A CRITICAL Point Voiced Elsewhere...

Trip · 12th March 2003, 12:11 PM

I grabbed ahold of mvpittman's remark from the MailSnare.net Forums:

Quote:

Yes, I stopped reading FastMail forums... too many messages, and too many that just ask questions that are in the FAQ. It was too difficult to keep up with what was really going on with the service and new features, which is the only real reason that I visited the forum in the first place.

I can't tell you how much of a thorn in my side this has been, as well. This is what I get at sometimes in some of my posts that have been, well, not exactly constructive due to my frustrations.

I really think Edwin and Co. need to mull this one over. Otherwise I would prefer the whole weblog and forums to leave EMD for good. It detracts from my experience at being able to stay engaged in PERTINENT conversation here.

Anyone else feel the FM forum is getting too obese to let it stay stagnant?

Trip

12th March 2003, 12:19 PM

Hey Trip,

Check out this thread in the Fastmail.fm forum, it discusses the problems you pointed out

http://www.emaildiscussions.com/...threadid=11319

-Stormcrow-

12th March 2003, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Trip
I grabbed ahold of mvpittman's remark from the MailSnare.net Forums:

I really think Edwin and Co. need to mull this one over. Otherwise I would prefer the whole weblog and forums to leave EMD for good. It detracts from my experience at being able to stay engaged in PERTINENT conversation here.

Anyone else feel the FM forum is getting too obese to let it stay stagnant?

Trip

You should keep in mind that not everyone is a fastmail expert.

I am only new to fastmail myself, so of course I am going to ask fairly 'basic' questions. Just because I am not asking questions about advanced rules/seives and technical aspects of css authoring, doesn't mean that the discussion is any less pertinent. Its relevant to the context of the users level of experience with Fastmail.

I think that everyone should have the ability to post, otherwise how will we ever become fastmail experts?

-Stormcrow-

lux · 12th March 2003, 02:07 PM

Maybe the fastmail.fm forum could be divided to two sub-forums "email help needed" and "Comments, criticism and praise"?

**psalzer** · 12th March 2003, 07:39 PM

Dividing it up would probably be good if it's bothering people all that much. I don't see a problem with people coming as asking questions. Even the FAQs are confusing at first for a lot of people. I think lux's suggestion is good and simple. Just two sections - one for help and one for other things related to Fastmail. I'd call them Fastmail Help and Fastmail General, though. That way, when advanced users post or read about doing the more complicated things, they'll also see newbie posts and maybe offer their expertise there.

***Edwin*** · 13th March 2003, 06:58 AM

For the past few days, there haven't been more than about a pageful of threads with new posts on the Fastmail forum each day.

This is a trend which mirrors what I was discussing earlier, since people are gradually getting used to reading the blog and using the wikki for certain types of brainstorming about new features.

Right now, I therefore don't feel the volume of posts is excessive - the level's certainly nothing like it has been in the past (this is also testimony to how stable the Fastmail.fm system generally is, day to day).

That does NOT mean that the idea of splitting the Fastmail forum is dead - I always maintain a healthy degree of flexibility in my approach to these Forums. It just means that the requirement has almost certainly been pushed back a while...

COUME · 13th March 2003, 03:01 PM

Even if the FM forum is splitted, I think they will still have lots of persons asking again and again the same questions...
It is more in the way we act... When people come here for the first time, and see how easy it is to post questions and get answers... they rather just do a new threads than try to search into the forum.
I don't want to generalize that but I think most of the users are like that...

anj · 13th March 2003, 04:43 PM

It is true that some people are lazy and will not search or read a FAQ if they can start a new thread and get an answer. But when I started using fastmail, I had a lot of questions, all of which I searched for answers to and a few of which I found clear answers to. The rest I have had to ignore or ask about. A FAQ would have saved me a lot of effort much of which was useless and would have saved other people the bother of responding to me. Moreover, if there is a FAQ, then when s/o posts a new thread which is covered in the FAQ, you don't need to write a response, you just point out which part of the FAQ to read.

COUME · 13th March 2003, 05:48 PM

Yep I fully agree with that...
Even if it migh tlook a bit osh as answer... but why not as soon as somehting is in the faq, just give the msg:
Please go read the FAQ (within a link to it)

But it might damage a bit the board feelings...

Ludo

***Edwin*** · 13th March 2003, 05:53 PM

That is also why I spelled out the importance of both a more comprehensive Fastmail.fm FAQ and a mini-faq posted as a thread right here on the Fastmail forum (like Runbox has in their forum) that would mop up the VERY common questions.

If these improvements were put in place, the split almost certainly would not be necessary.

justforjest · 19th March 2003, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by COUME
Yep I fully agree with that...
Even if it migh tlook a bit osh as answer... but why not as soon as somehting is in the faq, just give the msg:
Please go read the FAQ (within a link to it)

But it might damage a bit the board feelings...

Ludo

I agree with that completely. And to add, I don't seem to like the idea of splitting the Fastmail forum. There is livening about that forum that would get disturbed... I am not suggesting that we will have lesser users or anything like that, but lets say there would be more messages moved kind of things that would be disturbing...

Also, refering the user to a older thread or faq or telling him that u ought to have searched is the best way to go abt this problem.

justforjest · 19th March 2003, 06:11 AM

Another point, one of the reasons newbies go for asking the question directly rather than searching the forum for an answer might be that the *search this forum* box is not very visible. its at the bottom of the page and I distinctly remember that the first time it came to my attention was when I saw another newbie being asked to have done a search before!

Maybe shifting the (Jump To forum and) Search this forum box(es) to the top would do the trick...
1.) The users would know that they can search for things and if they are forgetting to search their problem first (or are new) they will be reminded...

Quote:

Originally posted by Stormcrow
Hey Trip,

Check out this thread in the Fastmail.fm forum, it discusses the problems you pointed out
http://www.emaildiscussions.com/...threadid=11319

-Stormcrow-

Oh sorry, read that one just now... had read it in its infant stage and then didn't think it would grow interesting so didn't follow it

COUME · 19th March 2003, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by justforjest
Another point, one of the reasons newbies go for asking the question directly rather than searching the forum for an answer might be that the *search this forum* box is not very visible. its at the bottom of the page and I distinctly remember that the first time it came to my attention was when I saw another newbie being asked to have done a search before!

Hello,
yep I second that... I think that the search field is a bit to hard to find...If it was a field directly place on the page, it may emake people use it more easily...
Anyway I think so

Ludo

Jeremy Howard · 19th March 2003, 03:46 PM

Edwin, would it be possible to make the Search box a bright color in the nav bar, and leave the others the current muted grey?

Jeremy Howard · 19th March 2003, 03:47 PM

Mvpittman mentioned using the forum for getting updates on what's happening at FastMail.FM.

The weblog now exists for that purpose. Those interested simply in keeping up with the latest news would be best off using that, rather than the forum. The forum is for chatting, after all!

19th March 2003, 03:47 PM	#15
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,499	Re: A CRITICAL Point Voiced Elsewhere... Mvpittman mentioned using the forum for getting updates on what's happening at FastMail.FM. The weblog now exists for that purpose. Those interested simply in keeping up with the latest news would be best off using that, rather than the forum. The forum is for chatting, after all!

12th March 2003, 12:19 PM	#2
Guest Posts: n/a	Hey Trip, Check out this thread in the Fastmail.fm forum, it discusses the problems you pointed out http://www.emaildiscussions.com/...threadid=11319 -Stormcrow-

12th March 2003, 02:07 PM	#4
lux The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 2,273	Maybe the fastmail.fm forum could be divided to two sub-forums "email help needed" and "Comments, criticism and praise"?

12th March 2003, 07:39 PM	#5
psalzer Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 2,650	Dividing it up would probably be good if it's bothering people all that much. I don't see a problem with people coming as asking questions. Even the FAQs are confusing at first for a lot of people. I think lux's suggestion is good and simple. Just two sections - one for help and one for other things related to Fastmail. I'd call them Fastmail Help and Fastmail General, though. That way, when advanced users post or read about doing the more complicated things, they'll also see newbie posts and maybe offer their expertise there.

13th March 2003, 06:58 AM	#6
*Edwin* Administrator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: UK Posts: 3,083	For the past few days, there haven't been more than about a pageful of threads with new posts on the Fastmail forum each day. This is a trend which mirrors what I was discussing earlier, since people are gradually getting used to reading the blog and using the wikki for certain types of brainstorming about new features. Right now, I therefore don't feel the volume of posts is excessive - the level's certainly nothing like it has been in the past (this is also testimony to how stable the Fastmail.fm system generally is, day to day). That does NOT mean that the idea of splitting the Fastmail forum is dead - I always maintain a healthy degree of flexibility in my approach to these Forums. It just means that the requirement has almost certainly been pushed back a while...

13th March 2003, 03:01 PM	#7
COUME Master of the @ Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Twickenham, UK Posts: 1,306	Even if the FM forum is splitted, I think they will still have lots of persons asking again and again the same questions... It is more in the way we act... When people come here for the first time, and see how easy it is to post questions and get answers... they rather just do a new threads than try to search into the forum. I don't want to generalize that but I think most of the users are like that...

13th March 2003, 04:43 PM	#8
anj Master of the @ Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: California Posts: 1,147	It is true that some people are lazy and will not search or read a FAQ if they can start a new thread and get an answer. But when I started using fastmail, I had a lot of questions, all of which I searched for answers to and a few of which I found clear answers to. The rest I have had to ignore or ask about. A FAQ would have saved me a lot of effort much of which was useless and would have saved other people the bother of responding to me. Moreover, if there is a FAQ, then when s/o posts a new thread which is covered in the FAQ, you don't need to write a response, you just point out which part of the FAQ to read.

13th March 2003, 05:48 PM	#9
COUME Master of the @ Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Twickenham, UK Posts: 1,306	Yep I fully agree with that... Even if it migh tlook a bit osh as answer... but why not as soon as somehting is in the faq, just give the msg: Please go read the FAQ (within a link to it) But it might damage a bit the board feelings... Ludo

13th March 2003, 05:53 PM	#10
*Edwin* Administrator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: UK Posts: 3,083	That is also why I spelled out the importance of both a more comprehensive Fastmail.fm FAQ and a mini-faq posted as a thread right here on the Fastmail forum (like Runbox has in their forum) that would mop up the VERY common questions. If these improvements were put in place, the split almost certainly would not be necessary.

19th March 2003, 03:46 PM	#14
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,499	Edwin, would it be possible to make the Search box a bright color in the nav bar, and leave the others the current muted grey?