Hi I have been on the mailing list for a while and it has it good points but I was wondering if maybe if it is time to start a forum board instead. This way whe could break up information into units such as intalling, migration, updating, database, etc. We could further break down units like installing into Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat , 64 bit, etc. In each of these sections we could add the latest install walk throughs as a sticky at the top. As people ecounter problems they could be edited into the install guides. The boards could speed up advice and cut down on the amount of mail being sent out. Christopher Middleman
I think this makes some sense, as the number of Koha users and experimenters is expanding. The questions of who to host and how to administer such a forum are important ones though. Ideally, there would already be something like: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.linuxforums.org%2Fforum%2Flinux-applications%2F where we could make a Koha subforum and others below it, but I don't know of any offhand. Any ideas here? The nice thing about an email list is that it doesn't live and die by the host's realtime performance and network availability. I also think that the install walkthroughs are best kept and most easily updated in wiki format, even if we do spawn a discussion forum. --joe atzberger On Wed, Mar 5, 2008 at 10:43 AM, Christopher L Middleman < cmiddleman@stcames.com> wrote:
Hi I have been on the mailing list for a while and it has it good points but I was wondering if maybe if it is time to start a forum board instead. This way whe could break up information into units such as intalling, migration, updating, database, etc. We could further break down units like installing into Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat , 64 bit, etc. In each of these sections we could add the latest install walk throughs as a sticky at the top. As people ecounter problems they could be edited into the install guides. The boards could speed up advice and cut down on the amount of mail being sent out. Christopher Middleman _______________________________________________ Koha mailing list Koha@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha
Christopher L Middleman <cmiddleman@stcames.com> wrote:
I have been on the mailing list for a while and it has it good points but I was wondering if maybe if it is time to start a forum board instead.
There is already a user web forum at http://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.misc.koha
This way whe could break up information into units such as intalling, migration, updating, database, etc. We could further break down units like installing into Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat , 64 bit, etc.
That sounds like a way to "divide and conk out" - splitting our resources too thinly to be able to help some people and eating up more time into overheads like managing the forum. If it happens, though, I hope we can use something with a better interface than linuxforums.org's vBulletin. I hate vBulletin and its terrible user interface, and we should use free software instead anyway.
In each of these sections we could add the latest install walk throughs as a sticky at the top. [...]
Could that be done better with a more easily editable wiki or a web board targetted specifically at developing tutorials? Regards, -- MJ Ray http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html tel:+44-844-4437-237 - Webmaster-developer, statistician, sysadmin, online shop builder, consumer and workers co-operative member http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ - Writing on koha, debian, sat TV, Kewstoke http://mjr.towers.org.uk/
This way whe could break up information into units such as intalling, migration, updating, database, etc. We could further break down units like installing into Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat , 64 bit, etc.
That sounds like a way to "divide and conk out" - splitting our resources too thinly to be able to help some people and eating up more time into overheads like managing the forum.
As I recall this was the central issue the last time this discussion came up. Things are starting to change, but up until now most of the questions on the list have been answered by Koha developers. That means that you really want to be using whatever discussion venue the developers are using. Maybe the community is ready to start supporting itself, and maybe it isn't. The trouble is, if you start up a web-based forum expecting Koha users to pitch in and answer questions and no one does, it looks really bad for Koha and ends up discouraging new and potential users. -- Owen
I would be reluctant to see Koha information split up too much. It does slow things down having so many emails coming in but I have also learned many things which I would not have thought to search for. Splitting them away will lose that serendipity factor (unless an email at least notifies everyone of a new upload). I think the most important thing is to have clear descriptive subject headings. Rae (Rachel) Jones Librarian The Shepherd’s Bible College 354 Te Aute Road, Havelock North 4172 P.O. Box 8229, Havelock North 4157 New Zealand Ph. +64 6 877-8013 Fax. +64 6 877-5821 Mob: +64 21 059 7464 Email: library@tsbc.org.nz TSBC Homepage: www.tsbc.org.nz -----Original Message----- From: koha-bounces@lists.katipo.co.nz [mailto:koha-bounces@lists.katipo.co.nz] On Behalf Of MJ Ray Sent: Thursday, 6 March 2008 08:45 To: koha@lists.katipo.co.nz; cmiddleman@stcames.com Subject: Re: [Koha] Forum board Christopher L Middleman <cmiddleman@stcames.com> wrote:
I have been on the mailing list for a while and it has it good points but I was wondering if maybe if it is time to start a forum board instead.
There is already a user web forum at http://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.misc.koha
This way whe could break up information into units such as intalling, migration, updating, database, etc. We could further break down units like installing into Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat , 64 bit, etc.
That sounds like a way to "divide and conk out" - splitting our resources too thinly to be able to help some people and eating up more time into overheads like managing the forum. If it happens, though, I hope we can use something with a better interface than linuxforums.org's vBulletin. I hate vBulletin and its terrible user interface, and we should use free software instead anyway.
In each of these sections we could add the latest install walk throughs as a sticky at the top. [...]
Could that be done better with a more easily editable wiki or a web board targetted specifically at developing tutorials? Regards, -- MJ Ray http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html tel:+44-844-4437-237 - Webmaster-developer, statistician, sysadmin, online shop builder, consumer and workers co-operative member http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ - Writing on koha, debian, sat TV, Kewstoke http://mjr.towers.org.uk/ _______________________________________________ Koha mailing list Koha@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.20.7/1286 - Release Date: 18-02-2008 18:49 Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.20.7/1286 - Release Date: 18-02-2008 18:49
Christopher L Middleman wrote:
I have been on the mailing list for a while and it has it good points but I was wondering if maybe if it is time to start a forum board instead. This way whe could break up information into units such as intalling, migration, updating, database, etc. We could further break down units like installing into Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat , 64 bit, etc. In each of these sections we could add the latest install walk throughs as a sticky at the top. As people ecounter problems they could be edited into the install guides. The boards could speed up advice and cut down on the amount of mail being sent out.
I am on many mailing lists. To attend to the discussions on those lists all I have to do several times a day is dip into my mail box. I do not in general have time to dip into dozens of fora, and do not, as a rule. It is far too time consuming to troll through dozens of sub-fora on many different websites, just so I can answer the odd question or look for the odd answer. Mailing lists and fora are completely different beasts and are not interchangeable. I for one would read a lot less about Koha and its evolution if the mailing list was replaced by a forum. cheers rickw -- ________________________________________________________________ Rick Welykochy || Praxis Services || Internet Driving Instructor A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but can't afford an air force. -- William Blum
participants (6)
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Christopher L Middleman -
Joe Atzberger -
MJ Ray -
Owen Leonard -
Rick Welykochy -
TSBC Librarian