No subject

those looking for answers -- not discussions. There's a time and a place for
forums (such as for plugin feedback/critique), but IMO the StackOverflow
model would benefit the majority of WP users that are scouring the forums
for a concise answer or fix.

I recently built a Q&A app that hooks into the WP users table. It could use
a tweak here and there, but I'd be glad to contribute the code if it'd
benefit the community.

It could be hosted on .org, so there wouldn't be any worries of it going
away if something were to ever happen to StackExchange. Sample:
http://podscms.org/qna/

On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 2:27 PM, eric at eamann.com <eric at eamann.com> wrote:

> That's exactly where the dichotomy is - between a question/answer site
> ('WordPress Answers') and a conversation site (wordpress.org forums).  If
> I am
> looking for the solution to a particular answer, seeing a list of potential
> answers with community votes and a "this is the right answer" flag is far
> more
> useful than an endless list of "I have this problem, too!" posts.
>
> I've been using the wordpress.org forums ever since I started using
> WordPress.
> I asked questions that went unanswered.  I answered questions that seemed
> stale
> and forgotten by the community.  But all the while, the "answer" and
> "support"
> feeling of the forums was missing.  It's a great place to have a
> conversation on
> a topic, but if I'm looking for a specific answer, it's the last place I
> go.
>
> I've had much more success using Google to search for information ... and 9
> times out of 10 I find the answer on either Stack Overflow or a
> miscellaneous
> user's personal tutorial than on wordpress.org.
>
> What I'm trying to say, though, is that there's a need for both.  We need a
> question/answer site and we need a community forum.  Trying to fill both
> needs
> with one solution is a flawed strategy from the get-go, and you'll always
> end up
> with people in both camps claiming the others' efforts are misguided.
>
> ~Eric
>
>
> On June 2, 2010 at 6:02 PM Otto <otto at ottodestruct.com> wrote:
>
> > On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 12:59 PM, Arlen Beiler <arlenbee at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > >> P.S. *Assuming* WordPress Answers really takes off (as it appears it
> > >> might), probably the best thing Automattic could do would be to
> embrace it
> > >> fully and configure it to be served from http://answers.wordpress.org
> .
> > >> JMTCW.
> > >
> > > That is one thing I have been thinking of since the beginning, and I
> like
> > > the idea *VERY much.*
> >
> > I'm personally very much against that. StackExchange and that whole
> > set of sites in general is extremely user unfriendly. Even I find it
> > difficult to use and hard to find what I'm looking for on there.
> >
> > I'd rather we revamp the existing forum structure into something
> > better, with new features. Forums are better than weird
> > "question/answer" sites that nobody can follow or have conversations
> > on.
> >
> > So no, I'm not supporting this notion at all.
> >
> > -Otto
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