- The Inkscape program itself links to the answers section (at least
each version before 0.92 does) from the Help menu ('Ask us a question'). This is where the users come from.
Ooohhh, that explains so much!
In that case, I think this whole concept needs some attention. I couldn't say how many years went by, with the majority of questions not being answered. But as a project, I hope we can do better. Better than leaving questions unanswered, and better than 1 person answering most of them.
I really wish I could help out more with that, because I really do enjoy helping new users. But whenever I do, I just get frustrated (with all the things I already mentioned, plus what you mentioned about marking solved or answered or whatever). The worst part for me is having to open each message, every visit, to find out if there is any reply. For me, relying on email notification is even worse. Anyway, I usually last a week or 2 before I get so frustrated I just give up.
I can think of a few ways that might help improve all those issues. For example, if there was some way to put a global message at the top, that tells what kind of information they need to provide in their message. If they can use a file sharing site like dropbox and give us a link to the file, we can at least get the file in a roundabout way. And probably some other info too.
But it doesn't fix the problems.
And the flip side of that, is for most of the questions to be unanswered at all, which doesn't represent the project in the best
light.
- That's fortunately totally wrong :) More than 95% of the questions are
answered....
No, what I meant is that if you stopped answering questions (for some reason - illness, the proverbial unforeseen bus, etc.) it would go back to most questions being unanswered.
I wonder if there's any chance of having that point to the new forum, whenever it finally is ready?
Thanks, brynn
-------------------------------------------------- From: "Maren Hachmann" <maren@...3112...> Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2016 6:17 PM To: inkscape-user@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: Re: [Inkscape-user] Question in Brazilian Portuguese
Hi Brynn,
some explanations:
- The Inkscape program itself links to the answers section (at least
each version before 0.92 does) from the Help menu ('Ask us a question'). This is where the users come from.
- Martin has only recently changed that for the next version, in a way
that allows us to change the place for the answers any time. Currently, that choice is still going to launchpad, but there are plans to move it somewhere else, because of the shortcomings you were describing, mainly the file upload and the little interest of (knowledgeable) people answering being a problem. I cannot answer all the questions that concern development, or those about cutting/plotting specifics, and then redirect to the correct places.
I used to learn a lot about Inkscape by answering questions there, which was absolutely awesome. But that was at a time when someone more knowledgeable than me was still watching, and correcting when I got things wrong. Now there isn't anyone of the devs around anymore to help with specific stuff.
- The launchpad answers section allows you to set yourself as an answer
contact, which means that you will get email notifications for every single question, answer and spam message. It also allows you to subscribe to questions individually (which is what I do, because of the spammers who on some days send several hundred spam messages).
And the flip side of that, is for most of the questions to be unanswered at all, which doesn't represent the project in the best
light.
- That's fortunately totally wrong :) More than 95% of the questions are
answered, but the problem is that people who reply with 'Thank you' set that status back from 'Answered' to 'Open', when they do not click on 'This solved my question'. Almost nobody does that anymore, but many are happy that they could solve their problem in a timely manner.
(btw. the top two questions are: 'Why does Inkscape print black?' (bug in 0.91 - I'm hoping very much this is fixed in 0.92...) and 'Why are my shapes invisible?' - those users I always link to your guide ;-) )
Kind Regards, Maren
Am 07.09.2016 um 01:44 schrieb Brynn:
Hi Maren, I can't help with the Portuguese. But I wanted to respond to your request for more people helping to answer questions in the Answers section. A little historical perspective. Ever since I first discovered it (I don't remember when that was, but 6 to 8 years ago) that area has been neglected, with the majority of messages going unanswered. That was until you joined the project, of course. I've tried to help out there, from time to time, answering questions. The reason I don't try to help all the time, is because there is no mechanism for people to share their files or even display images. So half the replies I've made there are to suggest the member go to a forum or maybe the mailing list, where sharing the files is much easier. To me, the Answers section doesn't provide enough features to be an effective support forum. Besides not being able to share files or display images (which is a real handicap for a graphics support), you can't format text in the simplest ways (bold, underline, etc.). You don't know which messages have been answered, because they don't get bumped up when they're answered. You have to look at every single message, every time you visit. (Or have a good memory.) This is my opinion. I wonder if it would serve the project as a whole better, if that whole Answers section was discontinued. Just like with InkscapeForum.com, where it wasn't fair for one person to have all the responsibility (for spam), it's not fair for Maren to handle all those messages alone. And the flip side of that, is for most of the questions to be unanswered at all, which doesn't represent the project in the best light. Perhaps this issue should be mentioned to the board too (like the forum issue)? I never have really understood how Inkscape users land there, looking for support. I can't say I've ever seen a message in the LP Answers in an internet search result. How do people find it? Maybe they could get "redirected" (of course I mean via link somewhere, not by browser hijack) to either the forum (when it's finally ready) or mailing list? Just funnel all support to either forum or mailing list? Or is the Answers section providing some benefit that I'm not aware of?
Thanks for listening :-) brynn
From: "Maren Hachmann" <maren@...3112...> Sent: Monday, September 05, 2016 6:18 PM To: inkscape-user@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [Inkscape-user] Question in Brazilian Portuguese
Hi everyone,
in the Inkscape answers section, there's a question in pt-br.
Is anyone who speaks the language available to explain the copy-pasting of a gradient from one object to another to a noob in Portuguese?
(I understand when it's written, but can't speak or write, and google translate is a bit clunky - also, there's mostly the spammers and me answering any questions in the answers section, I'd like to see that changed ;-))
https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/381073
Thanks!
Regards, Maren
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