Forum Improvement Idea: Search for Solved or Unsolved issues

Aaron · 2008-05-22 03:11:34

Hello, I believe I have an idea to improve the forum, what do you guys think about having a "Search for Solved Issues" and "Search for Unsolved Issues" link at the bottom of the forum index, where the "Search for unanswered posts" and "search for new posts" links are.

I often click the "Search for unanswered posts" link in an effort to help unsolved issues get resolved faster, and when I respond to a fresh post there's a good chance they'll post back while I'm still on as well. I prefer that over sifting through posts trying to determine if they're solved or unsolved or the user is going back to ubuntu or what.

But tonight I got the idea to search by unsolved versus solved topics, and I think it makes sense. If all help post titles were preceded by a [solved] or [unsolved] indication then you could use the Forum Search to search for that pattern in post titles. Unfortunately, not many people mark their problems as [Solved] when they are, and far fewer people mark their posts [Unsolved]. So the search doesn't work as efficiently as I think it should.

Now I understand "forcing" a new naming convention down an online community's throat would probably generate some resentment, possibly in a flaming post or a rick roll, either one. So they key to my idea is this, don't force anyone to do it, make it voluntary.

The key is encouraging them to do it. Give users a reason to add those extra 8 or so characters. If we added a search function to make it easier to help people, the people with the problems will probably try to get their help. The people who don't want to use the new naming convention don't have too, they just won't show up on the "Solved" or "Unsolved" links.

By instating the new convention, users looking to spend a couple minutes helping a fellow user can simply click a single link, and be shown all the Unsolved problems, then the user can skim the forum as normal, only viewing the kind of posts he wants to see.

The links are essentially shortcuts to the search page, with the arguments of [Solved] or [Unsolved], but I'm fairly certain a simple sql query would do the trick nice and clean.

As a side effect of the Unsolved convention, there is an added bonus of now being able to search for your own problems more efficiently! More often than not when I encounter an issue with my computer, I have to sift through multiple posts with people who have the same problem as me. Problem is I have a hard time telling who's solved it, and who's still cursing their command line. With the [Solved] convention, I can search for the answer I'm looking for more efficiently, in my opinion.

Pros:
+Easier to help users, less to sift through
+Easier to receive help for your problems, faster
+Optional

Cons:
-An extra couple of characters people have to type
-Some extra code needs to be written
-Adds more links to the page, clutter
-Forum mods may need to do some maintenance (Marking something as solved if the user decides not to, when it's clearly solved, etc) I know, you guys have lives too.
-I'm sure there's some obscure way it could be abused, such as by a spam bot adding all [Unsolved] titles, to get maximum exposure. Or something crazy like that.

Please let me know what you guys think, and if you'd be interested in adding this feature. I know you Dev's are busy, but I don't believe it is very complex at all. Granted, I have zero knowledge of PunBB (Though I did add a lot of new features to phpBB back in the php3 days) but I think it's a fairly standard procedure. I'm more than willing to help in the endeavor, if needed.

Constructive criticism please, I think I've thought this out fairly well. It's late and I've had quite a day/night, so if some of this doesn't make sense, please let me know, and I'll do my best to restate or clarify anything.

...and thanks if you actually read all that.

Last edited by Aaron (2008-05-22 03:12:22)

carandraug · 2008-05-23 18:13:43

I think that's a great idea.

One way to avoid the need for extra typing (from users) and force topics to come with the [solved]/[unsolved] tag would be to add a list or check boxes when adding a new topic. Choosing would be obligatory and there would be a choice for having no tag at all but one would still need to choose it. By default, nothing (as in "no choice" not as in "no tag") would be on in order to force a choice from the user/bot.

That would, however, ask for even more extra code written (I have no idea how hard that would be since I'm no programmer).

finferflu · 2008-05-23 18:53:44

The idea is quite nice and straight to the point.
However, the question that comes to my mind is: to what extent do we need this? Is it worth the effort?
Do you reckon such a feature will bring an actual change?

Those are not rhetorical questions, I would like to hear opinions since I think so far I haven't seen that many duplicate posts. I mean, when people do not use the search button, it is easy to show them how it works, and usually everything is discussed in one main thread. At least that's the impression I have.
On the other hand, if people use the [solved] tag, a simple search result would bring up the solved topic.

In short I think encouraging people to use the [solved] tag is recommended, while having a page with all solved topics is not really needed right now. Encouraging people to post their solutions in the wiki is even more encouraged.

Aaron · 2008-05-23 19:29:06

Thank you! I'm glad somebody finally responded.

I agree, having a page that only lists [Solved] topics would be unnecessary, but I still believe using the [Solved] tag would help in the search feature. But it wouldn't need it's own link, that's unnecessary and not very useful.

I still feel that a "Search for unsolved problems" link would be a very nice improvement based on how easy it would be to implement it. There are many things that help users when they need help, why shouldn't it be easier to provide that help to those users?

Hopefully we can at least drum up some conversation on the issue, thank you for your opinions.

Last edited by Aaron (2008-05-23 19:29:47)

Cerebral · 2008-05-23 19:58:05

I doubt we're going to hack up punbb all that much to add new features, such as this one.

I see the biggest stumbling block to this is not with the forum code, but with the users - I'm not sure how well adding [unsolved] to your post would catch on, especially considering the prevalence of already-unhelpful topics, along the lines of "I have a problem..." or "Help me" or other similar stuff. If people can't write descriptive topics from the get-go, how likely would they be to add [unsolved] (and spell it properly!)?

finferflu · 2008-05-23 20:03:41

Yeah, I agree on the unsolved topics, however (yeah, I'm always a party-pooper ), if some thread has been discussed for long, even though it has not been solved, it would certainly be highlighted often. On the other hand, threads that haven't been replied can be accessed with a button (at the bottom). What the "unsolved topics" button would certainly help is those topics that have received just one or two replies.
Anyway, I'm not a Forum Admin, so let's wait for other opinions.

EDIT: Ah, there we go ↑

Cerebral · 2008-05-23 20:15:19

finferflu wrote:

EDIT: Ah, there we go ↑

Holy crap an up-arrow!

carandraug · 2008-05-25 00:18:55

Cerebral wrote:

[...] If people can't write descriptive topics from the get-go, how likely would they be to add [unsolved] (and spell it properly!)?

Well, I realize my english is not always the best so here's an image of what I meant.

Last edited by carandraug (2008-05-25 00:19:16)

Arch Linux

#1 2008-05-22 03:11:34

Forum Improvement Idea: Search for Solved or Unsolved issues

#2 2008-05-23 18:13:43

Re: Forum Improvement Idea: Search for Solved or Unsolved issues

#3 2008-05-23 18:53:44

Re: Forum Improvement Idea: Search for Solved or Unsolved issues

#4 2008-05-23 19:29:06

Re: Forum Improvement Idea: Search for Solved or Unsolved issues

#5 2008-05-23 19:58:05

Re: Forum Improvement Idea: Search for Solved or Unsolved issues

#6 2008-05-23 20:03:41

Re: Forum Improvement Idea: Search for Solved or Unsolved issues

#7 2008-05-23 20:15:19

Re: Forum Improvement Idea: Search for Solved or Unsolved issues

#8 2008-05-25 00:18:55

Re: Forum Improvement Idea: Search for Solved or Unsolved issues

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