[wp-hackers] Re: [wp-pro] Discussion: 'Acceptable' and 'Unacceptable' Posting Behavior On This List

[Harish Narayanan]

Lynne Pope wrote:
> Have you seen the call from WordPress for feedback/ideas on how to improve
> communication?
> http://wordpress.org/support/topic/269201?replies=53
> 
> As you will see from the feedback garnered so far, there is a general
> consensus that things need to be improved. One of the complaints is that
> there are already too many different methods of communication.
> 
> Providing even more avenues for user support would just add to the mess,
> IMO. Hopefully there has been enough feedback by now that changes will be
> coming soon.

I'm not sure I agree. As long as these different avenues are archived
sensibly and are reasonably easy to search through, I don't see how
having different forms of support is a bad thing. I think these tend to
spring up naturally because people have different working styles.

I personally prefer the mailing-list 'Ask a question,' 'everybody sees
it,' and 'someone who knows the answer provides it' style of
communication. This is different from a support web forum where
interested/knowledgeable folk have to actively trawl through the content
looking for questions to answer. This, to me, has a higher energy
barrier and it is not something I do unless I am really enthusiastic
about the matter in question.

Like Miriam, I too set up a mailing list some time ago
(wp-support at googlegroups.com) for this purpose, but it would be useful
if there were an official wp-support (or wp-users) list analogous to
wp-hackers. Many free software projects follow this model for developer
discussion and user support.

Harish