[wp-hackers] Wordpress StackExchange is ready.

[Otto]

On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 1:27 PM, eric at eamann.com <eric at eamann.com> wrote:
> 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 agree with this, however that's why I'm saying that changes need to
be made. But switching to something like StackExchange is not the
solution. If some people want to try it out, more power to them. But I
agree with Jane in thinking that it's a bad idea that will do nothing
but cause fragmentation. I don't think we should support it from
wordpress.org and should develop our own solution instead.

I will certainly not be participating on StackExchange, mainly because
I still can't actually figure out how the stupid site actually works.
It seems to reward ignorance as best I can tell, because I'm seeing
tons of blatantly incorrect answers being very highly rated (I think
that's what the numbers mean, anyway.. it's so difficult to tell).
There's tons of spam, and frankly I find the whole thing confusing and
more than a little annoying. How does anybody get anything done there?

> 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.

I disagree with that completely. You can do both in one place. There's
no reason that the forums can't accomplish the goal. The fact that
they don't currently accomplish that goal proves nothing more than
they need to change.

-Otto