have edit capabilities on a download file) is to set it as a CASUAL file. You can also set a specific board for the download. Our API will allow you to ask XDA to "send me all CASUAL package files for 'mako'" and then allow you to download those directly. More TBA.
Mazda said:
Hopefully this isn't looked on as the ultimate sin or put me on any list hahaha BUT I have a question for any admin/moderator that's directly involved in this project....
How is this helping the developer?
I see a lot of things that users would love and want because they see this site more of a ROM shop then a development site but I don't see how this helps the developers, the ones doing the actual development.
I mean, judging from threads like the NOVA thread which ikjadoon pointed out above....users don't read or even search before posting which in turn causes developers to take more time away from the development process to answer questions that have been asked and answered about 100000 times if not more.
They also ignore warnings in OPs unless they're in BIG RED letters. They post in the wrong sections time after time even though there are stickies and is written in the XDA rules. The list goes on and on and on, how users repeatedly prove that they can't read 2-3 paragraphs if not less of information that will help them and/or follow simple instructions.
I'm not on any high horse here but if you ask anybody that's willing to be truthful if this is true or not, they will answer HELL YES.
With that said, by encouraging users to be even more lazy and giving them tabs is not only making it more difficult for the developer(s) by having him or her fill out these tabs BUT is not in my opinion going to fix the clutter/searching before posting issue.
This will also (in my opinion) send a wave of users harassing developers if they chose NOT to take part in the whole tabs project.
I don't have all the answers nor do I expect any of the admins/moderators that are directly involved in this project to have them BUT I believe this would be a step in the wrong direction if organizing the forums is the ultimate goal here.
ONCE again, this is my opinion. At the end of the day, is your site and you will do as you want. I'm just a member throwing my two cents in...don't shoot! :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey @Mazda, this is ddrager from Twitter.
Well these are all good points. We did a lot of thinking about what XDA does, what we stand for, and what we provide for developers. For a developer, we are oftentimes not only for discussion but also a platform both for distribution and for feedback on ROMs and other applications for mobile devices. In this regard, DevDB is a platform for users to find the right ROMs and applications for their devices, which hopefully keeps them off of the threads with questions about downloads and whatnot. Sure, we can complain all we want that n00bs don't read, don't search etc... but complaining about it doesn't fix the issue. We wanted to present a way that is easier to follow for those looking for new ROMs and how to modify their devices. A sort of 'device central' where you can get all the information on your device for everyone from those new to Android to those who are veterans at flashing ROMs.
For developers, not much has changed. You still have the development forums, and this is totally optional. DevDB adds some features like built-in reviews, bug reports, a torrent tracker/download system etc. This is mainly for those devs who wish to have additional promotion of their projects, and to make it easier for end-users to find and interact with those projects.
Regarding the issue of users not reading, this isn't a problem unique to XDA. You can point people to search as much as you want but there are 10 people behind them asking the same questions. We've all been guilty of this to some extent at one time . What we can do as a site is make the important information as easy to see and find as possible to help reduce the amount of extraneous questions sent to developers, that have already been answered.
XDA is a site full of information overload, and the best thing we can do is make that information categorized and easy to read.
ikjadoon said:
@Mazda
Some of your points are EXACTLY the reason I think each of these threads needs a user-editable (aka wiki-style) FAQ.
The developer, here, does NOT need to create and edit the FAQ themselves. Many knowledgeable users can do that and the developer is free to simply curate it.
If the FAQ is readily available in a tab, I think you will see a significant decrease in thread noise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has been brought up a few times. I think what it comes down to is that we currently have a wiki, and nobody really uses it for something like that (that I know of). You can create a page on there and link it to the thread as it is right now.
Great feedback all, keep em coming! :highfive:
awesome feature. when can we expect it to be available on other forums
not asking for an eta although
Just wanted to say this is AWESOME!
I browsed around a bit in the "db-test-areas" and I really like it! The benefits are clearly visible:
Better overview
makes it easy finding stuff for your device
no need to browse pages and pages of devices sections when you are searching for something specific
I'd love to find it in the whole forums!! Keep it on!

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