Related
Could the posts in "Raphael Questions & Answers Here" be mini threads themselves?
I was just wondering about this after reading yet another post from a member about how difficult it could be to trace the thread once it is moved into the big thread, mostly because it would not have all the answers for that particular thread, well, threaded, to the original post anymore. Although the moderators might have contemplated this, but is it possible to have some sort of threading for each post within the big single thread? Maybe something like the threaded SMS feature for the Fuze? I hope this thread stays as a single thread itself , so someone wondering about the same thing I am, knows why things are the way they are. Thanks.
An even better idea would be to create a Raphael Questions and Answers Sub-Forum where people could start threads to ask questions and then keep it as an archive where you can go to find the answer to any question.
new system doesn't work
I totally agree with incisivekeith:
The single-thread Q&A system and the displacer-mods are killing active and concentrated conversations over the issues by forcing it into a chaotic messy HOLY THREAD. This undermines the entire point to exist of the forum
I know I'm missing out on a decent amount of information because I don't even check that thread. It's an absolute mess. Even if I see a new thread that I might want to read that gets moved to that Q&A, I don't even bother. What a waste.
Kevin
Yes, the mods and admins are trying to figure out better ways to organize it but for right now i think it is decided that they will just have one huge thread of all questions and answers because there are way too many threads coming up with simple questions and they want to try and keep things more clean and organized on forums.
If you think its a bad idea take a look into the kaiser section and see how much crap is there. What the mods are doing is a GOOD start to keep the forum clean.
In addition, most of the people that are complaining are the ones that have only been here for a couple months, therefore they have no idea what everyone has been through in the past year and even longer. You (no disrespect) new users here must realize that this has been our home for a long time, there is a certain level of respect and rules that many of us wish would be followed. Those rules are not being followed, so this is a good solution for a problem that has been going on for a while.
ptyindian said:
Yes, the mods and admins are trying to figure out better ways to organize it but for right now i think it is decided that they will just have one huge thread of all questions and answers because there are way too many threads coming up with simple questions and they want to try and keep things more clean and organized on forums.
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Yeah well having one huge thread isn't exactly clean... It makes it terribly hard to find ANYTHING. They can call it the Questions & Answers Thread but that's just a poor way of trying to address a very large issue.
1. People are going to start a thread asking for help.
2. The moderators will merge that thread with ALL THE OTHER threads of people asking questions.
3. Now that person who was asking a question before will go back to their thread and see it was merged with that HUGE questions and answers thread and never be able to find their question or the potential answer...
Result of all of this?
They're going to start a new thread asking their question over and over again until they eventually get frustrated and give up, possibly driving them off... That's never a good way to run a site...
WE NEED A dedicated "Questions & Answers" SUB-FORUM within every major device's main forum. This will provide a place for people to ask their questions, get their answers, and move on. It will also provide the users with the ability to have those mini-discussions without having to worry about the moderators taking their thread and moving it to that giant mess you all call the questions and answers thread.
Just my 2 cents...
Hey yeah i totally understand what you are feeling. I brought the same exact point up in a thread here and here was the response by a mod. They are trying to figure things out too and in order to get a Q&A subforum they have to go through different things and get permissions and stuff like that and it apparently is not that easy.I understand what you are saying but for right now that is what the mods and admins decided was the best thing to do and this is only a trial from what i understand it is not permanent. They just wanted to see how it is going to work.
ptyindian said:
Hey yeah i totally understand what you are feeling. I brought the same exact point up in a thread here and here was the response by a mod. They are trying to figure things out too and in order to get a Q&A subforum they have to go through different things and get permissions and stuff like that and it apparently is not that easy.I understand what you are saying but for right now that is what the mods and admins decided was the best thing to do and this is only a trial from what i understand it is not permanent. They just wanted to see how it is going to work.
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Yeah I hope they figure this out sooner than later because I know that if I was the one asking a question only to come back a few hours later to find out that my post is now lost in that thread I wouldn't even waste my time trying to find the post let alone the answer...
People are gonna start getting discouraged and maybe that's their goal... Idk... I hope not but that's what's going to happen. People are gonna ask their question and then it's gonna be lost in that thread and they're never gonna find the answer IF someone actually reads through the thread enough to actually answer it.
I have to make this clear - my intention to begin this thread. It is certainly not to question the policy of the moderators of merging the questions in one big thread, because as KD8DNS said, people (new users) often open a thread for anything and everything, most of the times, without researching for the issue. I am highly technically inclined, but I could be considered a "new user" myself, not unfamiliar with the whole smart phone thing as I had a Nokia smart phone before the Fuze, but new to the Windows Mobile platform, and boy I have learned in the past couple of weeks alone.
I posted the following in response to a post in the big thread, which brought into light the lack of convenience in searching for a solution in the big thread:
"I had that line of thinking for a while, so I won't say you are saying something that is unreasonable. But, if it makes you feel a little better, maybe you can try for the keywords for that thread/post by using the "Search this Thread" menu at the top of any thread. Even with that, you will not have a thread that would have all the answers for that one issue in one thread, I agree, but maybe this huge thread is required, as there are/were so many threads for issues that have already been discussed or could really be answered in a big thread like this."
So, as I said, I most certainly understand the reason due to which the moderators decided to merge many threads. Having said that, and also considering there are certain rules, all I was opening for discussion, was whether there was a way to have mini threads within that thread or some alternate solution or not, which would not only reduce the maintenance and clumsiness of many threads for already discussed issues, but also be efficient in providing information to new users, for some of whom, frankly, this forum could be their first ever forum. That was the point I was wanting to discuss, and, I am reiterating the purpose of this thread, which is not to question any policies, but to just discuss an alternative. Thanks.
Okay, since i'm the moderator being discussed i figured i should weigh in on the matter.
First, if you have an issue with anything that i do, feel free to PM me. I cannot promise that i'll change my mind about any of my decisions, but i will certainly listen to your point of view.
Second, a couple users were correct in saying MOST of the posts that I merge are redundant questions posted by people who don't know how to search or special issues that aren't going to apply to many people.
Finally, if there are several posts that you think would be beneficial to be posted as a separate thread for discussion about a significant issue then send me list of links to the posts you'd like to have merged into a separate thread, and I can pull all the posts together and put them in a new thread. It will just save me a lot of time if i don't have to look around for them, and increase the likelihood i will get to it sooner.
That's about it. I'll leave this open for a few to see if anyone has something useful to be gleaned, but to be honest, if it turns into people complaining because they don't like the Q & A thread then i'll probably just close it.
darfri said:
I totally agree with incisivekeith:
The single-thread Q&A system and the displacer-mods are killing active and concentrated conversations over the issues by forcing it into a chaotic messy HOLY THREAD. This undermines the entire point to exist of the forum
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You obviously don't know what the point of the forum is. The Q&A people have very little to do with development, which is, in fact, actually the point of the forum.
dharvey4651 said:
They're going to start a new thread asking their question over and over again until they eventually get frustrated and give up, possibly driving them off... That's never a good way to run a site...
WE NEED A dedicated "Questions & Answers" SUB-FORUM within every major device's main forum.
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This site has never been about being tech support to people not really interested in learning, so most of the users who would be discouraged that easily probably aren't users that were gonna stick around and contribute a lot anyway. That being said, right now the option is either to merge most of the new threads OR to delete them, because they're VERY redundant. I don't think anyone wants me to delete them, so for now i 'm doing the best we can. Right now it's been only a little over a week that we've been doing this. In that time there have been HUNDREDS of threads created in ONE subforum alone. We are working on reshaping a rapidly changing culture around here. If we swing too far toward the casual user we will lose our developers, but we don't want to completely ignore them. So have patience, offer constructive advice.
Thank you scotchua for being kind to offer a PM helpdesk... but I am afraid that you might get flooded with questions if you offer your help too graciously.
I have seen many dumb questions starting a thread around here like "my device is slow! What to do?" but those threads will also disappear in "history" and I don't understand how this really bugs anyone. We have a search option here. I understand that this is a development oriented forum BUT isn't an "end users" expression/opinion/frustration/rapture an important value?
I'd see a per-device Q&A subforum as a very good idea. You'll see that this subforum will be the most active. xda-dev is very good site and it should also remain flexible. I'm sorry that I am not a developer and don't have those skills. It might sound silly but "children" like me and other non-developers think different than hi-tech-development-geniuses and might point to problems that are more dysfunctional in practice than the ones that superbrains notice.
Actually I have stopped initiating my thoughts/worries here because of that new filter
darfri said:
Thank you scotchua for being kind to offer a PM helpdesk... but I am afraid that you might get flooded with questions if you offer your help too graciously.
I have seen many dumb questions starting a thread around here like "my device is slow! What to do?" but those threads will also disappear in "history" and I don't understand how this really bugs anyone. We have a search option here. I understand that this is a development oriented forum BUT isn't an "end users" expression/opinion/frustration/rapture an important value?
I'd see a per-device Q&A subforum as a very good idea. You'll see that this subforum will be the most active. xda-dev is very good site and it should also remain flexible. I'm sorry that I am not a developer and don't have those skills. It might sound silly but "children" like me and other non-developers think different than hi-tech-development-geniuses and might point to problems that are more dysfunctional in practice than the ones that superbrains notice.
Actually I have stopped initiating my thoughts/worries here because of that new filter
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First, I never offered to be a one man help desk cause you're right, there is no way i'd have the time, haha. What I did say is that people who have questions about WHY i did something should feel free to ask me, BEFORE they start complaining about it publically. The reality is that there is no way to make everyone happy. I have people who PM me saying they think what I'm doing is great, some who say that i'm not doing enough, some who hate it and think i'm ruining the forum, and some who disagree with it but understand....the site is huge and there are differing opinions.
I don't want anyone to be offended, but the reality is that not all opinions are of equal value to me, and accordingly, while i will gladly listen to ANY user, certain users or groups of users will have more pull because of their length of time here, my perceived quality of their ideas, or because of their contributions. Some may think this unfair, but then someone always does, and at least I am transparent about which factors i value most.
As I have said several times, a Q&A Sub-Forum could maybe be possible, however, it's really barely been a week with this Q&A thread and sometimes these things take time to develop. I really do think that the 20 new threads started every day take a lot away from the sub-forum as they push the actually valueable threads down to the second and third page most of the time. My preference honestly would be to delete every thread started and PM each user to post their questions in the Q&A thread instead. Then if people would use the quote feature it would be much easier to follow a conversation related to your question. Unfortunately, upon discussion with some other users it was determined that it might be a bit of a "heavy-handed" approach at this point.
The simple reality is that the rules are clearly posted everywhere, and if people would read them, then this whole issue would be moot. I personally don't even think it would be unfair to administer a short ban for people so blatantly disregarding the rules; however, at this point it has been deemed an excessive remedy to the issue. The reality is that MOSt of the threads being started are about self-inflicted issues, created by users who don't search or read...so while I have sympathy and am happy to help them, my sympathy runs short when they start complaining because it's hard to read 3-4 pages of posts a day to find their answer. If only any of those whining about this knew how much each mods personal time is devoted to sorting through everyone else's posts they'd certainly quit whining so much about having to spend a few minutes to find a solution.
First, I have to tell you that XDA-Developers is my most valuable web site for WM support. And I understand the original intent of this site as a site for developers and your desire to protect its intent. But success breeds success and in part it is because of the value of the information here that new/basic users are attracted to this site. If that is really what you don't want, point those users and questions to a different site and let us know where to go. I have downloaded and used the custom roms prepared for the Tilt and if I keep the Fuze, I intend to do the same. But I also just received my
Fuze and have very basic questions which have ben relegated to a post that will make finding a response difficult.
With that said, I don't think that your intent is to chase people away. After all, the added user base does give your site greater authority, if that is of value to you. But confining basic questions to a single thread takes away from the usefulness of a site such as this for those users. So, a hopefully constructive suggestion. Consider implementing the sub forum for questions and answers. If you don't want to monitor it yourself or have a developer do that, query some of your more valuable posters to see if they will perform that function. I am sure that some posters are not developers and would be willing to support that function. It costs nothing to ask. This would keep new users here. After all, many new users grow and eventually can add to the usefulness of the community as a whole.
Just a thought.
ourtech said:
But confining basic questions to a single thread takes away from the usefulness of a site such as this for those users.
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I have highlighted the key term in bold. The problem we're facing is that most users are thinking individually. What is best for THEM when THEY are looking for ONE piece of info. I am really trying to think what is best for the site as a whole, and in my opinion having 30 new threads a day in just this one section is not what is best for people who are actually trying to find valuable resources. We had the same problem with the Development & Hacking section until we really cracked down on random thread posting in the wrong place, and created the Question & Answers section.
I know that people are frustrated that we only have one thread for their questions and answers, but the simple fact is that there are only 4 or 5 pages being added each day, so if you asked a question it really isn't that hard to see if it's being answered, which most of them are. I do agree that a sub-forum might be a possible solution to the problem, but even then people are still not going to even bother reading the rules.
Here's where my main objection comes in, and i sincerely hope that people understand me on this. It is fairly offensive to me for people to tell me it's too much work to read 4 pages in the Q&A thread, which i spend 10 times as much time cleaning up, helping users, and settling petty arguments between childish users on the forum every day. So you'll understand why i see the problem as being larger than just a little inconvenience for a few users wanting to ask simple questions. Most users don't even bother to post in the thread titled "Don't Start A New Thread".
No offense intended to you because I, as the questioner, have no problem reading 10 pages, 70 pages or 170 pages for an answer and it is your site. I don't own it and have no say in the rules. If I want to use the facilities of this site then I should folllow the rules. But I am not sure that I communicated the point I intended. Respectfully, my point is perhaps better expressed like this:
Noob user has a question and posts it in the normal manner in a new thread. Users new and old see it in the list of threads. The topic is what attracts them or steers them away. Someone sees it and wishes to contribute, others will ignore it. That is the way that it traditionally works.
What doesn't happen when all questions are lumped into one thread is that only readers looking for answers to questions are likely to wade through that thread. There is no possibility of a thread title that might catch attention. If someone hasn't been keeping up with that thread 70 pages of posts can be intimidating. So the prospective audience is reduced. If you are saying that this reduces the usefulness of the site as a whole I am puzzled as it makes it more likely to me that I would come and see what is new. In telling me that it harms the site as a whole makes it seem that I am not the kind of user you want hanging around. I don't think that that is your intent, but when you put me in a corner and say that my questions are not useful to the members as a whole, how am I to take that?
It is just my viewpoint as someone that is looking to contact other users of the Fuze. I hope that rather than take offense, it is with the best of motives that I add these comments. I like this site and it has been of real use in the past. I sold my Tilt and I am not sure that the Fuze is a keeper, so I may not be around. But I offer these observations with the genuine desire to help. Best wishes to you.
My point was simply that having 30 new threads added in this sub-forum alone, pushes the very useful threads onto the 3rd or 4th page where people are far less likely to see them. That's who it makes the site less useful.
As for the Q&A thread, I don't expect anyone to look for answers in there. I simply expect that people would post their questions in there instead of starting a new thread. I honestly don't care if people ask the same question 100 times in that thread. That's what it's there for. Most people will get quick responses and move on to something else.
Disrespectfulness
darfri said:
I have seen many dumb questions starting a thread around here like "my device is slow! What to do?" but those threads will also disappear in "history" and I don't understand how this really bugs anyone
KD8DNS said:
You (no disrespect) new users here must realize that this has been our home for a long time
aaand, scotchua said & said & said & ...:
You obviously don't know what the point of the forum is.
not all opinions are of equal value to me
If only any of those whining about this knew how much each mods...
I personally don't even think it would be unfair to administer a short ban for people so blatantly disregarding the rules
The problem we're facing is that most users are thinking individually.
I do agree that a sub-forum might be a possible solution to the problem, but even then people are still not going to even bother reading the rules.
As for the Q&A thread, I don't expect anyone to look for answers in there
if it turns into people complaining because they don't like the Q & A thread then i'll probably just close it.
i have followed this thread from the moment it was created as i shared the same feeling as the op with the dissatisfaction with the current policy of merging all qa threads into one qa thread. i have seen how the similar problem of not-that-constructive posts was solved in the general d&h forum by creating a qa subforum, and i thought that was the right solution.
in the mean time, the situation before the qa thread was not disastrous, as darfri indicated.
i was really annoyed by the disrespectful reply of KD8DNS and the many disrespectful replies by scotchua. it is really amazing how scotchua was throwing insults right and left to everybody who criticized the single-qa-thread policy. THIS is what should be totally unacceptable, not a naive user's question that have asked and answered a billion times. the use of terms like whining tells you that even if you are the brightest, you can't be the best leader (or moderator in our case). scotchua's thoughts of feeling that developers are better than non-developers are simple wrong! i am sure scotchua knows that many of his fellow smarter-than-the-rest-of-us developers have gained a lot of knowledge and came up with many ideas by reading such "valueless" threads.
scotchua might think it is unimportant, but i usually tend to the qa subforum and try to answer general simple questions that i can answer, and i have noticed many others do the same, from a user point of view, such a single qa thread just kills this kind of participation.
forums exist on so many topics all over the internet, and the simple feature in all such forums of having non-active threads go down, is the simple solution to the problem scotchua is "whining" about by having and trying to explain by writing posts of 100s of words to everybody who is disagreeing with that useless thread policy.
the single thread for all qa's policy is obviously wrong because a questioners can't find answers to their question, if anybody ever cared to try answer it in such a mess!
and such disrespectful responses should stop. being a mod doesn't give such privileges.
Developers and Users of This Forum:
I have stuck my nose in into what I think is a poor situation -- and if I am wrong you'll just have to fuss at me.
There continues to be a stream of posts not related to development coming into this forum -- and frequently posts that some of us see as related to development and ROMs get pulled by zealous moderators trying to keep this forum clean. Some are plain put in the wrong place and some are misunderstood in their intentions and some should be here.
The big problem -- as I see it -- is that we have two different things at play:
1. The devs need a place to coordinate, criticize, help each other, etc. in pursuit of program and development. Can't be upset over that.
2. But we also have all the ROM and Patch Posts here -- which draws piles of questions, comments, etc. as we all try to have some fun. It is the ROM-related stuff that usually creates the stuff that gets pulled, correctly or not.
I was IMing with a moderator -- svetius -- about a message I put in here and which got transferred to the Vega forum when I wrote it for G-Tab users about the VEGAn ROM. It still wound up in G-Tab General rather than here.
So I proposed to him -- Why not have a "ROMs and Patches" forum where the big stickies at the top of this forum could be placed. Then questions could be asked and answered and info shared related to them without it infringing on the devs. This is the biggest traffic in Developers as we know it now and it involves both devs and folks who are just trying to get stuff for their tabs.
And if "ROMS and Patches" were added, then the devs could do their technical thing here.
I'm not sure XDA will let even a moderator make a change like that. If you look at all the other sites under XDA, most of them use the "General/Accessories/Development/Apps, etc. format. XDA may pressure the moderators to standardize. I hope not when other structure might be better.
I would hope if we asked them they would be somewhat flexible.
If you like my idea -- or can improve on it -- please post here so the moderators can know what we think. This is a democracy and I will go with the majority. But you devs need to let us know what you think so we can try to either help you or forget it.
Don't give me any credit -- let's just get it fixed.
Rev
My apologies. If some of the above post doesn't make complete sense it's because I wrote it to the people who use Developers to express an idea I think has merit and to get their opinions.
Even though it was written for the developers, et al, it was pulled out of there without so much as an apology or a comment. Personally I think it was rude and flies in the face of the constructive work a lot of people are doing in support of the G-Tablet. I can't write ROMs, but I can express an idea to help those who can.
And if they are mad because I said their forums are not perfect and suggested a solution -- then I'm sorry for them. I don't think expecting help with improvements we need is too much to ask for.
But I'm not sorry I tried to solve a problem and be constructively helpful. Need more of that around here.
Rev
First let me qualify (or disqualify) myself.
I do not own a Viewsonic G Tablet.
I own other Android devices.
I have a strong background in development and programming. I am the Director of Engineering for a small company in Tennessee where we develop adult amusement devices (no, not porn) such as slots, video poker, etc.
I am proficient in many languages, as well as 'nix operating systems.
I have cooked my own roms in the past.
Second...
I have been lurking around the XDA developer forum since back in the Windows Mobile 6 days. I currently have an Android phone and an Android tablet (not a Viewsonic).
Like everyone else here, the prospect of the new build is tasty. Wanting to delve into it myself to see what I can do, It is helpful to me to look (like many others) in the development forums to see what I can see.
However...
Let this serve as a warning to anyone who is not a "Dev" on this forum.
This forum, like many other here at XDA belongs to a handful of "Devs" and you are not one of these "Devs".
Your best bet is to lurk like the rest of us. I don't care if you have a Honeycomb port that will work on this device or a pill that cures cancer. They don't want to see it and you don't want the hassle of being flamed for trying to contribute. They will get to it and you will not beat them to it.
Devs work hard. They do the work for free and they should be revered and respected. But make no mistake, they know it and are not afraid to tell you to STFU and GTFO for merely making a suggestion or comment.
So do all of us a favor, stick to the General forums and don't poke the bear.
I do not plan to respond to this thread and it should probably be closed immediately.
neo4uo said:
Not trying to poke your bear, but even this thread should not be posted in here. This needs to be moved to the general section. This thread defines the word ironic.
Peace \oo/
Sent from my VEGAn-TAB-v1.0.0B5.1 using Tapatalk
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.........lmfao i was about to say the same thing, this thread totally defeat its purpose, the fact is no matter how much you tell people to "search" "post in the proper section" "dont ask for ETAs" and so on theres going to be someone that dont follows the rules, and WTF???? "This forum, like many other here at XDA belongs to a handful of Devs"??? this forum belogs to the community just as much as it does the devs......obviously someone did not read the "state of the site anoucement......tsk......tskk
I am poking the Bear, and here it goes.
If you want us peasants to stop posting in the Development forum of ANY device, simply create a tag for Developers, make it so only "x" amount of posts and a review by the mods, will grant someone this tag. Then you limit access to the Dev forum to tag holders only. Then, when one of the Devs (whos' work is tremendous and I highly resect) has something ready to go, they can post a link or a file in the General section.
That way us 'morons' who are not welcome here can't possibly get in their way with our useless posts and questions. I am tired of the elitist attitude that some have here. Yes a lot of you know more than I do about this stuff, yes I am learning to do this stuff in my SPARE TIME. I am not in college, I do not have a job that allows me to sit in front of a computer all day(don't want it either). When I do have the time to get invloved, or if I find something useful, like many of us, I want to post it. I don't want to be a leach. I can only speak for myself with this. I may not be able to give as much as the devs do, but how can I possibly learn if I dno't ask questions?
The Search feature that people here are so in love with and can't wait to tell us "search is your friend"?
Its almost useless. Its rare that I can find what I'm looking for in the limited amount of time I have to be on here. Its generally easier for me, and many others I suspect, to ask the question and wait for an answer.
Then ask the question. The big complaint is that most don't even try to look or they post "LOOK>>>>>HONEYCOMB ON THE NOOK.....WHY DONT WE HAVE IT YET" in the dev section. Granted the search function isnt great but filling up the forum with the same questions over and over is what makes the search function useless to some. Although I seem to be able to find what I'm looking for most of the time with a little work. The moderators have asked that people not post general questions as new threads in the dev section yet it keeps being done.
its not an elitist attitude about the dev section. Its a request to keep the posts to development only or at least inside the correct thread and not keep asking the same question over and over with a new thread.
I agree with limited access...
Frrrrrrunkis said:
I am poking the Bear, and here it goes.
If you want us peasants to stop posting in the Development forum of ANY device, simply create a tag for Developers, make it so only "x" amount of posts and a review by the mods, will grant someone this tag. Then you limit access to the Dev forum to tag holders only. Then, when one of the Devs (whos' work is tremendous and I highly resect) has something ready to go, they can post a link or a file in the General section.
That way us 'morons' who are not welcome here can't possibly get in their way with our useless posts and questions. I am tired of the elitist attitude that some have here. Yes a lot of you know more than I do about this stuff, yes I am learning to do this stuff in my SPARE TIME. I am not in college, I do not have a job that allows me to sit in front of a computer all day(don't want it either). When I do have the time to get invloved, or if I find something useful, like many of us, I want to post it. I don't want to be a leach. I can only speak for myself with this. I may not be able to give as much as the devs do, but how can I possibly learn if I dno't ask questions?
The Search feature that people here are so in love with and can't wait to tell us "search is your friend"?
Its almost useless. Its rare that I can find what I'm looking for in the limited amount of time I have to be on here. Its generally easier for me, and many others I suspect, to ask the question and wait for an answer.
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I think the idea of tags is a great idea, but once again I don't know how easy this function would be.
thebadfrog said:
Then ask the question.
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Unfortunately, you're changing the rules of the present discussion with that. The OP stated "Devs work hard. They do the work for free and they should be revered and respected. But make no mistake, they know it and are not afraid to tell you to STFU and GTFO for merely making a suggestion or comment." The implication of that is you SHOULDN'T ask the question, you should just STFU.
IMO, the OP is WAY out of line. If the devs don't want comments/suggestions/questions, then they should keep their dev work private and not open it up for public consumption. Yes, the rest of the community wouldn't benefit as much in that case, but there's no excuse for an arrogant attitude like saying STFU for GTFO if someone merely makes a suggestion or comment on something that's been posted for public consumption.
If the devs are simply doing their work and sharing it just to have people fawn all over them for it and expect not to have to deal with the questions/comments/suggestions of the "unwashed masses", well, sorry, the world (and this site/forum, from my understanding) doesn't work that way.
Its the answering "How do I install clockwork?" question that is posted all the time even tho its clearly posted as a sticky. "I've followed the directions exactly and I cant get TnTlite to install".....wrong....you havent or it would have installed. "When are we gonna get an update to X rom?"......"How come we don't have Honeycomb yet?"....."Your rom bricked my device"....."Why won't someone answer my question? that was posted 15 minutes ago.....The devs do this on their own time and for the most part are happy to answer questions but when its clear that someone has no intention of learning for themselves and just want the info handed to them on a silver platter.......well....it gets old
The OP is out of line with his "psa" unless he speaks on behalf of the collective body of said developers.
This is a rhetorical post, I will not be responding again.
Edit: see what I did there with that last line?
atakapa said:
I like turtles
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Collaaaaa!!!!
If we want to grow the G Tab community ( aka continue to receive the excellent support from the Devs) we need to grow the number of G Tab users. If I were considering a new tablet purchase and stopped by here to check out the G Tab, I would not put it high on my list. If new members post in the wrong section or dup a post, it's Ok to send them a "Friendly" reminder, but to blast them like this is an insult to everyone here. Hell they might even be driven to buy a windows mobile 6 product.
hi guys - as my inspire comrades, i'd love to offer you guys spotify invites. it's through this cool service i found called klout that measures your influence via social networks. they give you cool perks (ie spotify invites). anyways, here's the link: http://klout.com/perk/Spotify/Spoti...eeb5e4309f4a1e38f2a120afc3953fb10d7a27e7bf964
[rant]
Let me start this off by saying that I respect and love our mods for all their great work.
However, I have seen more and more in the past month or month.5 that many of the threads in this subforum have been closed. Some because they're no longer relevant for whatever purpose (which is a good thing), but other select threads are closed because they are off topic. The question I pose is why do some off-topic threads have to be closed?
Granted, this is a forum for developers and for phone support, applications, questions, etc, it is also a community. and because it's a community within a community (inspire users), I'd like to be able to have few off-topic conversations without them being closed by the mods. This is also the general subforum and therefore, I think it's appropriate if I want to start a slightly off-topic conversation with my fellow inspire users.
I understand the fact that sometimes off-topic threads can cause clutter, but I think thats most relevant in the case of multiple threads of the same topic.
disclaimer: conan, this post was not really inspired by you asking the other user to use the off-topic forum in the other spotify invite thread, but is a result of various threads i've seen closed recently. also, as i mentioned earlier, i would like to share the spotify invites with my fellow inspire users, not other random people that happen to also be browsing the off-topic forum.
lastly, i'd like to thank all of you amazing people for making my experience with the inspire so freaking awesome. this goes from the devs to the other people like me that respect and love the devs' work to the noobs without who we would be so peaceful and happy without having to tell them to search
[/rant]
I appreciate what your saying about the fact that you'd rather offer these to another inspire user, not just the first random OT user to jump on your thread.
That said, there is an undeniable problem at the moment with clutter on the forums.
While your post is entirely genereous and well intentioned it is not strictly "on topic". I know this may seem petty but if we (the moderation team) are to bring the forums back into line the way they used to be, we need to be consistent in our actions.
You may not have asked for my opinion but I'll offer it anyway..
I would have just picked out a couple of members you'd like to donate these invites to and PM'd them, your two fav devs or someones who's helped you with a problem for example. Perhaps even your friendly forum moderator (just kidding).
I'm not gonna close your thread right now because like I said, I appreciate the intention behind it but let me know when they are claimed so I can close it and prevent it turning into a "Where can I get an invite??" thread...
Cheers.
I know this seems contrary to XDA's recent apparent policy of consolidating the number of forums rather than expanding, but maybe a community/off-topic board for various high-traffic devices would be in order.
I also have Spotify, but no invites, and would highly recommend you take this generous guy up on his offer.
conantroutman said:
I appreciate what your saying about the fact that you'd rather offer these to another inspire user, not just the first random OT user to jump on your thread.
That said, there is an undeniable problem at the moment with clutter on the forums.
While your post is entirely genereous and well intentioned it is not strictly "on topic". I know this may seem petty but if we (the moderation team) are to bring the forums back into line the way they used to be, we need to be consistent in our actions.
You may not have asked for my opinion but I'll offer it anyway..
I would have just picked out a couple of members you'd like to donate these invites to and PM'd them, your two fav devs or someones who's helped you with a problem for example. Perhaps even your friendly forum moderator (just kidding).
I'm not gonna close your thread right now because like I said, I appreciate the intention behind it but let me know when they are claimed so I can close it and prevent it turning into a "Where can I get an invite??" thread...
Cheers.
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whenever i rant, i like to hear opinions from everyone that i'm ranting about. so thanks for your opinion what do you think about having an inspire off-topic subforum? i feel that since the Q&A section popped up, the general section has been MUCH cleaner, so props for that! maybe this well help too, maybe not. oh well.
and also thanks for the advice about PM'ing people - i'll try that next time.
FYI - there's 1 invite left via the link in the OP
nhshah7 said:
whenever i rant, i like to hear opinions from everyone that i'm ranting about. so thanks for your opinion what do you think about having an inspire off-topic subforum? i feel that since the Q&A section popped up, the general section has been MUCH cleaner, so props for that! maybe this well help too, maybe not. oh well.
and also thanks for the advice about PM'ing people - i'll try that next time.
FYI - there's 1 invite left via the link in the OP
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Thanks, I was able to grab that final invite
cool glad i could help you guys out.
all set conan, thanks!!
stonewallmike said:
I know this seems contrary to XDA's recent apparent policy of consolidating the number of forums rather than expanding, but maybe a community/off-topic board for various high-traffic devices would be in order.
I also have Spotify, but no invites, and would highly recommend you take this generous guy up on his offer.
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Your the second person to bring this up. Are you guys conspiring against me
Initially I refused, as I've tried it elsewhere and it was a spectacular failure.
I will however, consult the oracle and see what he/she/it says....
@the op, gonna close this now if we are all done. Thanks for the rant
Sent From My Fingers To Your Face.....
Honestly, I'm finding the whole XDA forums to be a completely hellish experience. I am not allowed to ask questions about programming on the Android platform (which is the only reason I joined the forum in the first place), until I make 10 'helpful posts'.
Under such conditions, these posts are bound to be artificial and contrived. This is only human nature, you can't force people to be helpful and giving, and trying to do so only creates the opposite, plus a load of frustration and resentment.
Yet, if you do make artificial or contrived posts, these will be deleted! But, of course they will be contrived, the only reason for making them, is to meet the 10 post requirement. How can they not be contrived, could somebody explain that to me, I genuinely don't get it.
I've been making games for over 25 years now, and I've never come across anything so fiendishly hellish before, as this 10 post rule. As much as I would love to be a member of this community, I just can't get me head around it. There is no possibly for me to make 10 helpful posts, without being dishonest and trying to deceive you.
Is dishonestly and deceit a requirement of being a member of this community?
Earn your rep. This is my first post. 9 more til i can jump up a rung.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
buffal0b1ll said:
Earn your rep. This is my first post. 9 more til i can jump up a rung.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
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But if you're honest, isn't every post you make (to get to the 10) contrived, and you're only making it because it's another step along the way?
I know mine are. Only difference with me, is I'm being honest about it.
Of course every post we make is another step along the way.
Everything we do in life is another step along the way.
Is it really so much to ask that you make 10 helpful posts?
It's really not hard to do if you go to your devices forum and help some people out in either General or Q&A. There's also posts in this very section which can be answered even with only limited knowledge.
And if you don't feel like being helpful, then this is probably the wrong site for you considering this site has developers, themes etc. who put in countless hours of their own personal time making mods and decide to share them for the benefit of everyone.
Successful troll is successful
KidCarter93 said:
Of course every post we make is another step along the way.
Everything we do in life is another step along the way.
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Well, when we get to 10, it's a game changer; and we are then free to be natural and in a position to *freely* give and share our knowledge.
Before we get to the 10 post count, we're not freely giving and sharing our knowledge; we're doing so, in order to achieve the 10 post point.
I'm not trying to be belligerent or obtrusive at all. Honestly, I'm not.
KidCarter93 said:
Is it really so much to ask that you make 10 helpful posts?
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Nope, the problem is when you ask that they are not contrived. It's like pointing a shotgun at someones head, and telling them 'act natural, or I shoot'. Under such circumstances, a person cannot act natural. If there were no shotgun, then it wouldn't be a problem and I would be free to respond naturally, and as I'm a helpful soul, I'd do what comes natural to me, and help people (as I do elsewhere in life, and on the internet).
KidCarter93 said:
It's really not hard to do if you go to your devices forum and help some people out in either General or Q&A. There's also posts in this very section which can be answered even with only limited knowledge.
And if you don't feel like being helpful, then this is probably the wrong site for you considering this site has developers, themes etc. who put in countless hours of their own personal time making mods and decide to share them for the benefit of everyone.
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I will try.
Also, please understand, it's not that I don't feel like being helpful (in fact, I believe I am a very helpful and considerate soul); it's more that I feel incapable of making contrived helpful posts, when there is a shotgun to my head. It feels to me, as if I am being asked to act dishonestly.
It's not at all, that I just don't want to be helpful.
I have also put in countless hours, crafting my skill.
I'm actually also wondering if this is the right place for me. I'm a game developer, and in the process of porting a game to the Android platform (mostly I work on iOS). The kind of advice I'm looking for pertains to game development on Android, and I'm not sure if that's the focus of this forum?
The question I posted in the Q&A section, was related to sluggish touch input in a game I'm porting. I'm not sue the Q&A section is at all related to programming, though I could be wrong?
There are a bunch of debates/indignant threads, if you care
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1424
You're freely available to share your knowledge already. You don't need go have 10 posts to do that. It can be done by doing as I suggested before, answering peoples questions regarding the device you have.
The rules of xda ask that the posts new users make be helpful, because if they didn't, there would just be posts everywhere saying "thanks" or "good post" etc. As you can probably already see, there's loads of these posts as it is, so imagine how many there would be had these rules not been in place.
Each and every rule would've been thoroughly thought through and contemplated hundreds of times (at least) before they came into effect.
They're there because they work, while also bog driving away too many people.
There is a place for game development on here because as you may of may not have noticed, the majority of these device forums have a themes and apps section.
In there, you can find many a game which have been created by other members of xda.
On a final note, I won't discuss this further with you on this thread, because otherwise that's helping you get to 10 posts without actually helping out or contributing. That would defeat the purpose of my posts here.
If you wish to discuss it further, please feel free to PM me about it and I'll be glad to help you with any queries you have about this rule.
Successful troll is successful
I was frustrated too at first, but really? It is only ten posts man. Just refresh the general forum and find posts you can give a decent answer to. It isn't as bad as your making it seem.
KidCarter93 said:
If you wish to discuss it further, please feel free to PM me about it and I'll be glad to help you with any queries you have about this rule.
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I will do, I'll send you a PM, thanks. It may be in a few days though, just need to cool down a little. Have been frustrated at a number of things (not just this place), also super-frustrated regarding the technical issue I'm having with multi-touches.
I don't mind if you delete this post; I appreciate if could be construed as an attempt to sneak in an extra post. Ironically, it's not, it's just me honestly expressing myself.
So yeah, may well leave if for a few days to cool down, and come back to it.
Best Regards,
J.
Wrong section, topic has beaten to death, etc. Thread closed.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium