[wp-forums] Request to edit .ORG profiles

[Chip Bennett]

But does it *have* to?

Hey, I've searched the support forums using <search terms> site:
wordpress.org/forums, because it's convenient. But there are other search
engines, and maybe we could put in effort to improve the internal
indexing/searchability of forum content, so that users wouldn't have to
rely on Google for finding content related to their current issue.

Honestly, IMX, I think that's the bigger issue: the forums are... pretty
rough to try to search. If we can improve that issue, we wouldn't need
Google (or any other search engine) as a middleman.


On Wed, Jul 16, 2014 at 9:19 AM, Joost de Valk <joost at yoast.com> wrote:

> This is negating all of reality, in which probably 30-40% of traffic, if
> not more, to wordpress support forums comes from Google.
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 16, 2014 at 4:15 PM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>
> wrote:
>
> > I think the assumption that the WordPress *support* forums should care or
> > bother with SEO is wrong. The support forum exists to bring WordPress
> users
> > together with WordPress community volunteers, to help solve user
> problems.
> > The point about the support forums being linked in the WP admin area is
> > relevant because it means that the support forum doesn't need SEO to
> > accomplish its purpose.
> >
> > I don't think forum mods should waste their time "fixing" support forum
> > content on the basis of SEO - whether the SEO impacts the forum itself,
> or
> > the site of the user who added the content. Forum mods' time would be
> > better-spent reiterating to users that the purpose of posting in the
> forums
> > is to ask/answer questions about user problems with WordPress, and not to
> > drive up one's SEO.
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Jul 16, 2014 at 8:42 AM, Joost de Valk <joost at yoast.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Hi Mark,
> > >
> > > it's great to see that you've become such an SEO expert all of a
> sudden.
> > > But tell me, if that would prevent WordPress from getting issues, ever,
> > how
> > > do you think large news sites and other HUGE brands got burned in
> recent
> > > updates? Oh, right, Google got smarter than footer links.
> > >
> > > Sorry but it's going to take more than this to convince anyone.
> > >
> > > About your remark: re accountability and history: true. We'd need that.
> > >
> > > Best
> > > Joost
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Wed, Jul 16, 2014 at 3:32 PM, Mark Riley <mark at automattic.com>
> wrote:
> > >
> > > > On 16 July 2014 12:17, Joost de Valk <joost at yoast.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > And that's where you're wrong. If nothing happens, there IS a long
> > term
> > > > > risk for wordpress.org's SEO.
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > << snipped old stuff >>
> > > >
> > > > Given that the .org forums are linked from every WP blog I doubt we
> > need
> > > to
> > > > be running scared.
> > > >
> > > > I would absolutely oppose any editing unless we have a history and
> > > > notifications of all edited posts.
> > > > To allow this sort of editing without full accountability would be a
> > > > disaster.
> > > >
> > > > M.
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