[wp-forums] State of play

[Vicki Frei]

On 11/6/2005 4:42:43 PM, Podz (podz at tamba2.org.uk) wrote:
> In the forums, I am fed up with:
> - the people wanting help who are OBVIOUS sploggers
> - the people wanting gallery help
> - the people who are expecting instant help
> - the people who expect perfection, instantly, thereandthen
> - the people who want support for NON-wp code in various guises
> and yet if I posted "Sorry ever so much but that's not WP code"
> I'd be
> screamed at.
> 
> The forums have changed hugely in the last 6 months haven't
> they ?
> Expectations from posters has shot up, yet the number of forum helpers
> has remained fairly static if not decreased in certain quarters.
> 
> So, given previous posts - and if you name names then you should reveal
> your forum identity - what the hell do we do about it ?
> And 1.6 is just around the corner (or is that support all sorted ?)
> 
> P.

Forum identity:  vkaryl (don't know that I'm "naming names" but I don't mind 
"uncovering" anyway!)

Yes, the forums have changed.  I've been "on" since February - a bit longer than 
your 6 months, and have nothing to compare to previous to that.  But yes, things 
are "different" now.... and I myself am one who "snaps" too fast and in the 
wrong direction sometimes - not enough wine after the space cadet client from 
hell?  I don't know, but sometimes the number of sheer idiots posting complete 
dreck is enough to cause it.  When it happens, as soon as I realize it or 
someone raises eyebrows, I go away....

Sploggers:  usually I don't know anything to help them, and may not recognize 
them as such anyway.  So I don't "feel" that as much as you do, podz and macmanx 
and masquerade and others....

Gallery:  yep.  Irritating.  Especially since so much of the questions relate to 
one or two of the available options, both of which have perfectly reasonable 
authors who do a decent job of replying to emails or posts on their blogs (I 
think.... subjective info gained from posts - I don't use any of the Gallery 
offerings myself.)  I don't have anything to offer on this, because I don't 
normally read the Gallery posts anyway.

Instant help and perfection thereof:  no help showing on this one.... I've been 
a contributor on perhaps 100 fora related to various sorts of software since the 
early 90s - this hasn't changed in all that time; ergo, it's not going to change 
and we either deal with it or we go away grumbling.  Or both, depending on day, 
amount of wine, frustration level, etc.

Non-wp code:  ugh.  I would like to suggest that from this point forward we 
refer all non-wp code questions to thelist at evolt.org.  It's what they do so very 
very well, and why on EARTH should we deal with non-wp coding questions?

And yes, I'm obnoxious and opinionated.  I try hard to keep it under a decent 
amount of control; I'm not always successful.  Anyone who would like to discuss 
that with me may reach me at vkaryl*at*bytehaven*dot*com.  No guarantees that 
I'll respond, since in general I subscribe to the "what YOU think is YOUR 
problem, not MINE" theory of life....

V