[wp-forums] The future of the forums

[Mr. Awesome]

[Les Bessant wrote>
 Given that 2.0.x is going to be around for several years as a supported version, we're likely to see a lot of questions that belong under all the headings currently in use.

It would make it easier for people looking for help and for those trying to provide help if the forums showed a clear split:
 
Top level:   Headings for 2.0.x and 2.1.x 
 
Within each of those: Subheadings much like the current forums - thought could be given to whether the current headings are still the most useful. (Personally, I'd suggest renaming "Plugins and Hacks", given the ambiguity
of "Hack")~~]

Yep, and this is where the NEW Forum Categories enhancement for bbPress would come in handy... 

Demo here:
http://open.omnium.net.au/forum/
Ticket here: http://trac.bbpress.org/ticket/520
Slated to be implemented into 1.0 bbPress I guess.. 

However, I already got it on mine now, running .8alpha :D


[Les Bessant wrote>
The posting form needs a lot of TLC. A drop-down or a radio button, or even a text box for WP version[1] would help, and might get more posts in the right places. As I mentioned before (and Spence has repeated a few times), a limited set of Quicktags, particularly for entering blocks of code would be
a major step forward in user-friendliness. At the moment, the forums show WP's heritage as a tool built by and for hackers (of the good kind). Now it's got a much wider audience of people who really don't understand things that are second nature to many of us, the support forums need to be more
approachable and easier for less technical people to understand.
 
Small changes like these would make the forums behave more like those people have seen elsewhere[2], which would help the newcomers more, IMHO. 
 [1] Won't help those who are unsure of what version they're using, of course
[2] A more fundamental change of the layout is probably beyond the scope of this discussion, and it's been argued before ~~~]

Amen!! 

--
spencerp
http://spencerp.net