[wp-hackers] Wordpress StackExchange is ready.

[Elizabeth Buckwalter]

Dear Hackers,

1) Fragmentation of the community

Personally, I google for answers.  Sometimes, I come across WP forum
or codex answers and sometimes SO answers.  Often, I find answers on
random blogs.  Lots of people like different things.  Some people like
forums, some like blogging, some like the codex, and some like the Q&A
nature of SO.  I personally like the rated answers of SO, as I get to
see what a community of peers thinks of the answer.

I've posted to the forum, because I was interested in a discussion.
I've edited the codex, because I found an answer an a blog that wasn't
in the codex.  I'm an active participant in SO, because I like to see
what issues other people have on things I'm actively interested in.  I
participate in this mailing like, because I like to see what's going
on now in the Wordpress world.

I use *all* the resources, not because it's already fragmented, but
because the question I'm asking or information I'm looking for has
different formats for an answer.  I won't stop receiving these emails
just because I sign up with the Q&A site.  This is more than a Q&A
list.  I won't stop using the codex, and I won't stop participating in
the forum (though something like SO has on searching for previously
asked answers while someone is typing in a question would do well for
the forum and is something simple).

2) Stack Exchange is hard to use

Though I am a web developer, I'm impatient and can be somewhat of a
moron when it comes to website browsing.  I found Stack Overflow easy
to use.  A question was asked, and answer was voted on by the
community and accepted by the OP.  Signing up for an account was as
simple as clicking the G for google.  It really is a simple and easy
to browse site, even on my iphone (though I've accidentally flagged
someone's comment instead of upvoted.  quickly remedied)

If you want to know what the Wordpress Stack Exchange is *supposed* to
look like, Stack Overflow is it's closest equivalent, atm.

3) The current support forum doesn't serve some's needs.

It doesn't.  As some other's pointed out, the constant, I have this
problem too posts don't help.  That said, forums are about
conversation, and there are lots of those I've had on the forum.

4) Improve current support forum or rewrite a wordpress custom solution

Improving the current support forum would include things like I said
above about searching previous posts.  Some other things, could be
voting, a who's who in the Wordpress community.  And probably more
active participation by those in the know.  The last is the easiest,
and probably not done.  But for myself, answering the same questions
over and over can be tedious.  The first part of this paragraph could
serve as a solution for this last.

Please don't write a wordpress custom solution.  Stack Exchange is
awesome as is.  In the midst of switching from WP2 to WP 3, is not a
time to go delving into another project.  There's going to be tons of
people looking for answers once the release is official.  Don't
reinvent the wheel, just use what's there.  Maybe, think about a
competing SE solution around WP 3.5 when the majority of major bugs
have been squashed and before the real gear up for WP 4.

Just my 2c.  Have a nice day.

-- 
Thanks,
Elizabeth Buckwalter