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Tagged: private replies
- This topic has 11 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 3 months ago by
Susan.
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February 21, 2014 at 5:20 pm #91808
emasai
ParticipantWho can see "Private Replies", I'm guessing only the original poster, but this is not evident to most people and probably not to me either.
Also I was wondering why all of Susan's recent answers are all marked as Private Replies. therefore invisible to the forum?
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Lynne emasai.comFebruary 21, 2014 at 5:28 pm #91811Susan
ModeratorLynne - I was just following up with older unanswered posts, to see if the user's issue was resolved or not. If it is, I can close the thread; if not, I will follow up.
Private threads can be seen by the original poster, and a moderator.
If I am providing a solution to an issue, I don't mark the posts private.
Edited to add - we have a large number of unanswered posts, and I think that can be discouraging to new users, who may not want to post if they don't think they will get any response. Rather than having 100s of unanswered posts just sitting out there, I think it's important to follow up, even if I can't offer a solution. I can escalate, or call for assistance as appropriate.
February 21, 2014 at 5:32 pm #91813Summer
MemberTypically, private replies can only be seen by the original poster and any moderators.
Not sure why she put private replies in some 40+ threads today, and there were a couple involving Multisite and Marketpress that I was curious to read where the conversation would go, but I can't see her replies.
Susan also removed her reply from a thread I commented on the other day... noticed that when I followed up on the original poster's reply to my response. Also saw that Andrea was removing "irrelevant responses" from threads that had been marked as resolved. Thought that was kinda odd, too.
WordPress / Genesis Site Design & Troubleshooting: A Touch of Summer | @SummerWebDesign
Slice of SciFi | Writers, After DarkFebruary 21, 2014 at 5:36 pm #91814Summer
Member@Susan, there doesn't seem to be an easy way for anyone but moderators to see what threads have gone unanswered. The search for the forums is atrocious compared to the search function the old forums had... I see certain questions being asked over and over again, and I have to guess that the poor results the search function now turns out has to be one factor in that.
Any way those of us who aren't moderators can help more?
WordPress / Genesis Site Design & Troubleshooting: A Touch of Summer | @SummerWebDesign
Slice of SciFi | Writers, After DarkFebruary 21, 2014 at 5:37 pm #91815Susan
ModeratorSummer - there wasn't any conversation. People had posted questions one or two months ago, and nobody had responded. I was just following up, as I indicated. If someone reports back, and indicates that they do still need assistance, I will research further to point them in the right direction, but given the limited time that many of us have, I don't want to research an issue if they already got their answer, or they moved in another direction. The topics are flagged, so that I will receive an e-mail if the original poster does respond (often they don't).
I didn't realize that marking a topic as private would cause such concern. I won't do it in the future!
There are close to 500 unanswered posts, so if you've got some free time, there's plenty of questions to go around.
I did delete a reply the other day, because I gave erroneous information, which you corrected.
February 21, 2014 at 5:39 pm #91818Susan
ModeratorSummer - in the FAQs above, there is a link to the unanswered posts, but you can do what I do, and add this link to your signature http://www.studiopress.community/view/no-replies - this allows me to quickly pull up all the unanswered posts...
February 21, 2014 at 5:45 pm #91827Summer
MemberLOL, Some of us drop by every day or so, and it was just startling to see every thread on the first two pages updated with private replies this morning!
I will see if any of those unanswered threads fall into my wheelhouse, and do what I can. My current "project" right now involves getting Genesis and WPMU plugins to play better together (I'm listed as a web pro over there, and active on those support forums as well, but not as much as here), so anything involving Multisite or the WPMU plugins that I find here, as well as Genesis topics I find over there, I try to lend a hand if I can.
WordPress / Genesis Site Design & Troubleshooting: A Touch of Summer | @SummerWebDesign
Slice of SciFi | Writers, After DarkFebruary 21, 2014 at 5:50 pm #91829Susan
ModeratorSummer - I used to visit the forum every day, and try to answer 10 questions - that was my goal I set myself when I started volunteering, but you know how it is, you get busy, and before you know it, you realize you have become a stranger around here 🙂 - I used to feel bad when there were over 100 unanswered posts, so was majorly disappointed when I realized it was closer to 600 unanswered posts. If I answer 10 a day, it's going to take me a while to catch up!
February 21, 2014 at 8:23 pm #91860emasai
ParticipantWell I guess my question brought up some things that could be improved in the forum!
Another thing I have noticed is that when a question is answered by someone here it tends to be ignored by others. Sometimes I answer questions and sometimes I cannot completely solve the problem.
It would also be nice to have some way of letting the community know that even if you did answer a post, it might not have been completely resolved to the satisfaction of the OP.
I also think it is not made plain enough that this is a voluntary forum and is not the official Genesis or child theme support. Posters usually don't mark their posts as resolved and this should be encouraged in a more prominent way, thanks are also much appreciated...!
As Summer said, I don't think the unanswered questions are very visible except to moderators, so I presume the casual poster is not likely to see them, unless they are using the search function, which is sadly not very efficient. Also, if they are months old, I would imagine the OP has probably found another solution in the meantime. The fact that the first 2 pages were unanswered threads today in the forum does not look good either. Wouldn't it be possible as a Mod to contact the OP off forum and then reconnect their question to an answer if they respond? Some forums have private messaging between users, that could be a better way of solving the unanswered threads?
Just my 2 cents. I do realize that all changes take time and energy to implement and may not be at the forefront of the Genesis platform. Nor did I in any way mean to be critical of you personally, as I said "just curious"
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Lynne emasai.comFebruary 21, 2014 at 8:29 pm #91862Susan
ModeratorLynne - I totally understand what you are saying!
I find that when I give an answer, and it's not correct, you are right, someone else isn't likely to look at it. At that point, I call on my network on Twitter - using the #GenesisWP hashtag, to see if someone will come in and help out...
Although I'm a mod, I don't work for SP. The main reason I was made a moderator was so that I could control spam, and close posts as needed (or edit them if people put in personal information!) - I don't have a way of containing anyone off forum.
I wish people would mark their posts as resolved - it would definitely help someone who is searching for assistance with a similar question!
February 22, 2014 at 11:53 am #91926swarmcatcher
MemberI raised this question as a newcomer earlier today because I couldn't find anything in search "private replies" or in the forum rules and all the posts I was looking at were marked with it. Maybe a note in forum rules about anything like this would cover it, i had thought that i must need a subscription or something to view answers ;).
Please nobody get the wrong end of the stick here, I understand its a free resource that is on offer, but the search facility is not up to much, I know I have loads of questions that others will have asked before but when looking for info the search results are nye on worthless
Until reading this I was not aware of the need to mark threads as resolved and will now do my best to do so. I guess a week after posting would be the most appropriate time if it doesn't appear to be going anywhere?
Got to say that is an impressive goal you have set for yourself Susan, and thank you for all the work that you ad the other moderators carry out.
February 22, 2014 at 11:56 am #91927Susan
ModeratorUntil reading this I was not aware of the need to mark threads as resolved and will now do my best to do so. I guess a week after posting would be the most appropriate time if it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere?
Don't mark your thread as "resolved" unless it has been resolved! If you mark it as resolved, you'll find that nobody will answer it. Leaving it open will give you the opportunity to have someone decide to search for unanswered posts, and maybe find your question (and hopefully have an answer!)
Another thing I recommend that you don't do is BUMP your thread. If you bump a thread, it will look like someone else has answered it, and then nobody will likely find it to offer you some assistance!
And lofty goals? Yeah, I have them! I used to have more free time, but now I provide theme support for ALL the Pretty Darn Cute Design 3rd party themes, so I don't spend nearly as much time over here as I used to.
Good luck!
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