[wp-forums] Plugin posts (again)

[Handy]

+1 for Genetically enhanced mods!

I like Les's ideas below.  But heck, if nothing else, I'd *love* it if the
name of the plugin was just added to the topic title:  [Plugin:
WP-Foo-i-nator].


On 10/2/07, Les Bessant <les at lcb.me.uk> wrote:
>
> I've mumbled about this before, but I thought I'd have another try...
>
> The interface that sends people from http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/to
> the forums really needs more explanation, or a little automation to make
> it
> actually useful. People having issues or questions with a plugin may well
> not be familiar with the workings of the forums, and it seems that many of
> them assume that they're submitting to a forum or site that is specific to
> the plugin. This leads to questions that are devoid of context, leading to
> them being unanswered[1]. I know at least one mod changes the subject
> lines
> when he spots these, but unless we have genetically enhanced mods who
> never
> need to sleep, eat, work or do anything else, odd plugin posts will often
> linger for quite some time.
>
> Suggestions:
>
> 1. Have a separate posting form linked from the Plugins Directory. This
> could have some explanatory text about the forums, and could automagically
> prefix the subject line with the *name* of the plugin[2]
> 2. Use whatever coding magic is appropriate to insert a link to the plugin
> in the post.
>
> Yet another example here:
> http://wordpress.org/support/topic/136787?replies=1. Read the subject line
> and the post content, and your reaction is likely to be "Err, it's been
> out
> over a week, where have you been?". Spotting the tag gives you the clue
> that
> the poster is talking about a plugin...
>
> Making some changes to this would help people who have questions, and
> those
> trying to answer them.
>
>
> [1] Or worse, answered with a "what the photon are you on about?", which
> confuses the OP who assumed that the question was clear enough, which it
> would have been if it had appeared with a clear label indicating it was
> about the plugin in question, which is a potential source of the
> communication problems that lead to complaints about people being "rude"
> [2] Adding a tag is quite nice, but it requires people to look up, and
> mentally translate a tag into a plugin name, then locate the plugin to
> have
> a clue.
>
> --
> Les Bessant les at lcb.me.uk
> Losing it[1] - http://lcb.me.uk
> My flickr pictures - http://flickr.com/photos/lesbessant/
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> wp-forums mailing list
> wp-forums at lists.automattic.com
> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-forums
>