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**UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF POST***
**PLEASE , GIVE 3 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME TO READ THIS AND POST IF POSSIBLE**
Hey guys and gals. TweakMan here. Thanks for stopping in. First off , let me apologize for opening this thread. I am totally against opening any thread in the Development & Hacking section unless you are contributing, but this is my only option. So please read on, and show your support for XDA. It will only take a minute to read this, and decide. It takes less to post and show your support.
I opened the "General PPC Questions" thread at the top of this page almost 2 months ago. When I first opened this thread, I believed it would only have 10 to 20 posts max. Now , it has grown into a size I never believed. The amount of support everyone has showed for there fellow PPC users, is amazing!!
This one thread alone has helped answer over 150 questions! It has stopped almost 250 new threads from being opened for a simple question. It's done it's job, and I believe its served this site well!! I am in no way trying to take sole credit for this. All I did was open the thread. It is you amazing people that keep this thread alive and working.
I spend at least 2 to 4 hours a day trying to keep the "Answered & Unanswered Boards" updated, for easier use. But there are still maybe 20% of the original amount of new threads being opened. And I believe I have a solution.
I would really like to see a new section opened in this forum. General Questions. I would be willing to do all of the work, and put the same amount of time and more into it. There are a few features that would help this work. First, in the section, open only 5 threads at the beginning. Software Questions, Theme Questions, PPC Questions, Smartphone Questions, and Other Questions.
Also, and most importantly, make the entire section locked. This should be the only 5 threads that are able to be opened. This makes sure that the section isn't overrun with new threads everyday, making it impossbile to keep organized.
I have a lot of ideas that will make this work. And I promise you if you show your support here I will do my best to make it work as well as and better as the General Questions Thread. But I need your support to even get the moderators to consider this.
When I first posted the idea for the General PPC Question thread, I was flamed and told that it would never work. Look at how well it has done. There are over 300 users that are currently using this thread, with better results than any other site I've seen like this. So this goes out to all of you. Especially the users that use this thread for help. Give me one minute of you time and post a reply here showing you support this idea.
**IF YOU DO NOT SUPPORT THIS, PLEASE DO NOT POST HERE, THIS IS TO HELP XDA. THERE SHOULD BE NOT REASON TO CRITICIZE FOR THAT*******
**LOOK HOW MUCH WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH 1 THREAD!!!!!! PLEASE SHOW YOUR SUPPORT !!!
****************************************************************UPDATE HERE:
****************************************************************
Hey guys. Just giving you an update on the progress of our work here. I just sent the letter to the administrator of the forum, and am now in a waiting game to hear a response.
But until then , I hope you keep showing your support. Also, there are now at least 4 mods supporting this.
Thank you all for your support in this , and the already existing thread. Without you all, each and every one, this wouldn't even be a dream, and the other thread would have already crashed and burned.
And last but not least, Thanks for the ideas. Your guys ideas are what make the already existing thread work. I hope that it happens so that all of our ideas can continue to help clean up this site, and gain our once loved search function back to full capacity !! LOL
So keep the support coming guys. There are over 400 users that use the Questions thread. I hope that you all can return the favor, and show your support here for something that has helped you. This isn't for me, it's always been for XDA.
I will update you as soon as I hear back from the admin.
Keep your fingers crossed and keep showing the love for XDA!!!!
**ALL NEW UPDATES WILL BE POSTED IN THE SECOND POST FROM NOW ON**
RESERVED
This is reserved to update you on how this project is going.
**PLEASE GIVE 1 MINUTE OF YOUR TIME TO POST. IM SURE YOU'VE READ ALOT MORE USLESS THINGS HERE BEFORE. THIS HELPS XDA!!!************
Voted +1.
(What? we can't all have long threads )
Voted +2
its a great idea..im too getting annoyed by new post here and there..
Voted +3
great idea
An Alternative Suggestion
Tweakman,
Instead of implementing your suggestion why don't we create another forum called, say, "Development & Hacking Professional".
This new forum would be locked to all except those who had an application or development to submit. For an author to place his/her item in this new forum he/she would first have to submit their item to a moderator. If it passes the test then the moderator opens a thread in the new forum for that item.
All questions, etc, would be placed in the current Dev & Hacking forum which would, de facto, become the Questions & Answers forum you are seeking to create. The moderators could, over time, move development items already in the current Dev & Hacking forum into the new forum.
To make this work effectively, all developers would have to setup a wiki page for their development. Any valuable hints and tips, registry changes, tweaks, etc, would go into that wiki page as support for the developed item.
The upshot of all this is that if you wanted to find a developed application you search in the new Dev & Hacking Professional forum. If you want support you search the relevant wiki pages.
Searches become simple and fast, support is there without the developers being innundated with crap, and we all live happily ever after.
Just my penny's worth.
WB
PS: BTW, what I am suggesting is not difficult. We did something similar for Schaps when he was developing his roms and getting threads 1000 posts long, most asking the same question that had been answered only 2 posts up if people had bothered to read!
To reduce the support overhead on Schaps, myself and another user put together wiki pages for Schaps as a support and reference point and it worked! You still got the lazy fools posting already answered questions in the main thread; however the wiki page fast tracked any search for solutions to known problems, etc.
It can be done if there is the will by all to make this work.
Give me Moderator status and I will be more than happy to put some legwork in to make this happen.
Good idea tweakman. you have my vote.
@wacky
IMHO doing it your way sounds to me as damage control, while Tweakman's idea is (or should) target the root of the problem...
I do like the wiki idea though
on a side note i'd also like to see a "software request" section,
+1 vote... good idea
I posted a thread about this awhile back, I support this idea
THANKS
Thanks guys !! I wish as many that used the thead would give one min of there time for somethin thats helped so many. I am sending a request to the administrator in the morning, and alread have support from several mods. LETS KEEP TRYIN, IM ONLY DOING THIS TO HELP!!!!!! WEVE COME A LONG WAY WITH ONLY 1 THREAD!!! Almost 400 posts in 2 months!!!!
Yup, I support you too.
UPDATE
Thanks guys! Im sending a request to the administrator in the morning under recommendation from several mods, and those mods, are supporting us as well guys!!!!
So keep your fingers crossed and show the love you have for XDA!!! Simply post a quick reply sayin I SUPPORT THIS!!!
**LOOK HOW MUCH WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH 1 THREAD!!!!! SHOW YOUR SUPPORT !!!
keep it rocks
Count my vote
good idea, fully support this.
it would tidy the entire forum cos when you think zbout it a lot of the questions posted in the devices threads relate to more than one phone
+vote
D&H definitely needs cleanup.
EDIT: One more idea: what about creating a Themes/skins development section?
Great Idea!
You have my vote
I have seen so many noob's get flamed, and probably scared off the site forever, for asking simple questions that deserve to have a place to be answered.
Any member that dedicates posts to shaming someone, for what they post, should slap themselves. To those members; you were all noobs once, and now you've graduated to become full fledged ASSHOLES! Pull the stick out of your ass and get a real hobby. This is not your private club, and you definately do not look cool when you do **** like that.
XDA is a community for users of EVERY level. Cut new people some slack, quit playing little social exclusion games, and help someone out every now and then. As they grow in knowledge and understanding, they will treat others, on this site, the same way they were treated when they were beginners.
I THINK A GENERAL QUESTIONS SECTION IS AN EXCELLENT IDEA...NO JERKS ALLOWED!
One More
Good idea.
Not sure the post suggesting that a 'Development & Hacking Professional' thread is opened is a good idea though - we are trying to consolidate the information into one place, not spread it more thinly.
+1 from me!
+ 1
Ciao, Andrea
Im considering getting a Tab next month when im due for a upgrade. I've been using the HD2 forum for about a year (under different account, got temp banned lol).
I noticed a massive difference in the 2 sections and that's organization. HD2 has its n00bs posting random crap in random sections (which are moved after report) but for the most part its kept really organized. Now I've come to this section and no offence but this place is a real mess which im a bit gutted about as I really want a Tab but its going to be hard calling this place my new home with the current state.
For example the dev section is just a mess, Random crap posted everywhere that has nothing to do with development and should belong in the general section or Q&A if this section had one. I know there isnt much dev going on for the tab but the dev section should ideally be kept solely for posting dev work/tutorials etc.
Is there any mods assigned to this forum and is there any plans to tidy it up a bit?
PS. Sorry if ive come across as a bit of an arse, that wasn't my intention, I just wanted to say that this place really needs organising a bit.
I disagree...usually the junk gets moved to an adequate place pretty quickly. As I'm looking at page 1 of the Dev section, there are 3 posts that seem to be misplaced...hardly chaos. All the rest are directly related to Development.
Bandage said:
I disagree...usually the junk gets moved to an adequate place pretty quickly. As I'm looking at page 1 of the Dev section, there are 3 posts that seem to be misplaced...hardly chaos. All the rest are directly related to Development.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guess im just too used to the HD2 section.
Cant wait to get my Tab
Can't say I disagree! This sub-forum needs a bit of cleanup job!
Hey guys, me again this time I'm going to show you how to POST QUESTIONS correctly in the Q&A forums. I've had enough of seeing others trying to help when the OP himself/herself doesn't want to help make solving their problem easier for others. So I urge everyone to follow this method of posting questions in the future.
1. Post a suitable, descriptive title.
- Posting a suitable title will give other experienced users an idea of what their up against. That way, they will know what may be the problem and the solution to that problem at first glance.
- A suitable format would be ; [Q] (Insert problem here) (Insert ROM name here and kernel name if possible). One more thing to note ; if your problem is solved, add a [SOLVED] at the beginning of your title. That way, others can use your thread as reference in case they have the same bugs. It's much easier than opening 200 different threads with the same problem. Like the XDA video says, "You are not special.."
- DO NOT : Post titles that go "Heeelllppp meee plzzzzzz" "Pllzzzzz help !!!11!!" "Urgenntt haalp !!". It makes me sick to see titles like these. Not only do they have nothing to do with the question, it's irritating to see this 5 year old style of creating titles. Don't get me started with the spelling.
2. Be descriptive
- This is another problem I see these days. Don't just write something like "Hellp i flashed xxx ROM and now the phone act wierd". That doesn't help anyone. Not the OP nor the people trying to help. Instead be as descriptive as possible. State the ROM you're on, what kernel you used, any mods of tweaks you added, what you have tried so far. This will narrow down the problem and solution. Also, be as clear as possible on what your problem is.
3. Reuse, reduce, recycle
- As with the 3R's, it not only helps the enviroment, but the forums as well.
Reuse - If you have another problem closely related to your first problem, I highly urge users to EDIT their OP. There's an Edit button. Make use of it, not open 20 threads linking to the same problem.
Reduce - Reduce the amount of threads opened for a certain bug, especially if the said bug is quite popular in our forum. For example, if ROM X has a bug with camera, we don't need 10 people making 10 threads asking the same thing, especially when it's a well known bug.
Recycle - Search the forums instead of opening a new thread every time. If you find a thread where the OP has a similar question as you, you are much obliged to revive that thread. again, be descriptive because the OP may have posted that thread a year ago and things change here, A LOT.
4. Comparisons
- Please refrain from posting questions like "Which is better ROM X or ROM Y ?". This is not a question to be solved. This is strictly forbidden by the mods themselves. This hurts the developer.
5. ETAs
- Never open questions asking when an update will come for your favourite ROM. This act is strictly forbidden in the original ROM thread (asking for ETAs). So what makes you think opening a thread in the Q&A is any different ?
6. What are considered questions, stay in the Q&A.
- I cannot stress this enough. PLEASE POST QUESTIONS IN THE Q&A SECTION. No not the General section. Nope, not the Android Development section and hell no, not in the Original Development. I can say the same for some of the others. Why post Guides in the Q&A section, like how to dual boot roms or how to unlock bootloaders ?
7. How to...?
- I discourage many from posting threads on how to develop ROMS, THEMES, KERNELS. Those are things people learn on XDA. No one can answer that in a thread. I already see ROM/Kernel compiling guides all over the X8 forums. Be prepared to get your hands dirty tho.
8. Search search search
"Whatever your problem is, you aren't the first one to have it ! *whisper* It means the answer is already out there..." - Azrienoch in the Welcome to XDA video
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As quoted, please search for your problem before starting a new thread. It saves a lot of space in an already cluttered Q&A section. It also feels really good knowing you solved your problem by yourself instead of causing more problems for others.
9. Be grateful
- Finally, be grateful for ANY answer you get, even if it didn't solve your problem. Keep in mind, these people (like me) could have just seen your problem and scrolled past by, but they didn't. They took time out of their lives to help you, a total stranger in another part of the world. The least you can do is hit Thanks for them.
Note : If I missed out anything and you feel it should be added, please reply below
Hey guys, me again this time I'm going to show you how to POST QUESTIONS correctly in the Q&A forums. I've had enough of seeing others trying to help when the OP himself/herself doesn't want to help make solving their problem easier for others. So I urge everyone to follow this method of posting questions in the future.
1. Post a suitable, descriptive title.
- Posting a suitable title will give other experienced users an idea of what their up against. That way, they will know what may be the problem and the solution to that problem at first glance.
- A suitable format would be ; [Q] (Insert problem here) (Insert ROM name here and kernel name if possible). One more thing to note ; if your problem is solved, add a [SOLVED] at the beginning of your title. That way, others can use your thread as reference in case they have the same bugs. It's much easier than opening 200 different threads with the same problem. Like the XDA video says, "You are not special.."
- DO NOT : Post titles that go "Heeelllppp meee plzzzzzz" "Pllzzzzz help !!!11!!" "Urgenntt haalp !!". It makes me sick to see titles like these. Not only do they have nothing to do with the question, it's irritating to see this 5 year old style of creating titles. Don't get me started with the spelling.
2. Be descriptive
- This is another problem I see these days. Don't just write something like "Hellp i flashed xxx ROM and now the phone act wierd". That doesn't help anyone. Not the OP nor the people trying to help. Instead be as descriptive as possible. State the ROM you're on, what kernel you used, any mods of tweaks you added, what you have tried so far. This will narrow down the problem and solution. Also, be as clear as possible on what your problem is.
3. Reuse, reduce, recycle
- As with the 3R's, it not only helps the enviroment, but the forums as well.
Reuse - If you have another problem closely related to your first problem, I highly urge users to EDIT their OP. There's an Edit button. Make use of it, not open 20 threads linking to the same problem.
Reduce - Reduce the amount of threads opened for a certain bug, especially if the said bug is quite popular in our forum. For example, if ROM X has a bug with camera, we don't need 10 people making 10 threads asking the same thing, especially when it's a well known bug.
Recycle - Search the forums instead of opening a new thread every time. If you find a thread where the OP has a similar question as you, you are much obliged to revive that thread. again, be descriptive because the OP may have posted that thread a year ago and things change here, A LOT.
4. Comparisons
- Please refrain from posting questions like "Which is better ROM X or ROM Y ?". This is not a question to be solved. This is strictly forbidden by the mods themselves. This hurts the developer.
5. ETAs
- Never open questions asking when an update will come for your favourite ROM. This act is strictly forbidden in the original ROM thread (asking for ETAs). So what makes you think opening a thread in the Q&A is any different ?
6. What are considered questions, stay in the Q&A.
- I cannot stress this enough. PLEASE POST QUESTIONS IN THE Q&A SECTION. No not the General section. Nope, not the Android Development section and hell no, not in the Original Development. I can say the same for some of the others. Why post Guides in the Q&A section, like how to dual boot roms or how to unlock bootloaders ?
7. How to...?
- I discourage many from posting threads on how to develop ROMS, THEMES, KERNELS. Those are things people learn on XDA. No one can answer that in a thread. I already see ROM/Kernel compiling guides all over the X8 forums. Be prepared to get your hands dirty tho.
8. Search search search
Quote:
"Whatever your problem is, you aren't the first one to have it ! *whisper* It means the answer is already out there..." - Azrienoch in the Welcome to XDA video
As quoted, please search for your problem before starting a new thread. It saves a lot of space in an already cluttered Q&A section. It also feels really good knowing you solved your problem by yourself instead of causing more problems for others.
9. Be grateful
- Finally, be grateful for ANY answer you get, even if it didn't solve your problem. Keep in mind, these people (like me) could have just seen your problem and scrolled past by, but they didn't. They took time out of their lives to help you, a total stranger in another part of the world. The least you can do is hit Thanks for them.
Note : If I missed out anything and you feel it should be added, please reply below
Am I alone in thinking that every ROM/kernel/mod getting their own Q & A thread is messy, fragmented, confusing and generally Not A Good Thing?
They're here to stay unfortunately, mods choice, but sheesh.... Even more room for dumb questions that have been answered many gazillion times before.
My $0.02.
+666
Sent from my N9005
So, what, you want all 5,867,631 members posting every question they have about every ROM single in one massive topic? Or would you prefer that everyone makes a new thread for every question? Which will inevitably lead to thousands of people asking the exact same question over and over and over again, making a new thread for every single one.
Good luck sorting out that nightmare.
Information is much more specific, sorted and organised this way. You need specific information in a thread, that's what the 'Search this thread' bar on the top right side is for.
ShadowLea said:
So, what, you want all 5,867,631 members posting every question they have about every ROM single in one massive topic? Or would you prefer that everyone makes a new thread for every question? Which will inevitably lead to thousands of people asking the exact same question over and over and over again, making a new thread for every single one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my experience, the latter is exactly what's going to happen anyway. Always has been that way, always will.
Your point of view is cogent, logical and eminently sensible. And that's why this new system won't work - because those who can't /won't use search, read more than one post, start with "I've tried searching but it didn't help" etc continue down their diametrically opposed routes...
I also have read one dev stating that he wants no part of an extra Q & A forum and won't be replying to any questions there.
So who gains?
A further thought - from what I can see, the Q&A Bot seems to be triggered by questions in the ROM/kernel fora/threads, judging by the redirects to the new Q&A threads.
But some of the former threads are 20+ pages long. I cannot see how further fragmentation will possibly lead to less clutter. Duplicate questions answered in different sub-fora, and extra threads for people not to search in will be the result. Hope I'm wrong. But I'm not, wait and see
Here's a prime example....
In all honesty i dont care how they want to structure the forum.
I do personally think it should be the other way Around. i.e. The MAIN Release of the ROM is on the Q&A and people have to earn the correct Rep to post in the Dev Section.
Why...
Well most people on this forum dont know how to use a search function, So what better way, Post your question in one section
Then post it again in another section, Double the chances / speed of being answered.
If a user cannot google a question or search the forum, How do the expect to filter the stupidity down by opening a new thread for people to post stupid questions.
Each Thread Q&A has all the normal stuff it does right now.
The Thread links off to the Dev section, where you will need X Reputation in order to post stuff in the development section.
I think this would reduce the stupid question and leave the developers forum free for actual debug, issues and fix's being posted.
Regardless of what suggestions are made, They will never be taken on board. Mods aint what they used to be Maybe i have been here too long.
No disrespect of course