[wp-testers] Forum questions on testers lists ??

[mrmist]

In message 
<161617690812230806r5c03532ctd6e0dc84aa6ca8bc at mail.gmail.com>, Otto 
<otto at ottodestruct.com> writes
>Unfortunately, the questions asked on the wp.org forums are, 7 out of
>10 times, the first result in a really obvious Google search. People
>simply don't search for their answers. They just don't even try.
>
>Also, the search function on the forums really sucks (a problem with
>searching wp.org in general), so people can't search the forums
>easily. Google gets better results.
>

Yep. Whilst I'm running fairly OT for this list, the main issues with 
the forum are its poor (internal) search and the shear volume of posts 
combined with a relatively immature boards UI (compared to say vbulletin 
or similar).

The poor  search means that the same questions get asked over and over 
[1]

The volume of posts means that people asking questions can get poor 
quality or no responses.

The UI just means that the forum is not quite as accessible as it should 
be.  For example, I find it really odd not having the "latest post" 
details on the front (forum index) page.

Plus then of course you get the odd flame-war, but that's inevitable on 
the internet. (Though in some cases it's fuelled by the above.)

Then you've got the whole thing where there's an expectation amongst the 
wider community that people (core devs normally) should be there to 
answer their really important question RIGHT NOW.[2]  That's a whole 
other story, and probably wouldn't be solved by a mailing list, as it's 
primarily an attitude issue.

[1] And the same questions being asked over and over leads to abrupt 
responses which hit nerves with some posters.

[2] And if they don't, then WordPress is rubbish, etc.
-- 
mrmist