Am 26.08.2011 02:31, schrieb NoOp: > And those 'new' users should be directed to a web forum with the option > to also use a mailing list instead. This approach (as implemented in OOo) has the disadvantage that the "knowledge base" is split. If ML and forum used and filled the same archive, we probably wouldn't discuss which one should be used: it would be just a matter of personal preferences. The more I think about it, the more I like that.
> I participate in many, many mail lists on a daily basis & cannot > possible begin to imagine trying to do so if all were web based forums. > I also eliminate the need to fill my mailbox with messages from each by > utilizing nntp via the gmane.org server. That way I can easily search > the threads, see the new subjects headers, mark a thread as read if it > is of no interest to me, mark threads as read by date if I've been away > for a few days, tag threads by headers, and killfile a 'VENDAS - > VITALLY' if I wish. Further I can easily switch from this list to the > user list, etc., at the click of a mouse. And finally, if I wish to have > an local archive of the list, I simply set my nntp reader (SeaMonkey) to > download for offline viewing/sorting/searching etc. I can't do that with > a web based forum. Sure, experienced users with a capable mail client can do a lot of things with their local mail database. If the client uses a standardized format like mbox, even more is possible as there are a lot of tools available that work on mbox and allow to do things that the mail program itself can't. And developers can even create their own tools. But what about the less tech savvy users, the users for whom the support media are created? Many of them have problems with even the simplest functions of their mail program. > Such as? Can you honestly demonstrate a web based forum that the user > can quickly and easily do as I do with my gmane.org nntp mail list setup? As I don't know how quick and easy you can do that, I won't try. :-) But I'm sure that the average (and moreover the less than average) OOo user can operate web fora better than a mail program (if they use one at all, many people use web frontends for mail). > Add to that the excellent point made by Andy Brown regarding > bandwidth/dialup issue. OOo targets all types of users, but is of > particular value to 3rd world (includes US areas) users with limited > and/or no regular internet connectivity. Thinking about that: subscribing to the ML and getting lots of mails in return most probably also needs some bandwidth. And if you want to search the archive, you have to use the web anyway. Posting a question to a forum and just reading its thread might use even less bandwidth than subscribing to this ML. But anyway, I confess that I really can't judge that as I never have been on dial-up, my first internet connection was DSL already. >> As a developer I like "stackoverflow.com" where posts and replies can be >> voted and posters get credits in return (simply put). Both means can >> help users to get through the jungle of posts and find the best answer >> just by searching, not by asking. And posts can be tagged, so you can >> search for them much better and faster than just scanning subjects. > > And you'd expect the same "new" users to OOo to understand: > http://stackoverflow.com/search No. :-) This site was just an example that I know where such features are used. Of course it needs to be used in a simpler and nicer way to please typical users of an application like OOo. Many web fora at least have some rating functions already that are quite simple to use. The additional functionality that e.g. stackoverflow offers is that posts can be tagged, answers can be sorted by votes and that posters can gain something like credibility. A lot of things are possible in an environment where the whole communication process is under control of a single entity. E-Mail is nailed to the used protocols and what can be expected in the majority of mail clients. >> Again, we should try to become more open for new development and >> evaluate it without preconceived opinions. > > Yes "we" should. My initial post still stands: > > The answer is quite simple: notify all posters in the thread that their > current thread & all further [email protected] discussions > will be closed immediately and transferred to a web forum site instead. Are you talking about this list? I don't think that "discuss" should be moved to a web forum, I was just musing about user lists. Regards, Mathias -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] For additional commands send email to [email protected] with Subject: help
