Suspicion is correct.
-
Recently a blog showed up under the categories of Support and Ideas that should have been posted in Off-Topic. I had responded to this original blog and like others I think didn’t realize what had happened until it was pointed out that this blog should be moved. So I did a bit of back tracking and this is what I discovered.
When someone wants to post to the forum section they see on the main page a button that reads..”ADD NEW”. I believe that from most new and or semi new bloggers here this is how they post to the forums instead of clicking on one of the specific sections found to the left.
I discovered that when you post using this method of entry you are given a page where you are asked to fill out specific information so that WP can direct your post to the proper blog, however unless you actually fill it out completely ALL POSTS find their way to SUPPORT, regardless of their intentions. I tested this suspicion by not filling out the form entirely and found this is exactly what happen, and I believe that this is exactly how the original post ended up there as well.
I would like to suggest that WP remove the ‘ADD NEW’ button found on the main Forum page and instead just list the newest post as they are now. This would force people to click on the appropriate topic section (found to the left) before posting reducing the number of posts showing up in the wrong areas.
Hope this suggestion help clear things up some.
-
Additionally, keep in mind that if someone clicks on the topic to reply it will automatically take them to the section it was originally posted under and not just the default “support” section, so if the “add new” button is removed they still can access the post they are interested in but now it will be in the right section as well.
-
-
Yes, I do believe that Staff log these ideas and prioritize them for future consideration. What we have to keep in perspective the fact that there are millions of wordpress.com bloggers located in many time zones and their technical support needs must be addressed as a first priority by Support Staff.
-
I find that idea really intriguing and something WP should use. It would certainly save them time when moving threads. It does not make sense for the front page of the forum to only be support questions. Not many realize that is what it is and post anything and everything there. Great idea!
-
Thanks Sara. :)
And I do understand that there are millions of users, however it would seem to me that a site a large as this one would also have staff assigned to each area. I was just wondering because in reading through many many of the threads here I found that there is a much larger “member” response to most questions than there is a “staff” response and that includes the Tech Section.
Don’t get me wrong, often times members are far better versed in the inner working of a site like this simple because they use it all the time, but as some one new here myself (not new to the world of blogging or social sites) I find that it can be very frustrating when you ask a question and the only response or comment you get is from fellow members and not staff. I have found that when you find this kind of situation going on especially on large sites the members tend to forget that there IS staff and find themselves a bit hesitant then to ask viable questions because they don’t always trust what other members will tell them. Trust me, having worked with one of the largest social sites out there for 9 years both as a “member” and “staff”, as staff, you have to keep yourself very visible and that means not relying on “member” to field the bulk of the questions coming in.
Just a personal opinon here…but something I think is worth thinking about.
-
@tfockler60
This is a peer support forum and has always been so. In the 4 tears I have been at wordpress.com very few questions have been answered on the forum by Staff. In fact the amount of Staff support we are experiencing currently is is unprecedented and very new to us . We volunteers have no idea which Staff are assigned to which duties. This is the contact link for Staff http://en.support.wordpress.com/contact/ -
@timethief
Hum..thats very interesting. So if this is basically a “peer” site and the “staff” does not frequent here then please give me some kind of logical explaination as to why we have an “Ideas” and “Support” section that will be responded to by fellow members that can’t do anything with the “ideas” other than post a personal opinion, and as for the “support” section if the same is true then it really is rather obsolete or “over-kill” as those issues could be and should be handled under the “Questions” catagory since the Staff apparently has their own “support” section where members can actually get ‘STAFF SUPPORT’.I read everything I could find about this and no where did I find any clear explaination that this Forum is a “peer” site, nor could I find a place where you could submitt relavant idea’s directly to the Staff. That being the case maybe it should be posted then that “ideas” here are just a waste of time.
-
@tflocker60
I did not say that Staff does not frequent the forums and I have no further information to share. The majority of threads have always been responded to by members and Staff have always monitored forum threads.What’s new is that there are so many new Staff members and Staff are responding to more forum threads than they did in the past.
Previous to the creation of the “Ideas” forum we simply emailed our ideas to Staff. The email address for support Staff is an obvious one support [at] wordpress [dot] com
-
I quote:
“@tfockler60
This is a peer support forum and has always been so. In the 4 tears I have been at wordpress.com very few questions have been answered on the forum by Staff.”Enough said
-
@tfockler60
If you believe that only Staff ought to answer the wordpress.com forums then why not use the email address and make that suggestion? -
tfockler, I’ve been using the forums for about 3.5 years and everything TimeThief wrote is accurate. WordPress recently invented the position of “Happiness Engineer” and they seem to be becoming the WordPress’ forum monitors, but until the HE people came this was strictly a volunteer run operation — participation by Mark and Matt notwithstanding.
If you’re really interested, there are several blogs focused on (over) analyzing the way things work in here, and elsewhere in WordPress. Matt, creator of WP, used to show up on a few of them…
-
I would assume that since much of the available content on WordPress is created by members or users and NOT necessarily staff (ie: themes/widgets AND ideas) it would be helpful to have a peer run forum for discussion of such things. I can’t imagine that Mark and Matt and other staff use every single format/code/theme/widget etc available, it would only make sense to me that one would look for help on said issues from the actual users. On a second note, this is a forum. A forum is a place for discussion on endless issues. It’s where the members of the site come to interact on a level different from blogging. Yes, we get the odd crackpot who hasn’t a clue what’s really going on here, and those threads get moved around by moderators as they deem necessary, and herein lies a base for why we have a forum…many topics land here because honestly, they aren’t worth bothering staff over. I’ve had questions and thoughts that I wouldn’t even consider sending to staff, because they’re mundane and redundant, so being able to just plain out ask the people around me is far more productive, ironically. Maybe it’s just my personal belief that one should only involve staff on technical site issues, things that can’t be rectified by simply googling the answer.
Here, this thread, is a perfect example of the legitimacy of peer support forums. You have a great idea. The members of the site, the USERS of the forum are responding, for the most part, in a positive light. This is giving your idea validity, worth, support. The discussion over your idea (which seems to have gone to the wayside bytheway) will only act to substantiate and simplify the process of getting it instilled, should you actually decide to propose the idea to Staff. Even Staff opens up ideas to discussion to find user opinion and make a decision.
As Timethief has explained, there are specific ways to connect with staff directly, the forums notwithstanding. Think of the forums as a very large volume of FAQ’s. -
@tfockler60
If you believe that only Staff ought to answer the wordpress.com forums then why not use the email address and make that suggestion? -
not to make light of serious issues… but I have to say that sometimes the “Staff” and the many cloudy references to “them” makes me feel like WordPress is a bit like “The Matrix”…
there’s “our reality”….. versus “their reality”…
:-)
-
@Sally
The number of support questions we Volunteers answer on this forum is a teeny tiny little number when compared to the number of Support questions Staff answer via support tickets members file and receive solutions by email to or backend gixes to the blogs themesleves.I’ve seen support Staff grow from a single hard working and very professional Staff member (Mark) to become a dedicated team of Happiness Engineers who are very busy in the background. So I don’t perceive two different realities … lol :D
Clearly Staff priorities must be focused on providing excellent support services to bloggers who have software issues. That’s why I suggested emailing. I think Staff are far too busy to monitor Ideas threads and post responses to them until the decisions have been made and there is something to say, aside from “Thank you for your suggestion. We’ll take it under consideration.”
-
First of all, I think your idea is a great one, tfockler60. I thought about still having he add topic button (so people will directly find a way if they need it) and just make the choice of thread stand out more, maybe make it mandatory to make a choice. But then people will probably still have to look up the htreads to see what ‘off topic’ even is. So the idea to let them go deeper first, seems best.
Second, I like the way the forums work, the peer support idea. You still get sound advice, help or feedback and in many cases quicker than any staff could ever be in such a huge community. And I like that it gives us a chance to interact productively (or also not so productuively) with each other, get to know each other. And if the need is there, you can always reach the staff via email. Works for me.
-
Thanks for the discussion all! :)
Trust that we do keep these ideas in mind as we work on new features. We also do our best to read all the forum threads, we may not reply to all of them but we read a high percentage.
Thanks for the hard work you all put into the forums!
-
It would be of value that a WordPress staff member, probably a lead person for support team explain to all of us users/members on their business strategy/policy on:
How they view the collection collected in forums and if they review from a birds’ eyeview, for common problems and ideas.
A very clear simple management statement could be given to define the role of expert support volunteers (like raincoaster, timethief, sacredpath, etc.) and their feedback to WordPress service manager. In fact, I would suggest if there would be occasional virtual meetings between these 2 parties. I would hope so..communication with dedicated cadre of volunteers with expertise is a serious matter for managing a fast-growing company but still valuing effort of paid and dedicated volunteers.
And it is suggested that WordPress post at support forums main page, permanently a simple paragraph/manifesto of their approach between staff and support volunteers.
Simple, but transparent communication to all.
As for where things should be catalogued/indexed in whichever subforum …hey, no one’s perfect since we have all sorts of people dropping into forums ..from seasoned to newbies. I accept some degree of imperfection.
-
How they view the information collected in forums and if they review from a birds’ eyeview, for common problems and ideas.
Sorry, the corrected sentence for 2nd paragraph in above comment.
- The topic ‘Suspicion is correct.’ is closed to new replies.
WordPress.com Forums 