Support Teams / Leaders

[thwaller]

Wanted to toss in a suggestion, somewhat based on other topics and posts in there, like the training for new users for example…

I think it would be beneficial to develop support groups, like labels, cover art, etc. I am not spending much time on thinking about the exact categories, but I will provide examples. If I have questions about certain things, there would be a support/FAQ/Documentation section I could visit, linking to the forums as well. So, for example, I might visit the “label” page if I have a question about what to fill in on the label field of a release, meaning the imprint. Each section like this would have leaders, sort of like there is already with auto-editors, where there are some sections they “rule” over. I used label here as an example as it is one of the common mistake prone fields.

Over time I am sure editors learn who these people are, I know I did somewhat, but at least I feel weird messaging them to ask for help or guidance on an edit. So, in this case for example, the editor I want to ask is ABDC, rather than messaging ABCD, I can ‘post’ in the section of which ABCD is a leader/moderator/admin over, and I can be sure then that they will see it, and if needed, respond to it. Additionally, I think this will bring greater consistency. This could be done, for example, by an issue being placed in that section and being pinned into a ‘official’ section. Kind of a … this is the official answer … type of thing. Basically providing an easier way to reference past decisions by the leaders, and avoid others from providing answers of difference. It is not a problem so much as the wrong answer being given, but a different answer being given. I would personally rather have incorrectly entered data that is all done that way vs a mix of data entered in a few different ways, maybe others agree or not.

My personal reason for posting this is that I find the current documentation sections very difficult to use. As a user who knows nothing about nothing trying to do an edit, you are somewhat blind. For me, there are some editors that have explained things in some detail that really made the point(s) understood to me. I appreciate that greatly, and I believe it helps increase the accuracy of data entered.

[Jim_DeLaHunt]

@thwaller

If I have questions about certain things, there would be a support/FAQ/Documentation section I could visit, linking to the forums as well.

To a first approximation, this forum serves exactly that purpose. Ask away! To the extent people have expertise and interest and energy, they will answer. You can add tags like “label” or “works” to your question to attract the attention of experts who are searching by that label.

@thwaller

I find the current documentation sections very difficult to use.

So do I, at times. My response is to a) figure out the answer to my question, despite the flaws in the documentation, and b) to propose an improvement to the documentation so that it says what I wish it said in the first place. See the topic “Improved documentation for "Add Alias", especially "Alias Type"” for an example of this pattern.

@thwaller

As a user who knows nothing about nothing trying to do an edit, you are somewhat blind.

You have a special quality for now: since you know nothing about nothing, the omissions in our documentation and the rough points in our tools are particularly visible to you. The rest of us have learned too much, and know too much, to be able to see those problems quite as clearly. Please, bring up what you stumble on. All too soon, you will become expert, and lose your special gift.