Forum Section Idea - Support vs Discussion

C

chris

Owner's Manual Reader
I would like to propose and request the addition of a new section on the forum called Support.

Many times here, innocent support requests become side-tracked due to discussion of opinion and other things that have nothing to do with actually helping out the OP.

A new section called Support would be solely for asking questions and for fact-based support and troubleshooting answers to help that question. Due to this "rule," these threads can be more heavily moderated to keep other discussion out of the threads and to keep them on topic. Furthermore, if you aren't sure of the answer you are providing, or aren't asking a question that moves the support effort forward, do not post an answer that is wrong or inaccurate, thus leading to more questions and confusion.

The new section could be titled something like "Unofficial support" or "Support from Forum Members" or something like that to indicate that it isn't actual FAS Support answering the questions.

All other current Forum sections can stay as is and can be for discussion, postulation, polls, opinion-based talk, etc. But if you want answers to specific problems or even general questions, the Support area would be used for no nonsense, no BS answers to actually solve the questions without side-tracked arguing.

There are many questions buried in the Axe-Fx II Discussion forum. Many go unanswered because they aren't seen or because they get side-tracked. Keeping a section solely for these types of questions will keep things organized and easier to find.

There doesn't even need to be a separation among Axe-II, MFC, etc. I think, since many things are used together anyway. Even AX8, FX8, Axe-Fx II could be all in the same forum to start.

If this gets created, I will participate a lot in it. If it isn't created, I think I will help people out via PM or other methods, as helping out in the Discussion forums lately turns into opinion-based arguments, which clutter up the actual help. It is tiring and frustrating to "fight" people when simply trying to help someone.

Thanks for the consideration. I think it will help the FAS Community greatly.
 
I agree, a couple of my threads have been lost under other post. This would be awesome!
 
I think it would be good to have an uncluttered place for users helping users. I'm not sure how our moderators would feel about adding heavily-moderated forum sections—AFAIK, they're volunteers—and I'm not sure how well forum-member restraint on the honor system would work. But maybe there's a workable solution.
 
Rex said:
I'm not sure how our moderators would feel about adding heavily-moderated forum sections
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oops, i didn't mean they'd have to moderate it constantly/a lot more than normal.

i just meant they can be more heavy-handed and for example delete posts if things get off-topic. i'm sure there are moments they "can't" do anything, yet it's clear that a thread needs to be controlled. just a thought.

on my site's forum, i made the Troubleshooting sub-forum such that only the OP and a certain group of forum members could post. anyone can be added - or removed - from the group allowed to answer. if no one in that group knows the answer, i move the thread to the discussion forum for anyone to reply. not many use my forum, but the proof of concept works and i think is a great solution. it starts in a "safe" place and if those generally knowledgable can't answer it, it's set free into the wild :p
 
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It sounds like your way works well for your site. There's a lot more traffic on Fractal's forum, and it could cause a big jump in the moderators' workload if there are forum sections they're expected review thoroughly.

But I'm getting dangerously close to speaking for the moderators, and that's not my place.
 
Rex said:
It sounds like your way works well for your site. There's a lot more traffic on Fractal's forum, and it could cause a big jump in the moderators' workload if there are forum sections they're expected review thoroughly.
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Understood. I'm not trying to make more work for moderators at all. I'm just suggesting a solution to support my idea rather than only suggest/complain. It may not work. No problem.

But perhaps there is a need for new moderators or different roles on the forum to assist the ever growing customer base. It is a frustration that is constantly told to me by people who email and PM and I'm just trying to help out. People ask for help here and many times are not helped at all or their thread goes crazy while they innocently stand by.

Support forums for any product are successful because they focus on support. Not discussion, not fighting. It seems because the Support and Discussion aspects are in the same places here, it can be difficult to support and get support sometimes.

A dedicated Forum Members Support section might help. If somehow it can be protected from being derailed by innocent misinformation and/or purposeful distractions, that'd be even better and much more useful.
 
I don't think that the current model is bad actually. Most questions get answered fast and accurate. Any discussion that spawns beyond that is usually post-solution.

Also, lots of questions asked are terribly unspecific, which causes most of the lengthy help threads we see here.


And let's not forget that there is an unspoken law on the internet that forbids the use of the search button. A dedicated forum section won't really help with that. People will still ask the same questions again and again, even if a thread about the same issue is only a few topics away.
 
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I actually kind of agree with Chris,

a dedicated place where people could get unofficial support would be a small but incremental step to better outcomes

if this section were moderated to exclude the guff and random and useful comments, it would be a wonderful thing

The trouble with good ideas on places like this and in life in general is , people go out of their ways to poke holes in them, and prove they wont work,
A) because its easy
B) People don't like change (musicians especially)
C) They have nothing more constructive to add

Anyway it has my vote, however unfortunately i doubt it will happen
 
I think it's a great idea. Even for people who simply does not need help, but comes here just to find something interesting to read on the Axe-Fx.

I also don't thinks there will be a lot of need for moderation: if you like to argue you will probably don't surf the "support" forums too much :)
 
Given human nature I'm sure many will bypass the proper venue (support) and still toss their inquires into Discussion figuring that is a more traveled path. With the FX8 and AX8 were nearing sub-forum overload. Not to mention 75% of issues could be resolved by doing a search, again human nature precludes such action.
 
It may take some time to get used to, as with anything.

But too many sub-forums is kinda my point as well. Lots of the gear is used together and many times the answer for an MFC question is actually solved on the Axe, for example. Discussions and opinions and requests and wish lists etc can all live in their respective sub-forums.

But I think "support" can live in one big forum, at least to begin with. If anything, I feel the FX8 is the only item very different than everything else which could have its own sub. But having it all start out in one might let us see the best way to shape it in the future.

I think (and hope) what GiRa said will be exactly how it goes. :)
 
Can it just be a redirect to either the Wiki or the search bar? :lol

Seriously though, I think it's a good idea too, but should be strictly limited to technical discussion and not include "how do I gets teh brootz" and other subjective questions.
It is typically the subjective nature that derails threads. That, and OPs fighting the answers they get.
 
Great idea Chris! I would love to see a support section in this forum that was separated from general discussion.
 
Great idea, Chris! I think the best argument for this is that it will probably be a lot easier and less time consuming for the forum barons like yourself, Yek and others to help people with their issues (Fractal Audio-related, that is ;) ) - since all the support questions would be located in one sub-forum. This would also benefit the community, as support questions would probably be answered more quickly.

I see that some might want to post in the main discussion anyway, but with the moderators following up and moving threads to the correct sub-forum; and the masters only answering support q´s when they are asked in the support section, I think people will catch on rather quickly.

You have my vote!
 
this is why I think we should all migrate the discussion to reddit. Chris, you would make a great moderator and we could use all the functionality of reddit, which would allow us to break subs into separate parts like this
 
Starfighter said:
only answering support q´s when they are asked in the support section, I think people will catch on rather quickly.
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this is the way to do it. it's up to the "residents" to lead by example, and not always expecting the new people to immediately know what to do. perhaps the support forum will start this trend.

tfodor said:
this is why I think we should all migrate the discussion to reddit.
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i think the main challenge is that many people sign up for this forum since it's official and then see no reason to sign up for anything else. i would guess that majority of users aren't privy to recent internet things like Reddit, stack exchanges, etc. even this forum stretches a lot of people with their computer usage.

even with my chatroom that doesn't require any signup, people don't like to use it because it's not "official" and not on a FAS domain.

i think this forum may be the way to go for now until we really hit a wall and people demand something else. perhaps the "tech support" forum could do great things in this current setup.
 
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tfodor said:
this is why I think we should all migrate the discussion to reddit. Chris, you would make a great moderator and we could use all the functionality of reddit, which would allow us to break subs into separate parts like this
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Cliff, M@, and everyone else worth listening to is here though. FWIW, I'm staying until they leave.
 
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