[wp-hackers] Re: [wp-docs] A request

[Scott Merrill]

Martin Geisler wrote:
> Kaf Oseo <kaf at szub.net> writes:
> 
> 
>>[...] He [Podz] doesn't want to shut people up, but to make sure
>>anyone who decides to play on the edge and install unreleased
>>product is under no illusions about the level of support they'll
>>receive.
> 
> 
> People who use bleeding edge software can end up bleeding --- I would
> expect everybody who installs WordPress from the Subversion repository
> to know that.

Unfortunately, many don't.  And even if they do, they sometimes might 
think they still deserve some form of "official" support, for any number 
of reasons (valid or otherwise).

> Of course write it in the README file, the INSTALL file and put it in
> the defaul theme templates that this is to be considered pre-alpha
> quality code (or what ever kind of quality we're talking about). And
> then be done with it --- I find treating people like little children a
> bad idea.

It's not so much a matter of treating people like children, as it is a 
support management issue.  Podz and a _very_ small handful of others 
exert a herculean effort in the support forums.  These folks quite 
literally bear the brunt of the support for WordPress.

These folks have neither the time nor the inclination to support 
bleeding edge releases.  Yet invariably people come to the support 
forums seeking help on said bleeding edge releases.  Whatever approach 
the support folks take is the wrong one (see all the hooplah over the 
forums search for a stellar example of this):
* lock threads?  Nazis!
* try to help?  You broke it worse!
* point elsewhere?  What the hell kind of support forum is this?

It wears on a person after a while.

Thankfully for Podz and crew, I have volunteered to be the "heavy" in 
the forums, at least until I start taking things too personally.

When the inevitable bleeding edge support questions trickle into the 
forums, I am going to link to the following:
    http://codex.wordpress.org/Supported_Versions
and then close the thread.

Right now, I don't care what names and insults are hurled at me.  When 
that changes, I'll let the support crew know, and someone else can play 
the fall guy for a bit.

-- 
skippy at skippy.net | http://skippy.net/

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