Deskthority Suggestions/Questions/etc

[ifohancroft]

Using Deskthority for some time now, there are a couple of frustrations I'm still facing, so here are a couple of questions and suggestions I have. Let me know what you think:

Questions:

1. What is considered off-topic post on Deskthority? I'd think that if it doesn't have anything to do with keyboards, then it's off-topic, however, if that's the case - why is the keyboard unoptanium post in Off-topic and not in the Keyboard section?

2. Do tutorials go in the forum or in the wiki? If in the forum - where should we post them? Like should they be in the Workshop or where? What's the rule of thumb what should go in the wiki and what in the forum? Can actually anyone post in the wiki?

3. Since there is a separate forum for reviews, under Discussions/News & reviews/Reviews why are there reviews in the Keyboard forum/section?

4. With separate forums/sections for Reviews and Workshop - What should actually go in the Keyboard forum/section?

5. Is the Workshop for just project logs or can we also post tutorials or design/restoration questions there?

6. Is it ok to make a post for a single question?

Suggestions:

A. We need a clear-er way to distinguish what should be posted where. Either as a pinned post in each forum that explains the type of posts that go there or a separate page, linked in the header that gives a general rule of thumb for where something should be posted (or both).

B. Perhaps a pinned thread for when people have a single question (if it's generally not a good idea to make a whole post/thread for when you have a single keyboard design or whatever else question)

C. An easy to find page or post that explains what should go in the wiki and what should go in the forum. If not everyone can post in the wiki, maybe explaining the process of how something from the forum makes it into the wiki.

Maybe I'm overthinking this and I should just post a single post for a question or make a post to ask when I don't know something or make a post where I feel is the best and it's not the end of the world if I happen to have posted in the wrong forum.

[TheInverseKey]

Any DT owner avail??

[ifohancroft]

Any DT owner avail??

I am not sure if tagging works, but:
@webwit
@matt3o
@keyboardjoy

[Muirium]

Okay, let me pour my thoughts, which are largely observations…

1. What is considered off-topic post on Deskthority? I'd think that if it doesn't have anything to do with keyboards, then it's off-topic, however, if that's the case - why is the keyboard unoptanium post in Off-topic and not in the Keyboard section?

Real off-topic is all the random / comic crap you'd expect. Unfortunately, some folk evidently like to downplay their very much on-topic keyboard threads by putting them into off-topic. It's a performative politeness thing, I expect, which is actually just annoying.

Your example of the Unobtainium thread should 100% be in the primary Keyboard subforum.

2. Do tutorials go in the forum or in the wiki? If in the forum - where should we post them? Like should they be in the Workshop or where? What's the rule of thumb what should go in the wiki and what in the forum? Can actually anyone post in the wiki?

Definitely the forum, in my view. Wikis just aren't a friendly medium for works in progress. The neutral POV directive really blocks the general cheeriness most all of us have when doing a project of our own and seeking feedback about what we may well be doing completely wrong, and what neat ideas others can suggest. How do you do any of that in a wiki?

For me, a Wiki is an organised catalogue of verifiable facts, not conversations.

3. Since there is a separate forum for reviews, under Discussions/News & reviews/Reviews why are there reviews in the Keyboard forum/section?

Because subforums are not enforced and therefore many people rightly don't know about them or care. If we wanted to tighten this up, we'd need mods who are into moving things into their right place. Can't even remember when I last saw that happen!

4. With separate forums/sections for Reviews and Workshop - What should actually go in the Keyboard forum/section?

You always want a section for None of the Above. The Unobtainium thread is a good example. It's definitely not a workshop topic, or a review. Another recent example is that conversation on vintage quality versus current pricing. Every good categorisation has an overflow so you aren't forced into false choices.

5. Is the Workshop for just project logs or can we also post tutorials or design/restoration questions there?

No. Yes! I think of it as the hands on / practical area. All of the above seems to fit well enough to me.

Here's a rule of thumb. If a thread stays active with ongoing conversation, then it's important. Those are the ones which keep on floating up as newer, shorter threads quickly fade. There's a self organising effect at play here. That's the beauty of presenting things with recent updates first. For everything else: search.

I do so constantly, for all those links to prior conversations I like to make all over the place. And do not mistake this as my patch for fragmentation. What I'm usually doing is referring to quite different contexts. The categorisation is merely what memory of mine is tingling as such and such comes up. Definitely not a thread merger request: filthy concept!

6. Is it ok to make a post for a single question?

You just did, so, uh, yeah!

Suggestions:

A. We need a clear-er way to distinguish what should be posted where. Either as a pinned post in each forum that explains the type of posts that go there or a separate page, linked in the header that gives a general rule of thumb for where something should be posted (or both).

B. Perhaps a pinned thread for when people have a single question (if it's generally not a good idea to make a whole post/thread for when you have a single keyboard design or whatever else question)

Hmm. I disagree with both of these. But not a hard disagree. I just don't see them as necessary. The mildly organised chaos we have just now doesn't bug me much, and if we wanted to clean things up, it would really need to come from the mods because users are too thick distracted to often post their own threads in the right subforum anyway. Enforcement is easier than education!

And I've nothing at all against people striking up a new thread for a question. The trouble with posting in a long thread (let alone necromancing an ancient one) is all the implied weight of previous context. A question is often a question, not an observation on an epic conversation going back to the prehistory of forum time itself. Forums strike a lot of people nowadays as an enormous load on first glance. Where do they even!? Just post a question, newbs, you're not upsetting anyone. Contribute!

Besides, it's not like new threads are a precious resource to be tightly rationed. We do have search after all. Let me tell you all about it!

C. An easy to find page or post that explains what should go in the wiki and what should go in the forum. If not everyone can post in the wiki, maybe explaining the process of how something from the forum makes it into the wiki.

I for one cannot stand writing wikis. Every time I've tried it, I fuck up the whole page and quit out. There's a lot of very understandable grumbling from DT's very small team of regular wiki contributors that the rest of us are lazy Shifts-for-brains who'd rather write up significant information in the middle of chatty threads (Great / interesting finds, I'm looking at you) instead of posting them on the wiki Where They Belong. They are not wrong. But it's not just laziness, it's wiki format. I'm demonstrably far from alone in finding it too high a bar to work with.

A lot of us lazy Shifters like to toss off things like: "hey, DT wiki gnomes, feel free to write up what I just said in the wiki, it's all yours!" just after we've written said content on the last post of page 199. Goodness knows the wikians need a stiff drink! Unintended insults like that are why such content is so often doomed to never wind up wikied.

A wiki does not write itself. There, I said it. And yet even I assume it just somehow does, without thinking…

Maybe I'm overthinking this and I should just post a single post for a question or make a post to ask when I don't know something or make a post where I feel is the best and it's not the end of the world if I happen to have posted in the wrong forum.

Yeah, I've nothing against you doing any and all of that. But, given all your thoughts here, maybe you'll annoy yourself.

[ifohancroft]

Thank you so much Muirium!