The Future of this Forum

[kovidgoyal]

Yeah, each one took me about a day to make.

[Perkin]

A question regarding new forum layout.

Is there a setting for the Last Post subforum topics to be displayed as normal text in the main forum-subforum list if they've been read (or marked as).
At the moment regardless of there being no unread posts in subforum, the list always shows the last topic in bold.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Perkin

At the moment regardless of there being no unread posts in subforum, the list always shows the last topic in bold.

My only salvation is that the blue boxes to the left of the sub-forum titles will be empty if all of the posts in that forum have been read.

[Perkin]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

My only salvation is that the blue boxes to the left of the sub-forum titles will be empty if all of the posts in that forum have been read.

I'd never noticed that. Thanks.

[Pinecone]

I do a number of forums on various topics. The reality is, the common user will get on and ask a question. They will NOT search, they will NOT read FAQs, they will NOT read online manuals, they will NOT read subforums. They will not even post in a subforum, they will just post in the main section.

You can go three ways:

1) Just be a friendly place and answer the questions every time they come up. Some people keep files of common answer and copy/paste in the proper answer.

2) Be a nasty place and have about 20 posts telling the person to SEARCH to find their own answer.

3) In between, give a short answer and point them to a link of more in depth answers.

People will NOT look for the answer on their own.

[Archon]

Hmm while I would agree with you Pinecone that some people will not search the forum I would disagree with your broad generalization.

#1 They found this place somehow - that is to say, they most likely did a Google search on the internet with their question and they got the mobileread forum as a hit.

#2 People ask questions about easy stuff because they don't want to sift through 100 pages of a manual to find out how to set the clock on the microwave. "Easy" stuff by definition doesn't need a manual so therefore it should be intuitive or be in the quick start guide. Harder stuff will take some searching and learning. People get frustrated when they can't easily navigate a site and find their answer so they give up and post a new question. They all know how to use Google well enough to get here and the question they found might be similar to theirs but the thread is 2 years old and they don't know if it is exactly their situation.

#3 There are basically two groups of people, those that want an appliance and those that want a tool. That is why every piece of equipment now comes with a "Quickstart" guide for the "button pushers" who want an appliance and an Owner's Manual for the Geeks who want a tool. If you want a piece of software to be ubiquitous it has to be easy for "Cletus The Button Pusher" to use or he will go elsewhere. (Hence GPS 'cause he can't read a map).

Personally, I think the forum changes are a grand leap toward making the forum easy to use and allow people to find answers on their own. I think you will drive traffic toward their own answers and see a reduction in repeated questions for the "Easy Stuff". Hierarchical menu structure is a tried and true interface that is pretty intuitive.

If they took the trouble to type a search query, and a question in the forum, and are willing to take the time to read the answer to the question in the forum they shouldn't have any problem reading a short FAQ or watching a video (great idea BTW). This explains the popularity of the "DIY" videos on Youtube, no one wants to read the manual.

Remember, necessity may be the Mother of invention, but laziness is definitely its Father.

That is why we all love a great piece of software that makes the tasks we wish to accomplish sooooooooooooooo much easier.

Huzzah to the Calibre Development Team
Archon

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by Perkin

A question regarding new forum layout.

Is there a setting for the Last Post subforum topics to be displayed as normal text in the main forum-subforum list if they've been read (or marked as).
At the moment regardless of there being no unread posts in subforum, the list always shows the last topic in bold.

As dwanthny pointed out, the littel blue boxes are an indication, however, I do wish there was a more obvious system.

[AlbertaCowboy]

Just wanted to pipe in and say "Great job on the redesign of the Calibre thread". I wish I had some sort of skill to contribute to the effort, but as I don't, I'll just contribute with my wallet.

[Piper_]

Originally Posted by Pinecone

I do a number of forums on various topics. The reality is, the common user will get on and ask a question. They will NOT search, they will NOT read FAQs, they will NOT read online manuals, they will NOT read subforums. They will not even post in a subforum, they will just post in the main section.

You can go three ways:

1) Just be a friendly place and answer the questions every time they come up. Some people keep files of common answer and copy/paste in the proper answer.

2) Be a nasty place and have about 20 posts telling the person to SEARCH to find their own answer.

3) In between, give a short answer and point them to a link of more in depth answers.

People will NOT look for the answer on their own.

Yup, very true for a lot of people. I think our goal is to reduce the amount of work required by chunking information into smaller bits.

Subforums, FAQs, and stickies aren't foolproof, but they do make it easier to find answers, and of course, the easier something is, the more likely people are to use it.

Anyway, this way, people can go directly to the relevant section and find the threads and stickies related to their query without having to filter through a lot of other stuff.

It's ok if some people still post threads in the main section, because they're simple for us to move into the appropriate section. It can even be better if they do when it's not clear which section they should go into until the answers and more info have come forth.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

As dwanthny pointed out, the littel blue boxes are an indication, however, I do wish there was a more obvious system.

For anyone else still struggling easily knowing what forums have unread messages here is another way to tell. From the front Mobileread forums page check the icons by calibre's entry. If the icons are blue all posts are read. View attached images for clarification..

[Pinecone]

Archon,

I don't disagree with you at all.

Unfortunately, as time goes on, you get more and more appliance owners.

When something is new, you get the pioneers who move that way and start experimenting on how to make it work (as we know, hte documentation from the manufacturer is lacking). As they become more common, everyone jumps in and thus the change in the forum population.

And if you start a new forum, you will get teh pioneers again, and over time, more appliance types.

But I applaud the effort to make the material more accessible for those who may not know, but really do want to learn. Those are the ones that come back and help the newer folks as time goes by.

[Manichean]

I've written a somewhat longer introduction for new posters. I'd like to hear your thoughts on it:

In order to make it easier to get (and give) good answers to your questions, you need to consider a few things.

Before asking:

• Use the forum search and/or an external search engine (for example Google) to see if your question has already been answered.
• Look in the manual or the FAQ to see if your question has already been answered.
• Find the correct subforum for asking your question. Read the forum descriptions to see what should go where.
• Have a look at the sticky threads inside the relevant subforum to see if your question has already been answered.

While writing your post, consider this:

• If you found a mention of your problem in a very old thread, open a new one. Remember that Calibre's development moves quite fast, usually there's a new version about once a week, thus, old threads contain outdated infos.
• Use a meaningful title. Asking for "Help, please!!" or "Conversion broken?" isn't as good as titling your thread, for example, "Conversion fails Multi-HTML -> ePub" or "Plugboard problem using Cybook Gen3/ePub". The goal is to broadly describe your problem in the title.
• Try to include as much meaningful detail as you can. State your OS and Calibre version, paste the error message(s) you get, failed conversion logs, etc.
• Include relevant configuration where needed, for example, when asking for help in emailing books, include your email settings (remember to blank out username/passwords for security reasons, though).
• If possible, provide step-by-step- instructions on how to replicate your error. That includes attaching test cases if you can do so without violating copyright.
• Describe what goes wrong as clearly as possible. Saying "My ebook is very messy after conversion" is less helpful than saying "My ebook has many hardcoded double linebreaks as well as page footers including page numbers interspersed after conversion".
• If you've already tried a few things to fix the problem, describe what you've tried as well. That saves the people answering from suggesting trying those things, only to be told that you already did.
• Make an effort to write your post to be easily readable. That includes trying to use normal grammar, spelling and interpunctuation.

If you're not getting any replies after you've written your post, that doesn't mean that nobody read your post. Usually, it means that noone has a good idea as to how your question should be answered. In that case, be patient, maybe someone is already working on trying to find an answer.

[kovidgoyal]

The problem with a long list is that no one is likely to read it. Which is why I shortened it as much as possible.

[theducks]

Manichean

If you're not getting any replies after you've written your post, that doesn't mean that nobody read your post. Usually, it means that noone has a good idea as to how your question should be answered. In that case, be patient, maybe someone is already working on trying to find an answer.

You might mention:
Next to the header, there is a "Views" counter, a high number of views with no answer indicates 1)no one so far has an idea. 2)Your description of the problem is not clear enough (or is in the wrong forum. Please ask the mods to move the thread AND not start a new one)

[Manichean]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

The problem with a long list is that no one is likely to read it. Which is why I shortened it as much as possible.

Which is one reason why I posted it here first, before doing anything else. I was thinking about making this a new sticky called something like "How to ask good questions" or somesuch and letting it stand beside your introduction, however, I'm not quite convinced that would be a good idea.