[wp-forums] FW: FW: Using the forums for contacting people outside of the forums

[Chip Bennett]

It's not a contradiction, though the wording could possibly use some
clarification. Put the two together and the intent should be obvious: this
mailing-list is for discussing administration/moderation/operation of the
support forums, and NOT for general (WordPress) user support. But if
*forum* users need *forum* user support, the mailing list is appropriate
for that purpose.

*WordPress* support and *forum* support are two different things, and
cannot be conflated. Only in conflating them do you find a contradiction
where none otherwise exists - and it comes across as an attempt to split
hairs in order to be argumentative, which doesn't help resolve anything.


On Mon, Jan 27, 2014 at 11:30 AM, Mike Turner <miketurnermk at hotmail.com>wrote:

>
> Ok so I see that part that says that you shouldn't 'take the conversation
> to a private location' but I would suggest that there is a difference
> between taking the conversation to a private location and asking someone to
> just email you some account information relating to your website in order
> to continue the investigation.  There is no differentiation between an
> author plugin or a contributor in terms of this rule so in theory by your
> logic NO-ONE can gain access to a persons wp-admin site or ftp in order to
> investigate a complex issue.
> The point of the above mention seemed to really be about not taking the
> whole conversation away from the forum so that future readers couldn't see
> the resolution.  In this case, I'm sure that the investigation would have
> continued on the forum but who knows...does that mean that you should just
> jump straight in?
>
>
> The 2nd site link, as I said completely contradicts what is in the welcome
> guide. You have 1 page that says : "THIS IS NOT A SUPPORT MAILING LIST.
> It is for Support Volunteers Only." but then the welcome page saying; Hey,
> if you want to discuss a problem on the forum itself then join this list.
>
> The content of the discussions may have been in the remit according to one
> of the pages, but perhaps not the other (or not clearly enough) so this is
> where a disconnect exists.
>
>
> > Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 16:11:44 +0000
> > From: esmi at quirm.net
> > To: wp-forums at lists.automattic.com
> > Subject: Re: [wp-forums] FW: Using the forums for contacting people
> outside of the forums
> >
> > on 27/01/2014 15:57 Mike Turner said the following:
> > > I'm not saying that there isn't a set of rules.  I'm saying that
> > > there is no rule in the 'Rules' that says that you cannot post your
> > > contact details in it.  If there is no rule which states that (unless
> > > you are offering to pay for support) then how can you moderate
> > > against such a "rule"?
> >
> > <quote>
> > Similarly, we ask that you not demand payment, solicit work, or take the
> > conversation to a private location. The point of helping out on the
> > WordPress.org forums is to help out on the forums.</quote>
> > <http://codex.wordpress.org/Forum_Welcome#Helping_Out>
> >
> > > You have contradicted yourself by saying that this email list clearly
> > > says its for moderators.  How can it be if a) I'm here and b) you
> > > welcome 'users' to join the mailing list to discuss issues on the
> > > forum: "Forum Mailing ListIf you would like to discuss an aspect of
> > > the forum, or report a problem with the forum itself, there is a
> > > mailing list you can join
> > > athttp://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-forums Note that
> > > the mailing list is for discussing issues with the support forum
> > > itself, rather than for posting your problems in."
> >
> > Perhaps a better description might have been "this list is for forum
> > *regulars*"? But then many of the people subscribed are also forum
> > moderators or ex-moderators, so it's a fairly minor difference.
> >
> > The mailing list description also states that:
> >
> > <quote>
> > Discussions pertaining to providing support to users and WordPress Forum
> > issues and activities</quote>
> > <http://codex.wordpress.org/Mailing_Lists#Support_Forum_Volunteers>
> >
> > So the earlier discussion was also well inside the list's remit.
> >
> > esmi / Mel
> > --
> > http://quirm.net
> > http://blackwidows.co.uk
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