In the thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1069298
The admins posed this challenge:
For lack of a better alternative. I challenge anyone to come up with a better alternative, and share it with us.
After goodness knows how much time under this username, and a bit under another (which I also didn't post with) I have to admit that now when I was finally ready to share something with the community (specific to the Motorola Photon) that I ran into this well intended, but somewhat counterproductive at times limit.
The admins acknowledge this:
We get that people might have experience from other fora and think this is a little over the top for them, but there are rarely any developers amongst the people that want to create new threads. There are a few people with a genuine need to post a thread in the developmental fora (developers), these people can contact a moderator to help them get sorted.
However, I have very little time and don't plan to find a mod, convince them I'm legit, etc just to share something that doesn't benefit me (harsh, but true). I make custom ROMs and other bits for my own private use as I device hop every couple of months and don't share them, really, ever because I don't want to support anything (or risk liability in any way). Sometimes I'll run other people's work (CM rocks), but more often I'll try to do something hybrid or unique. I'm using the time I would have spent posting trying to contribute to the community in another way, this message.
So... that's all just context for my suggestion answering the admin's challenge.
When doing a "can user post" check and determining posting has not already been verified do the following
Pull the account creation date, pick an age (say 6 months) and older for additional checking. Accounts younger than 6 months get rejected like everyone does now
Display a page stating "Determining eligibility" and force them to fill out a CAPTCHA of some sort
Pull the page, section or forum access logs. Since I don't know what is stored, I don't know what can be pulled. However, if User created his account 2 years ago and has accessed 4 main areas, and 6 subtopics he's probably not spam. Continue checking
Flag users somehow when they visit developer forums. If I have only visited a single device's development forum, even if the account is 2 years old, maybe additional checking is warranted, maybe not. If I've hit 3 or more devices in a measurable way in that 3 years though, chances are I'm not a noob
Based on some calculation of forums visited, decrease the amount of posts needed to gain dev forum posting access (or waive it altogehter)
Looping in data about files downloaded would be useful here too. In practical terms this means more site tracking of users, which raises space concerns. My recommendation is not to track every page, only increment a specific dev forum counter for number of unique pages visited, one for pages revisited (as if you are checking on updates for a ROM) and files downloaded
Based on the above, you should have a workable experience driven decrement system by which posting access can either be granted or made easier for users who are legitimately competent to post in the dev areas.
Also, I thought I should post these non-development specific reasons to post in the development forums:
- Adding money to a bounty (such as the bounty to get the Motorola Photon's GSM unlocked for US Domestic Towers)
- Providing output from something they were requested to by devs (error messages, radio versions, etc).
That's pretty much it, but both can be useful. Might not have gotten Galaxy Tabs in the US unlocked for Voice and Data without people posting dumps after all, as I recall (not that they worked all that well, or on all carriers, but hey).
I will try to make it back to xda in the next couple of days or weeks to answer any questions this thread might engender but my time and attention is spotty so no promises. Please don't flame me, or send me nasty PM's. Or any PM's really - I literally just read a PM from 6 years ago on another forum I frequent. I never think to check them. If you want to contact me in a way that doesn't involve XDA, use Twitter. I'm ardosi, obviously.
Hope this is a marginally useful suggestion and not overly long winded
---------- Post added at 01:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:38 AM ----------
I will add one more thing... the increment system should be over time. So, someone with a 2yr old account can't just visit a dozen forums in an evening and be able to post. It's the persistant, ongoing access to multiple forums, revisiting some of the same threads and regular downloads from the dev section that should be giving the indication that this is *probably* not someone who is clueless.
It's all risk management obviously, but with some devices having very little developer activity at all, it would be nice to lean a little bit more towards allowing additional posting.
ardosi said:
In the thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1069298
The admins posed this challenge:
For lack of a better alternative. I challenge anyone to come up with a better alternative, and share it with us.
After goodness knows how much time under this username, and a bit under another (which I also didn't post with) I have to admit that now when I was finally ready to share something with the community (specific to the Motorola Photon) that I ran into this well intended, but somewhat counterproductive at times limit.
The admins acknowledge this:
We get that people might have experience from other fora and think this is a little over the top for them, but there are rarely any developers amongst the people that want to create new threads. There are a few people with a genuine need to post a thread in the developmental fora (developers), these people can contact a moderator to help them get sorted.
However, I have very little time and don't plan to find a mod, convince them I'm legit, etc just to share something that doesn't benefit me (harsh, but true). I make custom ROMs and other bits for my own private use as I device hop every couple of months and don't share them, really, ever because I don't want to support anything (or risk liability in any way). Sometimes I'll run other people's work (CM rocks), but more often I'll try to do something hybrid or unique. I'm using the time I would have spent posting trying to contribute to the community in another way, this message.
So... that's all just context for my suggestion answering the admin's challenge.
When doing a "can user post" check and determining posting has not already been verified do the following
Pull the account creation date, pick an age (say 6 months) and older for additional checking. Accounts younger than 6 months get rejected like everyone does now
Display a page stating "Determining eligibility" and force them to fill out a CAPTCHA of some sort
Pull the page, section or forum access logs. Since I don't know what is stored, I don't know what can be pulled. However, if User created his account 2 years ago and has accessed 4 main areas, and 6 subtopics he's probably not spam. Continue checking
Flag users somehow when they visit developer forums. If I have only visited a single device's development forum, even if the account is 2 years old, maybe additional checking is warranted, maybe not. If I've hit 3 or more devices in a measurable way in that 3 years though, chances are I'm not a noob
Based on some calculation of forums visited, decrease the amount of posts needed to gain dev forum posting access (or waive it altogehter)
Looping in data about files downloaded would be useful here too. In practical terms this means more site tracking of users, which raises space concerns. My recommendation is not to track every page, only increment a specific dev forum counter for number of unique pages visited, one for pages revisited (as if you are checking on updates for a ROM) and files downloaded
Based on the above, you should have a workable experience driven decrement system by which posting access can either be granted or made easier for users who are legitimately competent to post in the dev areas.
Also, I thought I should post these non-development specific reasons to post in the development forums:
- Adding money to a bounty (such as the bounty to get the Motorola Photon's GSM unlocked for US Domestic Towers)
- Providing output from something they were requested to by devs (error messages, radio versions, etc).
That's pretty much it, but both can be useful. Might not have gotten Galaxy Tabs in the US unlocked for Voice and Data without people posting dumps after all, as I recall (not that they worked all that well, or on all carriers, but hey).
I will try to make it back to xda in the next couple of days or weeks to answer any questions this thread might engender but my time and attention is spotty so no promises. Please don't flame me, or send me nasty PM's. Or any PM's really - I literally just read a PM from 6 years ago on another forum I frequent. I never think to check them. If you want to contact me in a way that doesn't involve XDA, use Twitter. I'm ardosi, obviously.
Hope this is a marginally useful suggestion and not overly long winded
---------- Post added at 01:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:38 AM ----------
I will add one more thing... the increment system should be over time. So, someone with a 2yr old account can't just visit a dozen forums in an evening and be able to post. It's the persistant, ongoing access to multiple forums, revisiting some of the same threads and regular downloads from the dev section that should be giving the indication that this is *probably* not someone who is clueless.
It's all risk management obviously, but with some devices having very little developer activity at all, it would be nice to lean a little bit more towards allowing additional posting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i totally agree. the newly registered would think twice when posting clutters. they would have to wait all over again as the result is punishment.
Related
I'm really frustrated with this forum. I was about to become a lurker again and stop contributing, but I realized that this is not the solution.
Since the Kaiser forums are the most active forums on the entire site, we need some changes to make it better for all.
What I'd like to see done to help the situation is the following:
(edit) A wiki that's easier to edit and navigate, e.g., mediawiki, which would mean
More folks updating the wiki with the ability to edit subsections
More folks viewing the wiki with auto-created tables of contents
(edit)A single 'post your questions here' newbie thread to limit the amount of new threads created
(edit2)A thread or wiki entry linked at the top of every forum with proper forum etiquette.
(edit2) idea about restricting users according to post count removed
All of these suggestions will make this site more manageable and usable for all.
If you have any ideas, comments or opinions for or against, or just want to add to the list of suggestions, I look forward to them.
UPDATE 03-13-08
Thanks to Flar and the mods for pushing for new forums! Hopefully these changes, along with more member contributions, we will be able to fight back the redundant thread problem. I've noticed that quite a few senior members have taken a similar stance as I have with new users & redundant threads. I've been trying to either:
Giving the new user a search term (that we know will help), or
given the new user a way to navigate and use the resources here, mostly created by us to prevent users from asking questions in the first place, or
given the noob the links he wanted.
If you're genuinely interested in helping others, you'll realize that two of the three ways actually teach a person new things, which means they'll be better off on their own, while #3 only encourages them to ask more questions.
Finally, for all of you that may be new or have less post counts, it's not the amount of time you've been here reading, because that's not contributing back to the community. So my suggestion to you would be to come back and re-read this thread after you've contributed back to the forum by having at least 500+ genuinely helpful posts and see if you feel the same way.
And I don't mean suggestions to fix a soft key issue by bashing the keyboard with a screwdriver, like someone who has flamed this thread
_Alex_ said:
I'm really frustrated with this forum. I was about to become a lurker again and stop contributing, but I realized that this is not the solution.
Since the Kaiser forums are the most active forums on the entire site, we need some changes to make it better for all.
What I'd like to see done to help the situation is the following:
Restrict new threads to members (30 posts), forcing junior members to reply to existing threads. If new threads continue to be a problem, increase the limit to senior member status (100 posts).
More folks updating the wiki
actual comments for wiki updates so folks know what's new(I'm guilty of not doing this too) or an actual what's new page.
Both of these suggestions will make this site more manageable and usable for all.
If you have any ideas, comments or opinions for or against, or just want to add to the list of suggestions, I look forward to them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't agree more. A big part of the problem is the refusal of some to read or search before posting. When they don't get an immediate answer in an existing thread they start a new one. Maybe the answer is to allow the number of daily posts to be restricted by member status, with senior members being unresticted and moving downward from there.
To bad you can't put all of the threads inside the new sticky. That way, to post a new thread, you had to go thru the new sticky. Other than that, the only option I can think of is to hunt the redundant thread poster down and dismember them slowly on live t.v. broadcasted only to XDA members.
Edit:
I personally vote for my second option.
Agree with both suggestions. Mods...any comments? I have not dealt with forum software before...are those restrictions able to be implemented with this forum?
I've always liked the idea of limiting new people from starting threads, but I don't think we can judge on number of posts. I think this will just end with people joining, throwing an extra 30 useless posts into the first threads they come across, then posting their question thread.
I've always liked the idea of making someone wait 24 hours between registering and posting AT ALL. This way, we can still help those people with a genuine problem fairly quickly (rather than making them wait a week) but still weed out those who ask questions that could be answered by 2 seconds of thinking or looking.
Just my 2 cents!
Great suggestions _Alex_. There should be a stew time for new forum members. A 30 post limit should do it because by then one should have learned a little bit at least.
And now that there's a Google search box near the top of the page HOPEFULLY that cuts down on redundant new post.
@kwickone - Yes, it's possible and quite easy at that.
maybe there should be a noob section like hofo has for banned members. and you have to wait a while before you can post in the regular threads. then wait even longer before you can start a new thread.
Perhaps a rethinking........................................
Okay, this is a common problem on here. Over and over -- endless threads on this subject. It cannot be solved with current technology.
Embrace the problem.
Sandwich method:
Commend them on their new purchase of the new phone they got. Great!
Then advise them to search. Read and learn.
Then Commend their enthusiasm for Any effort they show.
...
Have a 1 month waiting period before being able to post & 3 months before before starting a new thread.
Just my thoughts....It has gotton out of control.
This forum has turned into a user manual / tech support.
sd73ta said:
maybe there should be a noob section like hofo has for banned members. and you have to wait a while before you can post in the regular threads. then wait even longer before you can start a new thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There already is a noob section...the problem is no one reads it!
I waited 3 months before my 1st post or flash. I shadowed the threads, followed the chefs at that time (Faria, Molski, Xelencin, Risidoro) and watched the results of people flashing their ROMs. I waited till all was clear before I flashed.
Nowadays, people are buying expensive devices and just jumping into deep water without knowing how to swim and the cry to the lifeguard for help.
Would there be any way to link keywords to threads that already exist before its posted... eg if I started a thread re "no sound help me I dont read"... before it posted a list of threads that exist already would pop up saying something like have you looked at these...? perhaps wikis could be linked in the same way... or is this not possible...? cheers
dwny said:
Have a 1 month waiting period before being able to post & 3 months before before starting a new thread.
Just my thoughts....It has gotton out of control.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not very userfriendly for people who do search before posting. Considering not every new user who joins the forum is a "lazy" noob.
Maybe it is an idea to have it a bit like the "Facepunch forum" of GMOD. (for non gamer, it a HL2 mod forum) They had exactly the same problem only a little bit bigger then it is on this forum.
They solved it by some sort of rate system. Forum users can rate a post. If a user get a certain amount of negative points he is banned from the forum for 24 or something like that. You can also rate someone if he makes clever remarks or usefull contributions and rate him with a "thanks!"
This way people know they are being watched for stupid questions that are posted over and over again and search before they do something stupid. After all, saying stupid thing will cost you a time ban.
If you want to know exactly how it works. Register at the facepunch forum to check it out. It really does work. http://forums.facepunchstudios.com/
Shadowdh said:
Would there be any way to link keywords to threads that already exist before its posted... eg if I started a thread re "no sound help me I dont read"... before it posted a list of threads that exist already would pop up saying something like have you looked at these...? perhaps wikis could be linked in the same way... or is this not possible...? cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even from my rudimentary knowledge of PHP based forums such as XDA, that would be extremely prohibitive in terms of processing power. Context-sensitive searching (even cached) is very resource intensive, and even implementing it on the Kaiser section ONLY would probably bring the boards to an impressive crawl.
Have a 1 month waiting period before being able to post & 3 months before before starting a new thread.
Just my thoughts....It has gotton out of control.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This seems a bit extreme. I bought my Kaiser and spent two or three days reading the wiki, boards, and specific threads about the Tilt. Still, I had a few questions that weren't addressed by existing threads and needed to start at thread. I agree with Alex's idea that there should be a delay (or post count check) for starting a new THREAD, but certainly not posting in general.
Likewise, I'm beginning to toy with cooking my own ROMs, and what if I was interested in starting my own thread to announce its availability? Certainly I shouldn't be required to append it to an existing (and likely unrelated) thread?
To the OP's original concern, I don't think it's a terribly unique thing to XDA. I frequent many forums, and it happens everywhere, particularly those which address technology or relationships. Everyone seems to think that their issues are unique and that they won't be covered in an existing topic. Likewise, many people just aren't comfortable with reading technical specifications, instructions, or explanations. I have dozens of friends capable of READING manuals for the devices they own and getting exactly what they need, but they don't trust the accuracy of the information unless I tell it to them myself.
Reading a bunch of instructions and trusting they are accurate is much scarier than having someone explain it to you, even if they're just regurgitating information already contained in dozens of wikis, texts or posts. This is the primary reason we have TEACHERS; most people are capable of reading everything they need to know, but prefer to have someone relate it to them in a way which caters to their understanding.
Long-winded thoughts aside, I agree with Alex's suggestions in their entirety.
i dont agree with the whole 30 or 100 postsbefore starting a tread but i do agree with the fact that it's annoying to read the same stuff over and over again people comming in with the same problems and questions but there are also people like myself that are longtime members but actually do read alot of posts so that they dont need to ask anything and dont make the 100 or so recommended post before starting a new tread..
but thats my opinion
I don't see how not being able to start a new thread will help.
Assuming I actually did search for my answer and wasn't able to find anything, where would I turn? If I can't start a new thread, I would have no choice but to hijack a different thread. That would probably upset the people involved in that thread more than creating a new thread that they could easily ignore.
How about the new thread button routing through search? So that when you entered the title, it did the search, and at the bottom of the search results there was the button that actually started a new thread.
Steal Google's Idea
Okay, How bout this:
When you open www.xda-developers.com you get this:
A Huge Search Box. Nothing else. You Have to go thru the search box to Even access this site.
?????
...
Jewcookie said:
This is not very userfriendly for people who do search before posting. Considering not every new user who joins the forum is a "lazy" noob.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a matter of setting standards....there are none here!
If you know what the rules are, then you'll follow them....but you have to have rules 1st.
tdsuen said:
I don't see how not being able to start a new thread will help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's where the problem lies.
How many new issues are there actually? Most of the issues are when people have a problem with a specific ROM. What's been happening lately is that the Rom threads are huge now and to gain attention to their inquiry, people are starting new threads. If you take a look at who's doing this, it's members under 3 months
(Just my opinion & observation)
zcink said:
Okay, How bout this:
When you open www.xda-developers.com you get this:
A Huge Search Box. Nothing else. You Have to go thru the search box to Even access this site. ?????
Okay still Drunk at the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL... It's great to see a drunk guy contributing to this thread as it adds a touch of humor to the entire situation
FWIW, one of the new members decided to post their opinion about our frustration venting over in the regular Kaiser forum (which I read very infrequently because I know that's going to be filled with support requests).
I'm wondering how many new users will chime in on that thread...
arrogance and elitism (were all here for the same thing)
Why not add a few more Mod's and just delete them (threads or posts) quick and easy? Have an automated response to the person that: "the answers you needed were already posted in another thread".
dwny said:
It's a matter of setting standards....there are none here!
If you know what the rules are, then you'll follow them....but you have to have rules 1st.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree that there needs to be some forum etiquette that needs to be followed, especially regarding new threads. The question is how we go about enforcing it...
Hopefully the mods/admin will read this thread and take our suggestions to heart.
Sober
Okay
A totally Sane -- Sober guy -- was just joking bout the drunk part.
A Huge Search Engine
You have to go thru the search Engine box to enter this site.
You can't miss.
Anyone who does not search will be Shot On site and put into the Ovens!
Right, so as a small group of you may be aware (And those that read my signature too), I have a keen interest in porting google android to mobile devices. Now a particular topic about the Dell X50v recieved a bit of attention, and a small site grew out of it, unfortunately, my dell died and I stopped visiting the site, and the few (25) users gradually drifted away from the project.
Now i've bought a website, set up my own server, and the site is up and running (Check my signature)
Now I obviously want this to take off, and I was going to make a post in General/Hacking + Development on XDA-Devs, as pretty much every device forum has a post "I want android on X device plz!!" here.
I had a look about the Q+A sections and Rules and saw nothing forbidding this, though many forums i've frequented disallow advertising of websites unless in a specific section. I figured this would be a pretty big thing here if it took off, so I wanted people to be aware of it.
So the upshot of this question is: Should I bother creating a thread basically advertising this website?
well first advice i would give is not to crosspost, not that im saying you would, just a precaution
secondly stick to one post and update that one only
thirdly only offer the site address if you think the person needs to have it
Thanks for the help, as you can see, I have a habit of rambling! Would it be acceptable for me to write a draft of the topic here before posting it so you can offer advice?
With the general feeling of disappointment (and even hate) around, I thought I'll take this moment out to thoroughly explain what has been done, and why it has been done.
Have a look at the list below:
Singapore Galaxy S4
Australian Galaxy S4 owners thread
Pakistani Galaxy S4 Owners Thread
Brazilian Galaxy S4 Thread
Galaxy S4 Philippines
Bangladesh Galaxy S4
Indian Galaxy S4 Owners Thread
[malaysian i9500/i9505 thread]
Ireland/UK Galaxy S4 Thread
Lebanese Galaxy S4 Thread
Sweden S4 Thread
Now ask yourself these questions:
Do you actually need these many country threads?
There are 190+ countries in the world, and with a global launch for the S4, does each and every country require it's own thread? If you answer "No", then you are biased in thinking that country A needs a thread whereas country B doesn't.
And what's to say that a single thread is sufficient per country? For example, my own state is larger in area and population than many European nations. So why shouldn't I have my own state thread? The state itself is too big, and a city based thread would be more localized. Maybe I, as a user, should create one. Or maybe a locality based one would solve all my woes.
The question here is, at what point do we draw the line? This is no easy question to answer, because try as much as we may, no one solution will please all.
Yes, we understand that when the phone launches (even during pre-launch), there is general excitement and frenzy all over. And at these times, such threads become helpful. They allow people to gather information at the time when there is no clear answer with everybody. The device is relatively new, and people are ignorant of what the best deal may be.
Fast forward to two months after launch. Do you still require region specific threads? Wouldn't it be easier if you just paid a visit to your local market or your online store to find out the current market prices, check the online review stores for the best set of accessories, contact your provider's Customer Service to find out their LTE rollout plans, etc?
XDA is not the answer to everything. Yes, a lot of people rely on researching the forum to see if there are hardware/software issues before they buy a new device. But to say that the sole purpose they joined was to find the best contract they can avail from Three, then I must say, they joined for the wrong reasons.
We aren't a consumer oriented website. We are a developer's website, but we do allow plenty of leeway to non-developers. We realize that everybody starts small, and we really appreciate the people who actually take the efforts to start. But certain things are better considered as "privileges" and not "rights".
"They shouldn't have closed down the threads. They weren't useless."
- I honestly doubt if any moderator has called any of those threads as useless. Even in my closing posts, I have acknowledged the fact that the team considers these threads as useful. It's just that, they have served their time well, and all of them have started pointing towards the more generic topics of discussion, and hence, needed to be retired from duty. [Example: In a bunch of threads, the conversation topic was the latest firmware that dropped in another country thousands of kilometres away.] Essentially, people were talking the same things, but in different groups.
"You call yourself a community. Yet you do not allow communities to exist"
- We at XDA, are a community in ourselves. When people further attempt to create communities in the open fora, they are in fact dividing the existing one. We do not need this type of segregation, when there no longer exists need of one.
How many Malaysian users frequented the Indian thread, or how many Brazilian users helped around in the Philippines thread? (Just examples used to drive the point across). People can still roam around, but do they?
"These threads helped newbie's to start with their device. The people are really helpful, and answer any questions asked."
- Yes, again, Fact Acknowledged and a virtual pat on the back for everyone who helped :good:
But isn't that the purpose with which the "[HELP THREAD] Galaxy S4 | Ask any question | Noob friendly." thread (and the Q&A section at large) was made? Imagine, if people from one community are so helpful, if everyone chimed in and helped people around, you'd actually be increasing your scope from inter-region to international.
You see a question asked, and you have the knowledge and will, you answer it, irrespective of the user being from your country or not, asking in your thread or not. If you see someone genuinely taking efforts to help someone else out, you hit the "thanks" button for them and give them a pinch of motivation
TL;DR, things don't need to be restricted to your subscribed threads. There's a largely unexplored forum out there, waiting for you.
As a matter of fact, the early bunch of pm's I received after the closures were made, were people who thought/assumed that only their own thread was closed. They failed to notice at that moment that a bunch of them were closed at the same time.
People who frequently roam around the General subfora would even acknowledge the fact that the threads had started to clog. The regional threads notice a high turnover and this results in all of them sitting at page one. This barely leaves room for other threads to be noticed.
The S4 had ~13 regional threads, and as per the forecasted trend, the Note 3 would have touched 20 regional threads by this time in its product cycle. The threads are made under the general moniker of "Availabilty and Deals", but a lot of them end up being "me-too" type threads. Country A has it, so country B should do too.
Question again, where do we draw the line?
It is also disappointing to hear the tone in some of the pm's. Much more disappointing is the fact that people call us "fascist" and compare us moderators with controversial historical figures, while all we are doing is trying to manage a forum while having a broader line of sight. Have we really wronged you so much by closing a thread, so as to be deserving of such hate?
No, we do not ban people just because they questioned a moderator's action. We simply request you to be polite and do it via pm, not as public posts. We are tolerant and will accept constructive criticism as feedback.
We haven't taken any action against misue of "official" in thread titles, while we could have very well infracted the erring OP's on misrepresentation and action without authorization. We can and we should have, but have we done so? No, we haven't. And this by itself is a testimony to the fact that we are tolerant to a really large extent.
Then you have posts like "Moderators are stupid, they don't know how to manage", which are no better than the newbie's post in a dev thread which says "My wifi broke. Fix it" without any additional details. Where is the constructive criticism in this? At the very least, work with us to solve the issues. Simply escalating problems isn't good for the community and might even worsen the situation.
Again, we are emphasizing the fact that these threads were useful. But the decision to close down a large number of these was one of the toughest ones that we have ever taken. As mentioned previously, it has been discussed to death. All possibilities, angles, point-of-views, were taken in mind before we came to a conclusion. Decisions aren't just abruptly taken.
In fact, the right decision isn't always the most popular one, as we have experienced here firsthand. We aren't looking around for threads to close in other devices as of yet. But if the need arises, and decision is to be made, then decision shall be made (on case by case basis).
In future devices, these threads aren't "banned" per se. Users are still free to create one when the device is just born/young. But do bear in mind that sometime in the future, they may get closed.
As for the Galaxy S4, this is the end of regional threads (except the ones exempted on hardware differences). Any more threads/retakes will not be allowed in the subfora. Please respect this decision.
"What do we do know?"
- As my teammates have mentioned (and as has been discussed via pm with some of you), the Social Groups feature of XDA is vastly left unutilized. You are free to create your own country, city, toy club groups. And as long as things remain within the forum rules there, they shall be allowed. Talk OT, availability, accessories, whatever you wish. Just abide by the forum rules, and report in case of problems That is all we ask :good:
If you pm me the link of the XDA social group that you have created for your country thread (provided one doesn't exist already), I'll edit the closing post and direct users towards them :good:
"Will you place links to our groups made on popular social networking sites?"
- I'm afraid we can't do that. We restrict ourselves to things concerning XDA.
We hope this clears up a lot of questions that people had in mind.
Thank you for your patience and co-operation
Moderator Team
Samsung International
My question is partially for site moderators (this kind of thing isn't breaking any rules is it?), but anyone with feedback for me would be much appreciated.
I'm currently taking a college statistics course and have a requirement to conduct a survey as a class project (lame, I know). My question (basically the TL;DR of this post) is whether it would be appropriate to post a link to a Google Docs form or something similar for the purposes of asking some basic questions about the users of this site, with all answers being anonymous and the intention of posting the results for anyone who wants to see?
I realize that the forum already offers the option to post a poll, however it seems that you can only ask one question at a time, and I'm more interested in making a small, quick survey of say, 10-15 questions. That being said, if it would be better for me to simply make several polling posts in their respective categories, please let me know.
A few of the questions I would ask are age (broken down into several broad categories, no specifics), gender and region (North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania/Australia, etc.) in order to establish basic demographic stuff, and then questions about modding/developing habits. Some samples might be:
'What is your interest in XDA-Developers? Development, community, education, or resources for tweaking your devices'
'What kind of modifications do you usually make to your devices? Rooting, custom ROM, custom kernel, custom recovery, or more app-based customization'
'If you are a developer (and another question for end users), how long have you been involved in creating software? Days, weeks, 2-6 months, 7-12 months, 1-3 years, or even longer'
In addition to multiple-choice questions, I would ask a few more open-ended questions such as 'What brought you into the smart-device development space?'
Being only a student project, my aim is not to be too caught up in obtaining a representative sample (I realize the people willing to take such an informal survey may be very few), or attempting to make broad statements about XDA users, but merely as more of a curiosity. In addition, I will post a small analysis of the responses under the same thread, for anyone interested, but I will not submit or publish this info to any other public entity, nor will I ask for people's identifying information such as name, email, or anything else beyond basic demographics. If I receive ten responses, that's fine, if I receive a hundred, awesome.
In essence, would a post of this type be acceptable somewhere on the forums, and if so, is there a best sub-forum under which to post it? Does anyone have any feedback or criticism about this project? Thanks for any responses, and while I haven't yet been active on the forums (I believe this is my first post), I have been reading, learning, and absorbing the information on this site for some time, and have found the expertise of this user base in my own journeys in modifying my devices invaluable.
As a disclaimer, I'm a light participant, I like to root and play around with custom roms and have been lurking around for a few years learning from XDA. That said, though I don't wish to join any wars, I do feel it necessary to call this as I see it. This was just my experience, and seeing what I view as hypocrisy, deception and retaliation, felt I should post it. Ymmv
Short version, echoe banned me, deleted all my posts, and labeled me a "Major C**t", for simply asking a question and calling out their hypocrisy and deceitful behavior. I've paid for their apps before, but I'll stick with XDA exclusively now. Echoe seems to keep evolving and making new reasons to charge for content, always under the premise of theft by some XDA developer. Yet after this incident, it's clear to me Echoe simply wants to be paid for their work, which is fine on the surface, and I previously did just that to access current AEL kernel development. But in practice they seem to just flame XDA and develop new revenue schemes on that premise. Then deceive, edit posts, and ban users (paid users mind you) for simply asking what's up with your access policy and why the policy mysteriously got edited?
Background, I previously had used the AEL kernel on my Sprint Note 4 (N910P). For various reasons Echoe had chosen to leave XDA, but you could access content from their forum. Then you needed a pro app if you wanted to access content sooner than it was posted to their forum. So, I purchased the pro app and was a member in their forum.
Fast forward a few months, I'm now done with my Note 7 debacle and back to my Note 4. Check playstore for echo creations pro update and no go, so is gone. Go to the echoe forum (echoerom.com) to see what's up.
I see this post http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...w-to-access-the-private-non-stop-development/
Indicating "Premium" content for a fee, with access to private forums being granted free to members registered at least 9-12 months.
As i have no access to this new "premium" content, I posted a thread stating I've not visited the site in awhile, but according to that post, I should have access, unless I read it wrong.
I recevied one reply, linked to the post I referenced, except the post was now edited to remove any reference to free access to this "premium" content for prior members. See edited post here http://www.echoerom.com/thread/1742...on-stop-development/?postID=245814#post245814
As I was certain that post was edited, and with my original thread being locked after just that one reply to edited post, I naturally inquired through a new thread. Including links to the cached version and questioning the now locked thread.
Which resulted in all my threads/posts being deleted, being banned, and of course the deragoty label.
So yeah, beware of www.echoerom.com and their constant evolving revenue schemes, and especially of their closely held non-public forum.
It's funny when people think they can just do whatever they want and assume others are too stupid to their blatant attempts to deceive. The funnier thing is, had I received some kind of response indicating I for whatever reason still needed to pay the "premium" fee, I likely would have. The whole deceitful response was unnecessary.
...Just wondering what you are expecting from all this?
DSA said:
...Just wondering what you are expecting from all this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing, just putting it out there to inform people. I'm positive there's talented developers over there, but if anybody is considering paying for access there, expect that to be temporary until they come up with a new fee. It's a shame because they could just be upfront and honest and people would likely pay.