Here’s another request to kill off “All Things Audio.” The vast majority of postings on three of the four forums in that group demand that we ask the poster what kind of machine they have and/or which Audacity. In other words, all the information we should already have from a posting in the proper forum further up the page.
It was a lovely experiment, but it didn’t work. It’s an awkward time waster for both the person requesting help and the helpers. Going down there to help from the upper specific forums is like suddenly walking through deep water.
“My M-Audio USB mixer doesn’t work right…[unhelpful paragraph follows]…what could be wrong?” Silent in El Segundo.
I would tend to agree with you Koz.
I think it is good to have forum areas where Audacity users can discuss things other than the usual user problems, but as the forum is primarily a help forum this may not be the best place.
For 99.9% of forum users, the needs would probably be best met by trimming down the forum to:
Audacity 1.2.6 (stable)
Click here before posting
Windows
Mac OS X
GNU/Linux and Unix-like
Audacity 1.3.x (beta)
Click here before posting
Windows
Mac OS X
GNU/Linux and Unix-like
So “Using This Forum” would be what we’re doing now? Would you keep “Adding Features”?
This is a convenience step now, but it will be much more important when 1.4 goes on line. If you were lost before, you’ll never figure out where to post.
I wonder how much leeway there is with the graphics. The block headers are too small and dark. “Audacity Stable (1.2.x)” is in a smaller, darker font than “Click Here Before Posting.” The posting hierarchy gets scrambled, although people do normally end up in the correct Audacity. At least the people who know what kind of computer they’re on.
Yes,
and:
“I like the forum smilies, but I don’t like the font…”
“Could not log onto this forum for the last 3 days…”
“How do I post attachments…”
and so on.
Unless there is a better place (such as an Audacity users forum that is separate from the help forum), then yes,
but I would perhaps prefer it as a sub-section of the Audacity beta version area. (There are a lot of suggestions for features that are already included in Audacity, which I presume are from people that have only used the 1.2.x version)
Then there will be the need to restructure the forum - will Audacity 1.2.x still be supported?
Perhaps the 1.2.x and 1.3.x forums should remain, but have all topics locked as at that time Audacity 1.4 and 1.5 (beta) will be the current versions.
There is a lot of customisation that can be done to the appearance by editing the forum templates, but it is a little involved, requires time, and a mistake can break the forum. I think that buanzo would be the person to approach about this, but the main issue is likely to be whether he has the time and inclination.
<<<Then there will be the need to restructure the forum - will Audacity 1.2.x still be supported?
Perhaps the 1.2.x and 1.3.x forums should remain, but have all topics locked as at that time Audacity 1.4 and 1.5 (beta) will be the current versions.>>>
No, not exactly.
1.2 Stable will remain and fully supported. 1.3 Unstable (Beta) will vanish or be severely deprecated. 1.4 Stable will appear fully supported, and 1.5 Unstable (Beta) may appear a bit later for the adventurous with support as we can. The 1.3 posters will be thinly supported except for instructions how to upgrade to 1.4, we assume by references to an appropriate wiki. Initially, the upgrade will consist of changing the “About” panel number and probably very little else. The 1.3 download will vanish when the 1.4 download is posted or placed in a Very Special Place that’s really hard to find–along with 1.2.4, the one, I believe, with the memory leak.
1.5 Beta may appear as 1.3 goes away. This gives us two stable versions and one future beta. And some debris.