[wp-forums] Forum makeover

Wed Nov 9 21:24:01 GMT 2005

skippy wrote:
> Matt Mullenweg wrote:
>> IMO this will never be quite right. The forums themselves are pretty
>> much useless, they're too broad for really browsing and if you're brand
>> new there's a strong cognitive barrier to figuring out where your post
>> should go. This was what tagging was supposed to address, eventually I'd
>> like for there to be no forums at all.
> 
> Personally, I find it alarming that the project leader finds the primary
> support mechanism for his project "pretty much useless". 

I do and I don't.

I have yet to use any forum anywhere that I happy with. I have - like
many here - used a lot of forums, from Mozillazine (huge!!) to Newsgator
to browsing the incomprehensible Slashdot and Kuro5hin. I like none.
They all have faults, idiosyncrasies - yet each one will have a group of
people who do understand how they work and do their best to keep it
oiled and working.
I think most people here understand the WP forum.
It's not perfect, but neither is phpBB <insert big flashy annoying gif
here> or invision <I'm making you wait for the next screen simply
because I can> or any other. It's not the software - it's what we do
with it.

"they're too broad for really browsing"
Yes, they are now for a new user. I'd guess I'm not the only one who
reads many threads though and still learns things. But ...

"if you're brand new there's a strong cognitive barrier to figuring out
where your post should go"
Possibly - I think users hit the mark more often than miss it. but right
now we have no signposts. Apart from the forum title, we have nothing to
guide people. Which is why I suggested the use of "What you can post
here". I know we can't cover everything, and if we do people will
delight in picking holes. but we _can_ give guidelines and I think we
should. The forum software can scale - our approach has to as well.

"This was what tagging was supposed to address, eventually I'd like for
there to be no forums at all."
I think this is a very long way off... I actually like the tags (I've
said so before) because I can home in on topics faster and if they serve
just to help helpers that's cool by me. But losing the overall structure
and becoming more freeform ? Hmm.... not yet :)

We have a tool. We just need to use it a bit smarter.

P.

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