Forum: Categories

First of all congrats on the site.

This is simply a suggestion. I would like to see categories specifically to group Hardware similar to how DD-WRT forum is setup. On the OpenWRT forum, I always had trouble finding posts that relates to my hardware such as router setup, issues, bug and user's solution because there was only a "General Discussion" to place these type of post.

In addition, a sub forum possibly under Community builds for information on packages (ie. Adblock, custom QOS scripts, etc) to keep information about full builds and modular scripts separate simply for those who want to immediately find these packages to add to their vanilla build instead of going to various builds links just to find whether there are any new packages available.

Furthermore,

Possibly enforce tags to organize posts such as [Package] or [Firmware] or [Version #] or [Last Update Date] or [Router Name], for example, in a title post to promote ease of search

Example: [TL-WDR3600v1][LEDE][11/17/2016] Test Builds

IMO, these posts are easy on the eyes

Thanks! And we appreciate the feedback!

When we were setting up the forum, we talked about the number of categories, and what they should contain. The trouble with adding more categories is that it gets harder to know where to ask/post your question. So we chose these five "bins" since they're fairly orthogonal:

  • Installing and Using LEDE
  • For Developers
  • Talk about Documentation
  • Community Builds, Projects, and Packages
  • Site Feedback and Other Questions

A couple thoughts:

  1. You posted this question in exactly the right category - Site Feedback. Thanks.
  2. "Search is your friend!" Other (not so good) forum software forces people to divide up the conversation into sub-categories so that others don't drown in potentially uninteresting topics. Or to put tags on messages so that there's a chance of finding it again. The Search facility of Discourse takes away a lot of that drudgery.
  3. I see the Device Page for a particular piece of hardware as the proper repository for information about installation, configuration, hardware bugs, etc. Obviously, the forum is a good place to discuss on-going troubleshooting, but the point of a Device Page is to capture the "group wisdom" once a particular issue has been settled.
  4. The Community Builds/Projects/Packages category is exactly the right place for those package announcements. (Think of it as free publicity for your pet project.)
  5. We're always listening. If it turns out that there's a need for a new category (as evidenced by lots of comments in the Site Feedback category), we'll add it.

Having said that, are there things that still make you think that a Hardware Category is important?

I absolutely agree. Thanks again!

With respect to tags/tagging...

The built-in tagging capability (current off) in Discourse would be worth a go. Personally, I prefer it to cluttering subject lines with arbitrary text prefixes (hard to search if minor spelling/punctuation diffs). Tags management is handled more easily and in a global manner through admin interface.

We can turn it on and see how it goes?

Secondly, having a Hardware category with architecture sub-categories wouldn't be a bad idea either. Using tags to differentiate devices would be a nice addition to this as well.

I am intentionally (and respectfully) being a little bit obstructionist, and suggest that we should resist adding features without overwhelming evidence that they add a lot of value.

It's much too easy (and simplistic) to add a feature "just because we can" without serious thought. Once turned on, it can never be turned off, even if it didn't turn out to add much value, even if it increased complexity, even if it added a long-term maintenance hassle. I hardly would compare myself to Steve Jobs, but he offered a valuable lesson in being ruthless in only allowing changes that have tremendous value for people who use the product...

I believe in search. Discourse has a very highly-developed search facility to help readers find relevant info. People who tag their messages get a benefit, but for untagged messages, our readers will still need to use Search.

Despite the fact that Discourse recently added a tagging feature, I'm not convinced of its utility. I suspect most tags will simply duplicate keywords/strings that are already present in the message text. I don't believe that many people will add a tag who wouldn't have (with malice aforethought for future searchers) added the same word/phrase to their message.

I have similar concerns about a Hardware category. I'm not sure what its special value would be (helping people find info about certain hardware?) More importantly, how will a person would know whether to post in the "Hardware", "Installing and Using LEDE", or the "For Developers" category. I'll assert:

  • Questions about getting LEDE working on a new piece of hardware belong in the Developer category. The knowledge gained after a successful effort should move to the corresponding Device Page.

  • Similarly, questions about implementing LEDE on a particular architecture seem to be of interest primarily "For Developers". If people just want to talk about the pros and cons of SoC X vs SoC Y, I submit that this is the wrong forum.

  • Questions about getting a certain feature or package to work on a particular device should go in the "Installing and Using" category. The solution should either generate updated info on the relevant documentation page or device page, or should generate a bug report that says X feature doesn't work on Y hardware.

  • And finally, "because search". I have faith that people will be able to find relevant discussions simply by searching.

Note: I'm totally willing to be convinced by arguments that demonstrate a real need for different facilities. I suggest that we start keeping a list of cases that clearly can't be handled by the present organization. (Add them as replies to this topic.) After we get 10-15, we'll know enough about their similarities, and can make a good decision about how to expand. Thanks.

More importantly, how will a person would know whether to post in the "Hardware", "Installing and Using LEDE", or the "For Developers" category. I'll assert:

This question is great but you'll be surprise of how well informed a user is. Take for example the posts on the dd-wrt forums. Some users only have 1 or 2 posts asking about their router but somehow managed to post it in the correct hardware category

  • Questions about getting LEDE working on a new piece of hardware belong in the Developer category. The knowledge gained after a successful effort should move to the corresponding Device Page.

Agreed

  • Similarly, questions about implementing LEDE on a particular architecture seem to be of interest primarily "For Developers". If people just want to talk about the pros and cons of SoC X vs SoC Y, I submit that this is the wrong forum.

Agreed

  • Questions about getting a certain feature or package to work on a particular device should go in the "Installing and Using" category. The solution should either generate updated info on the relevant documentation page or device page, or should generate a bug report that says X feature doesn't work on Y hardware.

From experience, users will most likely ask questions regarding the packages/feature in the Original Post of that specific package such that a topic named "Adblock plugin" will most likely generate questions regarding that plugin within that topic, I'm not sure if users will post about it elsewhere

  • And finally, "because search". I have faith that people will be able to find relevant discussions simply by searching.

Searching is great function only if you know what you are looking for. If you are a well informed poweruser willing to make insightful comments, looking in a specific category would suffice. Again referencing the dd-wrt forum. If you are a owner of a specific router, most people would just stick to a specific forum category. From personal experience, I ONLY go to the "Atheros WiSOC based Hardware" section of the DD-WRT router not because I don't care about the other users, its just I have the hardware within that category and users tends to have similar problems to discuss with that specific hardware type

EDIT: It's mostly based on the idea of organization. In regards to reddit, If there was a only 1 page called "Programming" to that encompasses all the other language, following what you specialize in would be a nightmare. People wouldn't just use the search function. Similar to organizing your emails