How should I use this help site?

SomeoneElse · 2022-03-23T15:49:51.896Z

People coming here from the old OSM help site will be familiar with how that works - people ask a question, people can answer and comment on questions and answers, vote up questions and answers and accept one answer (in a similar way to StackOverflow).

Is this site similar, with questions, answera and comments in the same way?

nukeador · 2022-03-23T16:04:54.245Z

It should be almost the same. Instead of votes you can “like” the first message of the post and it will be shown on the top, you can mark topics as solved… etc

We have also implemented the “canned responses” plugin where we can define predefined texts that are used recurrently to support users.

scai · 2022-03-23T16:56:45.672Z

One of the main difference seems to be that there is no voting function similar to the OSM help site. Users can add emojis to posts but they can’t vote for posts. This means that the top answer(s) won’t appear right below the question in contrast to the OSM help site.

Another difference is that the style of this site doesn’t differentiate between answers and subsequent questions. At the OSM help site, there was typically just one question and multiple answers, similarly to how StackOverflow works. Here it isn’t quite as clear if subsequent answers are allowed and how people should deal with them.

nukeador · 2022-03-23T18:01:56.534Z

scai:

Another difference is that the style of this site doesn’t differentiate between answers and subsequent questions. At the OSM help site, there was typically just one question and multiple answers, similarly to how StackOverflow works. Here it isn’t quite as clear if subsequent answers are allowed and how people should deal with them.

The reply marked as the solution will show next to the first message for reference and discourse lets you know that you are replying multiple times and recommends you to edit your original message to include all the information.

nukeador · 2022-03-23T18:02:55.470Z

scai:

This means that the top answer(s) won’t appear right below the question in contrast to the OSM help site.

If a topic becomes too long, a button at the top to “Summarize this topic” appears to allow you to just see top liked replies.

scai · 2022-03-23T18:08:02.229Z

I guess marking a reply as a solution can only be done once? There could be multiple good answers to a single question. At OSM help and StackOverflow this can be made visible via voting up more than one answer.

H · 2022-03-23T18:35:15.014Z

nukeador:

It should be almost the same. Instead of votes you can “like” the first message of the post and it will be shown on the top, you can mark topics as solved… etc

Would it be possible to expand the available reactions ? Right now I find them quite emotional, I would prefer to , . I don’t have to “like” an answer (or a question) to approve it. Smileys don’t convey much meaning IMHO…

nukeador · 2022-03-23T19:02:41.872Z

H:

Would it be possible to expand the available reactions ?

We can, but not sure if the summarize topic only takes in consideration likes and not other custom reactions.

cquest · 2022-03-23T19:08:53.769Z

nukeador:

you can mark topics as solved

… and when you do, a direct link to the answer is added below the first post.

The original topic author can do it, as when as moderators (maybe tunable to lower trusted users).

H · 2022-03-23T20:36:36.004Z

scai:

I guess marking a reply as a solution can only be done once?

I did a quick test in the topic I started for tips, and when you set another post as “solution”, it will replace the first.

Oh, and you can’t delete your posts, it will only delete the content, sorry for the noise…

nukeador · 2022-03-23T21:19:09.421Z

H:

Oh, and you can’t delete your posts, it will only delete the content, sorry for the noise…

It fine, delete messages are autopurged by the system once a day I think.

Tordanik · 2022-03-24T19:03:45.414Z

scai:

One of the main difference seems to be that there is no voting function similar to the OSM help site. Users can add emojis to posts but they can’t vote for posts. This means that the top answer(s) won’t appear right below the question in contrast to the OSM help site.

Indeed. We could attempt to replicate OSM help’s behavior as closely as possible, though, at least for the “Help and support” category: Sorting by votes, to replace help.osm.org

(Looks like you already found that thread, but I’m linking it for the rest of the readership. )

H · 2022-03-25T20:32:01.145Z

I really find that the answers / comments distinction is missing.

@nukeador Did you check the Question Answer Plugin ? It can be activated on a single category, sort posts by number of votes, and display answers of answers (probably comments) “thread-like” (ie. with indentation).

I feel like it would solve a lot of problems we have here.

nukeador · 2022-03-25T21:03:19.876Z

H:

@nukeador Did you check the Question Answer Plugin ? It can be activated on a single category, sort posts by number of votes, and display answers of answers (probably comments) “thread-like” (ie. with indentation

Yes, we are talking about it here

Downvoting for support topics 🐞 This forum issues and requests

I haven’t found a way to downvote replies, only a plugin to re-arrange replies similar to stackoverflow and sort them by upvotes (using the default like reaction on the backend). It seems the last commit was in November and it still has some issues with the dark theme.