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Request: New Forum

Hello,
While the thread for questions in the Development forum seems to be an o.k. idea, I believe that there should be an entire forum dedicated to questions. The questions thread seems to have become a mess, with a ton of discussions all mixed into one giant thread.
I think that an entire forum should be dedicated to just questions and answers, instead of just one thread. Shorter threads allow users to find information more quickly, and also makes information easier to find in a search.
I don't know if this is the completely wrong place to post this or not, but I just think that this needed to be seen, and that things could be made more simple and easy.

YES! great idea (no sarcasm)
we totally need this. people don't know where to post their question and they end up posting in either development (Where its not supposed to be) or the thread of the program that they need help with (where it never gets answered)
BRILLIANT!

Any moderators thoughts on this?

isn't the whole forum concept about asking and answering...
there is no need for aditional forums
why would you ask questions about eg artemis in some "qestions forum" when you can ask it in the artemis forum,where others have artemis and experience with it
i mean i get bugged by questions that are asked 1000times but the new forum would be useless

farukb said:
isn't the whole forum concept about asking and answering...
there is no need for aditional forums
why would you ask questions about eg artemis in some "qestions forum" when you can ask it in the artemis forum,where others have artemis and experience with it
i mean i get bugged by questions that are asked 1000times but the new forum would be useless
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The "General" forum has so many hits because many users have dealt with multiple devices. So, if there was in fact a "General Questions" forum, the Development & Hacking thread wouldn't become so cluttered with random questions, along with the sticky thread.

Raphael Questions & Answers: All in one thread, or all in a new subforum?

So, should questions and answers remain in a single thread as they are now, or are they better of in their own Q&A subforum, with a separate thread for each topic?
Yes I know this is a new thread but I think it qualifies for one

this is gonna get merged into that big thread!!!
i think it should be a sub forum because:
1) the links don't redirect you to the post, it only takes u to the thread, which is huge
2) sometimes the answer is 10 pages behind the question, completely out of order

There is already an extire Q&A subforum. There are a lot of very wonderful users helping out over there. We probably wouldn't even need a Q&A thread here if people would just post their questions in a thread that already addresses the topic, or actually search before starting a new thread. Either way, this topic has been addressed before, and we're not gonna add device specific Q & A subforums at this point.

It's not hard to see which way this poll's gonna go!

It realy should be a sub forum, but it don't need to be a device spesific subforum. As long as the question have a tag for what device it's about.
The problem with the long Q&A thread is that it's impossible to search up anything in it. You can search and find someone that have asked the question you wanted to ask, but there is no way of searching where the answer is.
I do see some benefit in one long Q&A thread, that is to ask stupid question that most other forum users know, but if it's a more difficult question that only a handfull of member can answer it needs to have a own thread.
As it was pointed out one of the most important thing to do is to make sure everyone makes good topics for their threads. If someone make a thread called "Help, it doesn't work" they should be banned for like a week.

The Avatar said:
It realy should be a sub forum, but it don't need to be a device spesific subforum. As long as the question have a tag for what device it's about.
The problem with the long Q&A thread is that it's impossible to search up anything in it. You can search and find someone that have asked the question you wanted to ask, but there is no way of searching where the answer is.
I do see some benefit in one long Q&A thread, that is to ask stupid question that most other forum users know, but if it's a more difficult question that only a handfull of member can answer it needs to have a own thread.
As it was pointed out one of the most important thing to do is to make sure everyone makes good topics for their threads. If someone make a thread called "Help, it doesn't work" they should be banned for like a week.
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There already is a Q & A subforum, so i'm not sure why everyone keeps asking for one. As for the Q & A Thread, I think people forget that it's not intended to be a resource like the wiki. I created it as a safe place where users can ask the same silly questions as many times as they need to. Most of the time if users had really searched then they would't be creating new threads constantly anyway, but rather they'd find the answer or post in another thread on a related topic. I think a lot of the confusion is caused by people thinking that the Q&A thread is supposed to a searchable resource. IMO if the answer isn't really eays to find in the Q&A thread you should just ask it again. I have tried to monitor the responses to make sure people aren't flaming users for now searching, as that thread is a flame free zone.

What differentiates General from Q&A?

With all these threads being moved about quite actively, and that may be a good thing, I myself am not schooled on the difference between what constitutes a general purpose thread versus one that should be considered more of a Q&A type thing. For instance, aren't 90% of the threads here in this forum begun as questions that are missing a question mark in the title? Ether the OP had forgotten to indicate the existence of a question in the thread title or the title is misleading, because invariably, you will find in the OP, you guessed it, a question. So, what's the dealy-o?

General: "The MyTouch 4G looks AWESOME in red!!!"
Q&A: "Does the MyTouch 4G look awesome in red???"
That's about the only diff I've been able to tell

I have to kinda agree. I tried to implement a well known and proven successful thread from WM here, to have place for answers to commonly ask questions with answers in a single thread closed to other post where anyone with a question could look to see the answer before posting. Mainly for Android development but it go shot down by the Moderator. IMHO General should be a place to ask all general questions so the Q & A section is pointless.

Shouldn't this be in the Q&A thread? LOL, just kidding
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Q&A section is for questions that have a clear cut answer. General if for a community discussion about a subject. I try to evaluate each thread as if it is for discussion or for Q&A, and sometimes it's hard and I get it wrong. If I do and you feel I made a mistake, feel free to shoot me a PM with your reasoning and I'll take a second look.
Thanks,
Korey

Whosdaman said:
Q&A section is for questions that have a clear cut answer. General if for a community discussion about a subject. I try to evaluate each thread as if it is for discussion or for Q&A, and sometimes it's hard and I get it wrong. If I do and you feel I made a mistake, feel free to shoot me a PM with your reasoning and I'll take a second look.
Thanks,
Korey
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Why not put a list of all the questions that have answers on the first post of your Q&A thread? Then once people get used to checking there first before posting, it will reduce asked question and unnecessary post.

bobsbbq said:
Why not put a list of all the questions that have answers on the first post of your Q&A thread? Then once people get used to checking there first before posting, it will reduce asked question and unnecessary post.
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Well that's kinda the point of the Q&A section. Users good just get use to searching as well

Whosdaman said:
Well that's kinda the point of the Q&A section. Users good just get use to searching as well
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Well whatever but as you and I know the majority of users will still not search so in theory it is good but in reality we know what happens. I had my doubts when the WM thread in chefs central started but I can tell you it made a positive impact and works very well, and to have all the solved questions and links to the solved thread in the first post for easy reference helps everyone. Sometimes even the search fails us. It is just a friendly suggestion take it for what it's worth.

Well if someone makes a FAQ thread and makes it look nice, and promises to update it often. I promise to sticky it

I think the two sections are pointless and should be merged as one or too many things are being moved to Q&A, i dont remember every single question being moved into Q&A on the vibrant forum

PolishDude said:
I think the two sections are pointless and should be merged as one or too many things are being moved to Q&A, i dont remember every single question being moved into Q&A on the vibrant forum
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o they do.... go look , and not everything is being moved from general sections. only cut and dry q&a threads. and im more efficient then most moderators as well jk'ing

Q&A section? Mod, please reply.

I want to start this thread by saying that I respect the mods in this forum, but I've got this question. There are a few sections for each phone at XDA; one of them is a General section, the other is Q&A.
More than half of initial threads start with a question, so why aren't the all moved to Q&A? And if this is the case, why bother having a General section anyway? This is a place to ask questions and receive answers and because most people spend their time between the General and Development sections, Q&A is overlooked many times.
I'm unhappy about having a legitimate question moved to the Q&A section, and that is my reason for starting this thread. I'd appreciate a mod replying and making the difference between the two threads clear. Thanks.

the Q&A section is the place to ask question.
that's is what it is designed for
all high volume sections have the Q&A section to keep Discussions/News and other important matters in General from Questions
You can still post to General as long as the Subject is not a question and the content is not a question, but rather some sort of statement with supporting facts, or leads, or an issue, and screen captures helps a lot in the discussion.
and for the record the Q&A section does work, else this would have not been seen

If your thread title starts with [Q] It belongs in the Q and A section

I didnt want to post this in any particular thread because i dont want to flame on anybody, but if your thread is a question about functionality, it does not belong in the general section. Please post things where they belong to help keep the place tidy. This sections should be for general discussion, not really troubleshooting. Thanks guys.

I have thought this (or similar things) over the last few days. More and more people seem to be posting very similar threads, and repeating questions that have been already asked (& answered) - not to mention threads that don't really seem to have a purpose.
As a fellow noob, I suggest that we don't clutter up the board with duplicate issues and things posted in the wrong forum. I don't want to wear out our welcome. We need xda!

Is there an easy way to move a thread if you have already posted it in general rather than Q&A?

I don't know if it's the same here, but at most boards I'm on you can ask someone to report your post and leave a message requesting that the thread be moved by the mod.
Usually you can't report your own posts, is why you have to ask someone else.

I'm bumping this so it hits the top again.