Thread

EL have started to close “resolved” support threads on the forum. What’s your take on this practice?

Well I voted “I don’t care either way” as there wasn’t an option for what I wanted. I think it is both good and bad really.

When I visit the forums now it says that there are unread posts in a forum area but it makes it very difficult to find them when the thread has been closed. I like seeing the yellow icons as you can see really quickly at a glance what is new. Also I have seen a few posts that have been shut before they have really been finished with and a few posts that could go on for a while longer.

Not massively bothered but maybe a few itchy trigger fingers are coming in on a few threads?

Best wishes,

Mark

I’ve just had a sales thread closed, and when I tried to respond with a second thread that one was closed then deleted in the space of a few minutes.

I’m a member of on other forums, and find the way this is done on here as being pretty rude. I didn’t write anything offensive, so I must have been asking awkward questions.

Still, bearing in mind I haven’t actually bought the product (I was trying to find out if I would be out of pocket if I buy now and then upgrade..the answer…we’re not going to tell you) the resposne I’ve had from the company and the way my threads have been closed without being allowed to respond, has made my mind up not to buy the product.

If I get this sort of treatment from sales then I really don’t want to try asking for help once I’ve bought the product.

Just my ten pence worth as a potential customer and my short (unhappy) experience on this forum.

familychoice, this is done to most threads since a few days, hence my poll. As to your threads, I actually side with EL on that, they simply don’t know yet. (But let’s not repeat these arguments here.) If that means no purchase from you at this time, that probably can’t be helped.

I’ve just had a sales thread closed, and when I tried to respond with a second thread that one was closed then deleted in the space of a few minutes.

I’m a member of on other forums, and find the way this is done on here as being pretty rude. I didn’t write anything offensive, so I must have been asking awkward questions.

Still, bearing in mind I haven’t actually bought the product (I was trying to find out if I would be out of pocket if I buy now and then upgrade..the answer…we’re not going to tell you) the resposne I’ve had from the company and the way my threads have been closed without being allowed to respond, has made my mind up not to buy the product.

If I get this sort of treatment from sales then I really don’t want to try asking for help once I’ve bought the product.

Just my ten pence worth as a potential customer and my short (unhappy) experience on this forum.

Hi Familychoice,

I just sent you an email about this. Thanks.

I’ve just had a sales thread closed, and when I tried to respond with a second thread that one was closed then deleted in the space of a few minutes..

Hy familychoice, I just wanted to mention that your second thread wasn’t deleted; I merged it with the original since it was an extension of the first conversation.

Leslie: Perhaps a short note about the new policy would be helpful?

I noticed the same Ingmar stated, but voted “don’t care” for the same reasons Marc mentioned. My reason: It’s a good idea to close older thread. But with a few already closed (to early? - don’t know the policy), it tends to spread the info needed to solve a problem to even more places in some situations.

Just my .02$

.Markus

One of the reasons behind thread closings is so that the technical support staff has a better idea of what still needs to be answered.

Threads aren’t going to be closed in a lot of forums, just the technical support ones and the pre-sales forum.

Pre-sales questions can also be turned into Knowledge Base articles, Wiki articles, or help to beef up the documentation.

But they’re before you buy questions. Some pre-sales items should flow over into how to once the buying decision has been reached.

Ideally, many pre-sales questions should have answers already in the KB, the docs, or the wiki.

Heh- I voted because I wanted to see the stats!  And it is making things faster for me when it comes to the tech support forum.  A lot faster- and less likely to let something slip by. 

But I’m still getting the hang of it as well- particularly when to mark it ‘closed’- so look forward to seeing you folks brainstorm on it.

Hi Markus,

Perhaps a blog post on the topic? Really, we’re just getting used to it ourselves so the “policy” is still in progress and we’re learning as we’re going too. So far I think its working well in the various support forums but not so well in Pre-sale.

In the support forums its solved (so far) a problematic issue where there are multiple issues from multiple people in the same thread. That resulted in missed support threads because someone would reply to a thread from 2006 about a particular issue, there would already be 20 replies in the thread, and the issue would be similar but not the same from a new person. It created a lot of extra work and information to sort through and a new thread would be most appropriate. It also makes it a lot easier for our techs to make sure someone’s issue as been resolved.

Pre-sales is a bit different though. Its important that a question be answered but the volume is less and the ability for the community to chime in at a later date has a different significance there than in support forums. I’m also not sure the language is appropriate for a pre-sales forums. We’ll learn and adjust as we go, as always.

One of the reasons behind thread closings is so that the technical support staff has a better idea of what still needs to be answered.

To expound a bit on this point: Sometimes people will post to a tech support thread from 1 or 2 years ago, and a reply tacked onto a three page support thread from that long ago is very likely to fall through the cracks.  People may not be subscribed to the thread anymore, and it can not be quickly recognized as something needing quick attention.  This is why threads that are closed and marked resolved include a button to create a new related topic.  If you encounter a thread in searching through the forums that you think fits your situation, but still need help, clicking this button will create a new topic, and create a link to the original so that you retain the best of both worlds:

1) A new, clean topic that stylistically and statistically is screaming to the support staff: “I need help!”
2) The full context of the original support thread that you believe is related

Thank you Ingmar for posting this poll; we’ll be following the comments closely as our goal is for this new system to work well for both users and support staff.

In the support forums its solved (so far) a problematic issue where there are multiple issues from multiple people in the same thread. That resulted in missed support threads because someone would reply to a thread from 2006 about a particular issue, there would already be 20 replies in the thread, and the issue would be similar but not the same from a new person.

That’s a good argument, actually. I know now what irritated me initially, though; Mark expressed it very well, I find the “Closed” icon too similar to the “No new topics” icon, it implies “Nothing to see here, go on” even though I might not have read that particular thread. I really was scanning for the yellow icons.

I just sent you an email about this.

Thanks, I’ll have a look once Yahoo stops acting the giddy goat.

  your second thread wasn’t deleted; I merged it with the original since it was an extension of the first conversation.

That’s funny, when I looked back at my first post I didn’t notice it had been merged. Maybe I was looking at a cached version.

Whatever, the thread has still been closed so I can’t reply to your response, which is a forum equivalent of saying ‘I’m going to have the last say on this matter so now shut up and go away’.

Pre-sales is a bit different though. Its important that a question be answered but the volume is less and the ability for the community to chime in at a later date has a different significance there than in support forums. I’m also not sure the language is appropriate for a pre-sales forums. We’ll learn and adjust as we go, as always.

I’m guessing that the majority of people posting in the ‘pre sales’ forum are going to be potential clients, like me. Why on earth you would want to potentially alienate them by shutting and moving threads when they are posting valid queries about buying your product is beyond me. Bearing in mind this is my first contact with the company I have to say it’s all been pretty negative so far.

Familychoice,

While I agree that the thread was closed too soon, three of our staff members had already answered your question. You didn’t like the answer, which is a fair position, but there was nothing further to discuss, which is why it was closed.

But as you can see we’re a very open community. So far you’ve interacted with the VP, support techs, and a key member of the development team. I think that is a positive thing. Our job isn’t to give you an answer you like, its to give you an honest answer, which I’ve believe we’ve done very well.

But as you can see we’re a very open community. So far you’ve interacted with the VP, support techs, and a key member of the development team. I think that is a positive thing. Our job isn’t to give you an answer you like, its to give you an honest answer, which I’ve believe we’ve done very well.

Fair enough, and I do appreciate being able to speak directly with the boss (though that’s fairly common in small businesses, including mine), even if the answer is ‘there isn’t an answer’. Just giving my feedback as a customer - it might have been nice to have been able to post a reply before the thread was closed. That’s all.

I’ll leave you in peace now. <Gone>