FAQ Forum

[jacmoe]

I wanted the poll to have an extra option: No, maybe later - but I fucked up ..


FAQ Forum

I think maybe the time has come when we need a separate FAQ forum - preferably placed on top as a read-only forum - moderated by a dedicated FAQ Team.

I looked at the Gentoo Forums - and they have a Frequently Asked Questions forum, which saves people from searching all over for frequent problems/answers/questions.

The dedicated FAQ Team could pick up questions/answers from the rest of the board.

For example ->

"No matching Glx Visual" error in Linux. Run glxinfo - if you have Mesa there - install video drivers - edit XF86Config - done!

"Ogre bombs out when trying to start SDL subsystem" - edit XF86Config and change default color depth to 32.

"How to install the Max exporter?"

"Milkshape3D hints."

"What is the motivation behind the directory layout in Ogre?" - answer.

"Why should I choose Ogre over other engines?"

"Ogre compared to Irrlicht, etc"

"Export tips"

"Stl-port installation"

etc.


What do you think?

[:wumpus:]

Yes, such a FAQ sounds like a good idea. Although we should be wary not to create too many subforums.

I'm not sure a subforum is the best FAQ format anyway. I like the indexed faqs with a lot of questions on one page more, especially if the answers are short you don't want too long clickpaths.

[jacmoe]

Yes, I had one Subforum with threads in mind.

[:wumpus:]

Can you set the length of a specific subforum with PhpBB? In the (theoretical) case we would have a lot of FAQs, some would end up on the second page. This would be bad. No new user ever goes there.

Furthermore, the 'time based' sorting order that a forum implies might not be best for a FAQ.

I guess I should take a look how gentoo solved this.

[jacmoe]

Well, they use a combination of Anouncements, Stickies and a clever Table of Contents.
The faq-topics are spread out on 2 pages, though.

[jacmoe]

The only problem with that clever Table of Contents / Navigation scheme is that - on my comp - phpbb2 opens up the link in a new window - slightly annoying ...
Cool idea, though

[myak]

Sure the FAQ forum is needed but who would have read/write access to it? Only moderators or..?

[jacmoe]

IMO - only members of the moderators group - otherwise it could be really messy!
FAQ contributions might be welcome, though.

It's up to the Ogre Team to decide on this.

[neocryptek]

Sounds like a good idea to me, should help stop alot of the same posts happening over and over again

The table of contents sounds like a good idea, just make sure it stays updated

-N30

[Antiarc]

Why not just have a sticky with a link to a traditional FAQ page at the top of hte "Help" forum?

[jacmoe]

@antiarc:
reason 1: Forum based FAQ -> easier to update, expand, manage.
reason 2: Folks don't have to leave the forum in order to prepare a post.
reason 3: FAQ first, Search next, Board third and (maybe) a new post last.
reason 4: Gentoo has it

It's like a supermarket: everything under one roof.
That's MO, anyway.

[Ctaesis]

It'd be slick if you'd set such a think up like http://blogs.msdn.com/csharpfaq

Then I could syndicate it, and such.

[jacmoe]

I am packing right now, and tomorrow I am leaving Oslo, Norway for Aarhus, Denmark.
It will probably take a while before I get settled there - I will have to get a job, a place to stay, a new computer and an internet connection - maybe a couple months.

The C# FAQ page looks cool - if noone else does one - and if we don't get a phpbb2 FAQ here - I will certainly do a FAQ page like that!

I will try and visit this forum from time to time - but I cannot count on having access to a comp with net. help

Anyway, I thought I'd bring about this FAQ idea before I left.

So long.

[jacmoe]

Still, for hassle-free FAQ maintenance, a forum based solution is the best, IMO.

[sinbad]

Yeah, I've gotten a bit behind on the FAQ - I used to use the PostNuke one on the main site, but my problem was keeping that and the HTML version in the docs in sync. Also, I never had time to figure out how to turn off people's ability to post new questions to it, which people kept doing instead of using the forums.

I'd prefer to have a sticky linking to the Docs/FAQ.html, and accept patches to this doc from the great and good in the community. I think a complete forum for it is OTT.

[jacmoe]

OK - either me or another web person could probably cook up a FAQ system like the C# one.
There's no reason to go PostNuke on that. What do you think?

[toastie]

MAybe just a Wiki-based FAQ page?

[sinbad]

These have the same problem of having to update the FAQ twice (once online, once in the static docs). Like I said, I prefer to keep on FAQ doc and have people submit patches to it. It really shouldn't change that often anyway.