DigitalXtreme
asked on
Topic Areas (Add/Remove/Keep)
First let me state that I cannot guarantee that any ideas will be implemented as I have only spoken to the administrators and not the engineers on this. Consider this only a poll for features.
We would like to know your ideas on which topic areas should be added, deleted, renamed, regrouped, or kept the same as they are. Provide an explanation of your reasoning for any changes you feel necessary but try to stay focused on the question (any post unrelated or unnecessary to the question being asked MAY be deleted at our discretion). This is the time for the expert community to speak out on what they think should be changed in the topic areas. Again, I can't promise what will change, but at least we would like some input. Thank you
DigitalXtreme
CS Moderator
We would like to know your ideas on which topic areas should be added, deleted, renamed, regrouped, or kept the same as they are. Provide an explanation of your reasoning for any changes you feel necessary but try to stay focused on the question (any post unrelated or unnecessary to the question being asked MAY be deleted at our discretion). This is the time for the expert community to speak out on what they think should be changed in the topic areas. Again, I can't promise what will change, but at least we would like some input. Thank you
DigitalXtreme
CS Moderator
I'm not sure if deleting TA's will be OK with anybody (HOFs disapearing, previous links ceasing to work, etc) but anyway here's my thoughts:
- \Applications\MSOffice TA (the one I hang out the most). It has been pointed out recently that often users with macros (VBA) problems seem more inclined to search in the programming TA's for help (I did the same thing at first). I'm not saying that VB TA is not a good place to post it. It's just that often there are issues specific to the Microsoft Office Platform that could be better addressed in the MSOffice TA. So there might be a reference to the MSOffice TA under the VB TA (either as a subtopic - which I find a bit weird - or at least mention it in the description for that TA).
I'm not trying to catch more questions for our side here (I don't think that this is a matter of sides). But the VB TA is overloaded as it is (It is if I'm not mistaken the busiest TA around) and could proabably have some more Subtopics to spread the Traffic. But I'm no expert there to say what they should be...
- Storage - This one bugs me. Why is this the only top level TA that has no subtopics? And I think I would probably find it just as well under hardware... But once again I don't know what type of questions usually go under there to be able to give a proper opinion on this...
- Community Support... Well, I think there are just too many subtopics. Especially since they don't get monitored as often as they should be to prove usefull (the past week has been a positive exception but I'm yet to see how it will be when the rewrite isn't a novelty any more). For instance why is there a "New to EE?" TA? (and why does it have a question mark?) New people often posting a question about the site will often be disapointed if they post it therebecause of how long they'll wait for a reply.
And what about "New Topics"? Maybe it should be under Suggestions? And just so you see how usefull that one could be, this question isn't even posted there :) (although I agree it's probably better placed in Expert Input since it is to get feedback from the experts).
I don't travel much around the site... So these are my single suggestions. Hope at least they make people think about them (even if they're not implemented).
I hope noone takes me personal on any suggestion I make over 'their' favourite TA. This is just my personal opinion and I'm willing to be contested(if that contributes for the greater good)
Paulo
- \Applications\MSOffice TA (the one I hang out the most). It has been pointed out recently that often users with macros (VBA) problems seem more inclined to search in the programming TA's for help (I did the same thing at first). I'm not saying that VB TA is not a good place to post it. It's just that often there are issues specific to the Microsoft Office Platform that could be better addressed in the MSOffice TA. So there might be a reference to the MSOffice TA under the VB TA (either as a subtopic - which I find a bit weird - or at least mention it in the description for that TA).
I'm not trying to catch more questions for our side here (I don't think that this is a matter of sides). But the VB TA is overloaded as it is (It is if I'm not mistaken the busiest TA around) and could proabably have some more Subtopics to spread the Traffic. But I'm no expert there to say what they should be...
- Storage - This one bugs me. Why is this the only top level TA that has no subtopics? And I think I would probably find it just as well under hardware... But once again I don't know what type of questions usually go under there to be able to give a proper opinion on this...
- Community Support... Well, I think there are just too many subtopics. Especially since they don't get monitored as often as they should be to prove usefull (the past week has been a positive exception but I'm yet to see how it will be when the rewrite isn't a novelty any more). For instance why is there a "New to EE?" TA? (and why does it have a question mark?) New people often posting a question about the site will often be disapointed if they post it therebecause of how long they'll wait for a reply.
And what about "New Topics"? Maybe it should be under Suggestions? And just so you see how usefull that one could be, this question isn't even posted there :) (although I agree it's probably better placed in Expert Input since it is to get feedback from the experts).
I don't travel much around the site... So these are my single suggestions. Hope at least they make people think about them (even if they're not implemented).
I hope noone takes me personal on any suggestion I make over 'their' favourite TA. This is just my personal opinion and I'm willing to be contested(if that contributes for the greater good)
Paulo
ASKER
>>I'm not sure if deleting TA's will be OK with anybody (HOFs disapearing, previous links ceasing to work, etc)<<
on this, the reason why I mentioned deleting is because some of us moderators have noticed a few TA's where questions are never posted anymore (or rarely) and many points abusers use the areas to try to scam points.
on this, the reason why I mentioned deleting is because some of us moderators have noticed a few TA's where questions are never posted anymore (or rarely) and many points abusers use the areas to try to scam points.
ASKER
better delete TA's like New Topics under community support too .... questions are being asked but sporadically addressed except by other requesters
new TA's
Windows 2003 Server (*by Shekerra)
Sharepoint 2001/2003 (*by bruintje)
VBA under MS Office (*by some new Office Experts and Paulo above)
dead TA's
all TA's with less then 5 new questions per month??? (depending on expert input of course)
new TA's
Windows 2003 Server (*by Shekerra)
Sharepoint 2001/2003 (*by bruintje)
VBA under MS Office (*by some new Office Experts and Paulo above)
dead TA's
all TA's with less then 5 new questions per month??? (depending on expert input of course)
>>HOFs disapearing..
The PAQs could be moved to other TAs (which might cause some small jumps in the overall Top 15 for those TAs), or the TA could just be dropped from the navigation menus.
>>previous links ceasing to work..
That shouldn't be a big problem, as a question is actually found by the Question ID, e.g.
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20627912/Topic-Areas-Add-Remove-Keep.html, so clicking on a link redirects you to the new TA
Chmod
Community Support Moderator @Experts Exchange
The PAQs could be moved to other TAs (which might cause some small jumps in the overall Top 15 for those TAs), or the TA could just be dropped from the navigation menus.
>>previous links ceasing to work..
That shouldn't be a big problem, as a question is actually found by the Question ID, e.g.
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20627912/Topic-Areas-Add-Remove-Keep.html, so clicking on a link redirects you to the new TA
Chmod
Community Support Moderator @Experts Exchange
We've been waiting on an OS X topic area and a Video TA for years now. Keeps getting promised, never comes through.
Web development Software is a rarily used catchall that should be rolled into web development. Web authoring is basically dead, and hot urls mainly draws requests for hacks/cracks or is used by spammers I think you roll those and New internet users into something like Using the Internet or Using the WWW. It still won't get a lot of action but one slow TA is probably better then three near death
Having done that kind of consolidation and cleanup, you might then look too add a new one in the web Area for WEB standards to deal the increasing volume of questions we are getting about DOM1 and 2 CSS1 2 and 3, XHTML1 and compatibility issues. I think the previous comment about eliminating browser issues as a TA would not be a good Idea, I think it should be moved under WEB standards, because standards and cross-browser issues are a good part of what is getting posted there. However I agree that having a browser TA under applications makes sense because browser interfaces are becoming much more common for non-web use.
Cd&
Having done that kind of consolidation and cleanup, you might then look too add a new one in the web Area for WEB standards to deal the increasing volume of questions we are getting about DOM1 and 2 CSS1 2 and 3, XHTML1 and compatibility issues. I think the previous comment about eliminating browser issues as a TA would not be a good Idea, I think it should be moved under WEB standards, because standards and cross-browser issues are a good part of what is getting posted there. However I agree that having a browser TA under applications makes sense because browser interfaces are becoming much more common for non-web use.
Cd&
I think its time for a new TA called "ERP".
Exising SAP can come under it.
Maybe we can put subtopics as peoplesoft, Navision, JDE, etc.
Exising SAP can come under it.
Maybe we can put subtopics as peoplesoft, Navision, JDE, etc.
I agree with "bruintje's comment on Date: 05/27/2003 11:42PM EEST"
Windows 2003 Server should be added and Windows 2000 section should be splitted into Win2k Pro and Win2k server in my opinion. Also;
Win95 setup on https://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Win95_3x/Win95/Win95_Setup/
win 3.x on https://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Win95_3x/Win3x/
win 3.x setup on https://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Win95_3x/Win3x/Win3x_Setup/
These are the parts that i'm around and i guess all win 95 & win 3.x sections can be collected under Windows 95 & 3.x Area on https://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Win95_3x/..
Windows 2003 Server should be added and Windows 2000 section should be splitted into Win2k Pro and Win2k server in my opinion. Also;
Win95 setup on https://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Win95_3x/Win95/Win95_Setup/
win 3.x on https://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Win95_3x/Win3x/
win 3.x setup on https://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Win95_3x/Win3x/Win3x_Setup/
These are the parts that i'm around and i guess all win 95 & win 3.x sections can be collected under Windows 95 & 3.x Area on https://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Win95_3x/..
sorry I forgot to add https://www.experts-exchange.com/Hardware/Scanners/HP_Scanners/ as a dead TA (in my opinion)
Hi,
DigitalXtreme & COBOLdinosaur, I understand your need to be more efficient, but practice "any post unrelated or unnecessary to the question being asked MAY be deleted at our discretion" is simply not acceptable.
Current tree, I believe, is made using IBM's tutorial "Card sorting and cluster analysis" but although it was in IBM's "usability" section, it isn't *user* centered. Everything is grouped logically, while forgetting the usage.
The first step is to determine the number of questions in each TA.
Before 2002 EE had a list of "10 most active topic areas" on each page. The problem was - someone was forcing Hardware into that list, although MS Office had more question. That was wrong - if site is mainly for software and software developers - navigation should be adjusted to that. The same "designer" is still active, probably some non-techie who thinks Hardware and Software have the same weight and volume - which explains why we have Hardware and Storage as top categories.
There was a good point in IBM's tutorial:
--
Research suggests that users begin to lose their bearings within a hierarchical structure once they go beyond the third level. As William Horton notes, flat hierarchical structures may cause users to have to scan longer lists of menu items, but users "will get lost less often"
--
The need to have flat tree is amplified because EE doesn't use active tree, i.e. user must visit each level before reaching the desired TA.
If you check MSDN, the tree nodes can be opened / closed (by clicking on + or -) without going to each page.
There is also a problem with some folder names. Longer names can be user friendly when naming documents, but if each folder name is long and you have 3 folders depth, it isn't nice.
Sample is real name for http:/vbcontrols/
This is ideal :-) http://www.ee.com/vb/
I have some old statistics for 3 months period: Questions asked 11 Feb 2002 - 23 May 2002
1 Visual Basic 4042 11.81%
2 Microsoft Access 1987 5.80%
3 Active Server Pages (ASP) 1982 5.79%
4 Java Programming 1693 4.94%
5 Community Support 1587 4.64%
6 Delphi Programming 1491 4.35%
7 C++ Programming 1253 3.66%
8 JavaScript 1214 3.55%
9 Windows 2000 1105 3.23%
10 Windows 98 962 2.81%
11 MS-SQL 958 2.80%
12 Microsoft Office 902 2.63%
13 Oracle 885 2.58%
14 MFC 864 2.52%
15 Hardware(General) 861 2.51%
16 Windows XP 642 1.88%
17 Lounge 576 1.68%
18 Exchange Server 526 1.54%
19 Networking(General) 518 1.51%
20 Web Development(General) 492 1.44%
21 Microsoft Outlook 455 1.33%
22 PHP 430 1.26%
23 Perl 423 1.24%
24 Windows Programming 363 1.06%
25 Windows NT 358 1.05%
26 HTML 325 0.95%
27 XML 323 0.94%
28 Lotus Notes 285 0.83%
29 Crystal Reports 276 0.81%
30 Linux 267 0.78%
31 ColdFusion 237 0.69%
32 Operating Systems(General) 233 0.68%
33 Databases(General) 205 0.60%
34 Macromedia Flash 190 0.55%
35 Programming Software & Languages(General) 184 0.54%
36 Windows NT Networking 166 0.48%
37 Unix 158 0.46%
38 -1 147 0.43%
39 Web Browsers 146 0.43%
40 C Programming 146 0.43%
41 Graphics(General) 142 0.41%
42 Linux Networking 141 0.41%
43 Solaris 138 0.40%
44 Windows ME 135 0.39%
45 FoxPro 130 0.38%
46 Mysql 130 0.38%
47 Routers/Switches 128 0.37%
48 JSP 119 0.35%
49 Email/GroupWare(General) 106 0.31%
50 Internet Information Server 104 0.30%
51 Apache 103 0.30%
52 Security 97 0.28%
53 Linux Administration 93 0.27%
54 CleanUp 85 0.25%
55 Linux Programming 81 0.24%
56 Productivity Applications(General) 81 0.24%
57 CGI Programming 81 0.24%
58 Windows 95 79 0.23%
59 Cascading Style Sheets 73 0.21%
60 Linux Setup 69 0.20%
61 MS-DOS 68 0.20%
62 Web Development Software(General) 67 0.20%
63 EE Bugs 66 0.19%
64 Microsoft FrontPage 63 0.18%
65 Windows CE 62 0.18%
66 Macintosh 61 0.18%
67 Unix Programming 59 0.17%
68 Printers 56 0.16%
69 Games(General) 56 0.16%
70 Sendmail 56 0.16%
71 NetWare 55 0.16%
72 Palm Pilot 52 0.15%
73 Suggestions 51 0.15%
74 Adobe Acrobat 48 0.14%
75 Sybase 47 0.14%
76 3D Game Programming 43 0.13%
77 Programming Platforms(General) 42 0.12%
78 Expert Input 42 0.12%
79 Linux X-Windows System 41 0.12%
80 VB Databases 41 0.12%
81 Desktops 40 0.12%
82 Photoshop 39 0.11%
83 Handhelds/Wireless(General
84 Windows NT Setup 37 0.11%
85 Web Hosting 36 0.11%
86 PowerBuilder 36 0.11%
87 Modems 35 0.10%
88 DSL/Cable Modems 34 0.10%
89 HP Printers 34 0.10%
90 Macromedia UltraDev 33 0.10%
91 New Topics 32 0.09%
92 VB Controls 31 0.09%
93 Viruses 30 0.09%
94 Microsoft Visual Interdev 28 0.08%
95 Macromedia Director 28 0.08%
96 Macromedia Dreamweaver 28 0.08%
97 Windows 95 Networking 28 0.08%
98 AS/400 27 0.08%
99 Web Images 26 0.08%
100 Broadband(General) 25 0.07%
101 Assembly 24 0.07%
102 Game Programming(General) 24 0.07%
103 Websphere 23 0.07%
104 Weblogic 23 0.07%
105 WAP 21 0.06%
106 VPN 21 0.06%
107 Scanners 20 0.06%
108 Mod's only 18 0.05%
109 IBM UDB 18 0.05%
110 Internet Service/ISPs 16 0.05%
111 HP Scanners 15 0.04%
112 Linux Printing 14 0.04%
113 Unix Networking 13 0.04%
114 Eudora 13 0.04%
115 Web Authoring 12 0.04%
116 Macintosh Applications 12 0.04%
117 Test 12 0.04%
118 Windows 95 Setup 11 0.03%
119 FileMaker 10 0.03%
120 New Internet Users 10 0.03%
121 Fonts 10 0.03%
122 Pascal 10 0.03%
123 Interbase 9 0.03%
124 Hot URLs 8 0.02%
125 Game Graphics 8 0.02%
126 Macintosh Networking 8 0.02%
127 Macromedia Fireworks 8 0.02%
128 Database Reporting Tools 7 0.02%
129 Macintosh Programming 7 0.02%
130 Microsoft Site Server 7 0.02%
131 Windows 3.x 7 0.02%
132 New Computer Users 7 0.02%
133 AI & Physics Game Programming 7 0.02%
134 BlueTooth 6 0.02%
135 OS/2(General) 6 0.02%
136 Windows 3.x Setup 6 0.02%
137 Unix Setup 6 0.02%
138 Lotus Smart Suite 6 0.02%
139 Gaming Tips & Tricks 5 0.01%
140 Online Games 5 0.01%
141 Blackberry 4 0.01%
142 Game Emulators 4 0.01%
143 Macintosh Communications 4 0.01%
144 Taxes 4 0.01%
145 Windows 95 Games 4 0.01%
146 ATM 3 0.01%
147 GSM 3 0.01%
148 Microchips 3 0.01%
149 OWL 3 0.01%
150 Pervasive 3 0.01%
151 Vignette 3 0.01%
152 802.11b Development 2 0.01%
153 802.11b User 2 0.01%
154 Application Service Providers 2 0.01%
155 CDMA 2 0.01%
156 GPRS 2 0.01%
157 Lightwave 2 0.01%
158 Macromedia Generator 2 0.01%
159 OS/2 Programming 2 0.01%
160 Game Consoles 2 0.01%
161 OS/2 Applications 2 0.01%
162 BroadVision 1 0.00%
163 BSD 1 0.00%
164 Btrive 1 0.00%
165 Dynamo 1 0.00%
166 EPOC 1 0.00%
167 Game UI Programming 1 0.00%
168 Jobs 1 0.00%
169 Macintosh Games 1 0.00%
170 Microsoft Network 1 0.00%
171 MS-DOS Games 1 0.00%
172 OS/2 Networking 1 0.00%
173 UMTS 1 0.00%
174 US Federal Taxes 1 0.00%
175 Travel(General) 1 0.00%
Grand Total 34238 100.00%
DigitalXtreme & COBOLdinosaur, I understand your need to be more efficient, but practice "any post unrelated or unnecessary to the question being asked MAY be deleted at our discretion" is simply not acceptable.
Current tree, I believe, is made using IBM's tutorial "Card sorting and cluster analysis" but although it was in IBM's "usability" section, it isn't *user* centered. Everything is grouped logically, while forgetting the usage.
The first step is to determine the number of questions in each TA.
Before 2002 EE had a list of "10 most active topic areas" on each page. The problem was - someone was forcing Hardware into that list, although MS Office had more question. That was wrong - if site is mainly for software and software developers - navigation should be adjusted to that. The same "designer" is still active, probably some non-techie who thinks Hardware and Software have the same weight and volume - which explains why we have Hardware and Storage as top categories.
There was a good point in IBM's tutorial:
--
Research suggests that users begin to lose their bearings within a hierarchical structure once they go beyond the third level. As William Horton notes, flat hierarchical structures may cause users to have to scan longer lists of menu items, but users "will get lost less often"
--
The need to have flat tree is amplified because EE doesn't use active tree, i.e. user must visit each level before reaching the desired TA.
If you check MSDN, the tree nodes can be opened / closed (by clicking on + or -) without going to each page.
There is also a problem with some folder names. Longer names can be user friendly when naming documents, but if each folder name is long and you have 3 folders depth, it isn't nice.
Sample is real name for http:/vbcontrols/
This is ideal :-) http://www.ee.com/vb/
I have some old statistics for 3 months period: Questions asked 11 Feb 2002 - 23 May 2002
1 Visual Basic 4042 11.81%
2 Microsoft Access 1987 5.80%
3 Active Server Pages (ASP) 1982 5.79%
4 Java Programming 1693 4.94%
5 Community Support 1587 4.64%
6 Delphi Programming 1491 4.35%
7 C++ Programming 1253 3.66%
8 JavaScript 1214 3.55%
9 Windows 2000 1105 3.23%
10 Windows 98 962 2.81%
11 MS-SQL 958 2.80%
12 Microsoft Office 902 2.63%
13 Oracle 885 2.58%
14 MFC 864 2.52%
15 Hardware(General) 861 2.51%
16 Windows XP 642 1.88%
17 Lounge 576 1.68%
18 Exchange Server 526 1.54%
19 Networking(General) 518 1.51%
20 Web Development(General) 492 1.44%
21 Microsoft Outlook 455 1.33%
22 PHP 430 1.26%
23 Perl 423 1.24%
24 Windows Programming 363 1.06%
25 Windows NT 358 1.05%
26 HTML 325 0.95%
27 XML 323 0.94%
28 Lotus Notes 285 0.83%
29 Crystal Reports 276 0.81%
30 Linux 267 0.78%
31 ColdFusion 237 0.69%
32 Operating Systems(General) 233 0.68%
33 Databases(General) 205 0.60%
34 Macromedia Flash 190 0.55%
35 Programming Software & Languages(General) 184 0.54%
36 Windows NT Networking 166 0.48%
37 Unix 158 0.46%
38 -1 147 0.43%
39 Web Browsers 146 0.43%
40 C Programming 146 0.43%
41 Graphics(General) 142 0.41%
42 Linux Networking 141 0.41%
43 Solaris 138 0.40%
44 Windows ME 135 0.39%
45 FoxPro 130 0.38%
46 Mysql 130 0.38%
47 Routers/Switches 128 0.37%
48 JSP 119 0.35%
49 Email/GroupWare(General) 106 0.31%
50 Internet Information Server 104 0.30%
51 Apache 103 0.30%
52 Security 97 0.28%
53 Linux Administration 93 0.27%
54 CleanUp 85 0.25%
55 Linux Programming 81 0.24%
56 Productivity Applications(General) 81 0.24%
57 CGI Programming 81 0.24%
58 Windows 95 79 0.23%
59 Cascading Style Sheets 73 0.21%
60 Linux Setup 69 0.20%
61 MS-DOS 68 0.20%
62 Web Development Software(General) 67 0.20%
63 EE Bugs 66 0.19%
64 Microsoft FrontPage 63 0.18%
65 Windows CE 62 0.18%
66 Macintosh 61 0.18%
67 Unix Programming 59 0.17%
68 Printers 56 0.16%
69 Games(General) 56 0.16%
70 Sendmail 56 0.16%
71 NetWare 55 0.16%
72 Palm Pilot 52 0.15%
73 Suggestions 51 0.15%
74 Adobe Acrobat 48 0.14%
75 Sybase 47 0.14%
76 3D Game Programming 43 0.13%
77 Programming Platforms(General) 42 0.12%
78 Expert Input 42 0.12%
79 Linux X-Windows System 41 0.12%
80 VB Databases 41 0.12%
81 Desktops 40 0.12%
82 Photoshop 39 0.11%
83 Handhelds/Wireless(General
84 Windows NT Setup 37 0.11%
85 Web Hosting 36 0.11%
86 PowerBuilder 36 0.11%
87 Modems 35 0.10%
88 DSL/Cable Modems 34 0.10%
89 HP Printers 34 0.10%
90 Macromedia UltraDev 33 0.10%
91 New Topics 32 0.09%
92 VB Controls 31 0.09%
93 Viruses 30 0.09%
94 Microsoft Visual Interdev 28 0.08%
95 Macromedia Director 28 0.08%
96 Macromedia Dreamweaver 28 0.08%
97 Windows 95 Networking 28 0.08%
98 AS/400 27 0.08%
99 Web Images 26 0.08%
100 Broadband(General) 25 0.07%
101 Assembly 24 0.07%
102 Game Programming(General) 24 0.07%
103 Websphere 23 0.07%
104 Weblogic 23 0.07%
105 WAP 21 0.06%
106 VPN 21 0.06%
107 Scanners 20 0.06%
108 Mod's only 18 0.05%
109 IBM UDB 18 0.05%
110 Internet Service/ISPs 16 0.05%
111 HP Scanners 15 0.04%
112 Linux Printing 14 0.04%
113 Unix Networking 13 0.04%
114 Eudora 13 0.04%
115 Web Authoring 12 0.04%
116 Macintosh Applications 12 0.04%
117 Test 12 0.04%
118 Windows 95 Setup 11 0.03%
119 FileMaker 10 0.03%
120 New Internet Users 10 0.03%
121 Fonts 10 0.03%
122 Pascal 10 0.03%
123 Interbase 9 0.03%
124 Hot URLs 8 0.02%
125 Game Graphics 8 0.02%
126 Macintosh Networking 8 0.02%
127 Macromedia Fireworks 8 0.02%
128 Database Reporting Tools 7 0.02%
129 Macintosh Programming 7 0.02%
130 Microsoft Site Server 7 0.02%
131 Windows 3.x 7 0.02%
132 New Computer Users 7 0.02%
133 AI & Physics Game Programming 7 0.02%
134 BlueTooth 6 0.02%
135 OS/2(General) 6 0.02%
136 Windows 3.x Setup 6 0.02%
137 Unix Setup 6 0.02%
138 Lotus Smart Suite 6 0.02%
139 Gaming Tips & Tricks 5 0.01%
140 Online Games 5 0.01%
141 Blackberry 4 0.01%
142 Game Emulators 4 0.01%
143 Macintosh Communications 4 0.01%
144 Taxes 4 0.01%
145 Windows 95 Games 4 0.01%
146 ATM 3 0.01%
147 GSM 3 0.01%
148 Microchips 3 0.01%
149 OWL 3 0.01%
150 Pervasive 3 0.01%
151 Vignette 3 0.01%
152 802.11b Development 2 0.01%
153 802.11b User 2 0.01%
154 Application Service Providers 2 0.01%
155 CDMA 2 0.01%
156 GPRS 2 0.01%
157 Lightwave 2 0.01%
158 Macromedia Generator 2 0.01%
159 OS/2 Programming 2 0.01%
160 Game Consoles 2 0.01%
161 OS/2 Applications 2 0.01%
162 BroadVision 1 0.00%
163 BSD 1 0.00%
164 Btrive 1 0.00%
165 Dynamo 1 0.00%
166 EPOC 1 0.00%
167 Game UI Programming 1 0.00%
168 Jobs 1 0.00%
169 Macintosh Games 1 0.00%
170 Microsoft Network 1 0.00%
171 MS-DOS Games 1 0.00%
172 OS/2 Networking 1 0.00%
173 UMTS 1 0.00%
174 US Federal Taxes 1 0.00%
175 Travel(General) 1 0.00%
Grand Total 34238 100.00%
There is another statistic that could be more interesting I think: how many questions were answered per TA? I mean even if a TA get's 10 questions a month, and none (or only a couple) gets answered this can mean one of two things:
- there is no (active) expert with knowledge in that TA
- there are experts that even know the answer but don't know the TA exists or are just too busy solving questions at other (more busy) TA's.
Even if there is an expert who visits that Area on occasion (say once a week) sometimes the response will come just to late to be of any use.
On the other hand I know some TA's that are visited regularly by experts even though they have only one or two questions a week. Most of the questions get a comment in a 24 hour period. It depends on the area I think, but at least these ones are 'well served'. And this kind of service is the thing that will keep people coming to the site and not get disapointed with it.
Anyway all this to say that I think that this subject should be addressed periodically and not only on each rewrite of the site. There are 200 TA's in EE so it's unthinkable to expect for suggestions when each one should be deleted / created. Create some nice statistics (questions asked, questions commented on, questions solved) and run them and analyse them every once in a while (quaterly? yearly?). Then, make a list of the TA's that are 'dead' and eliminate them (after consulting the experts from that TA of course). Make a list of the TA's that have lots of traffic and ask in that TA if experts feel t should get divided or not.
Also new TA's should be put under a probation period. If no questions in a month or two then they should be removed. I mean that Itanium TA was probably a good idea but it got pratically no questions at all. And what about the GPRS TA? Not a single GPRS question.
Paulo
- there is no (active) expert with knowledge in that TA
- there are experts that even know the answer but don't know the TA exists or are just too busy solving questions at other (more busy) TA's.
Even if there is an expert who visits that Area on occasion (say once a week) sometimes the response will come just to late to be of any use.
On the other hand I know some TA's that are visited regularly by experts even though they have only one or two questions a week. Most of the questions get a comment in a 24 hour period. It depends on the area I think, but at least these ones are 'well served'. And this kind of service is the thing that will keep people coming to the site and not get disapointed with it.
Anyway all this to say that I think that this subject should be addressed periodically and not only on each rewrite of the site. There are 200 TA's in EE so it's unthinkable to expect for suggestions when each one should be deleted / created. Create some nice statistics (questions asked, questions commented on, questions solved) and run them and analyse them every once in a while (quaterly? yearly?). Then, make a list of the TA's that are 'dead' and eliminate them (after consulting the experts from that TA of course). Make a list of the TA's that have lots of traffic and ask in that TA if experts feel t should get divided or not.
Also new TA's should be put under a probation period. If no questions in a month or two then they should be removed. I mean that Itanium TA was probably a good idea but it got pratically no questions at all. And what about the GPRS TA? Not a single GPRS question.
Paulo
Yes, PAQs are also important. To make decisions/corrections, some table is needed, with columns like:
TA, TA Description, Open questions, Closed questions, Questions asked in last 3 months
Last 3 values should also be expressed in %.
TA, TA Description, Open questions, Closed questions, Questions asked in last 3 months
Last 3 values should also be expressed in %.
"Some table" can be found here: https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20619626/Test-for-ameba.html
Instead of "Questions asked in last 3 months", to indicate a recent activity, I used - date of the Last PAQ on the first page.
Maximize the window for better view.
Instead of "Questions asked in last 3 months", to indicate a recent activity, I used - date of the Last PAQ on the first page.
Maximize the window for better view.
I noticed that the change of the name of one of the TAs I participate in resulted in its "death"...
I'm talking about this one: https://www.experts-exchange.com/Databases/Oracle/Tools_Development/
Its full name is "3rd Party Applications and Development Tools Area". Its short name (the one displayed in the TA tree) is currently "3rd Party Tools". It used to be "Tools and Development" (all of those under the Oracle TA).
I'm not sure when exactly the name was changed (I think several months ago) but before the change it was quite active - the TA itself was relatively new and for its short existance it was quite popular and had almost the same number of questions as the main Oracle TA. Since the name change you can rarely see a question posted there. And that really started from the very first day under the new name. Recently there's a new question posted maybe once per week.
I guess it would be a good idea to rename it back or rename it again to something else (if "Tools and Development" is too long for a "short" name, then maybe "Development" would be good enough). I don't think it would be fair to merge it back in the main Oracle TA, but that's also a possibility considering the current inactivity...
I'm talking about this one: https://www.experts-exchange.com/Databases/Oracle/Tools_Development/
Its full name is "3rd Party Applications and Development Tools Area". Its short name (the one displayed in the TA tree) is currently "3rd Party Tools". It used to be "Tools and Development" (all of those under the Oracle TA).
I'm not sure when exactly the name was changed (I think several months ago) but before the change it was quite active - the TA itself was relatively new and for its short existance it was quite popular and had almost the same number of questions as the main Oracle TA. Since the name change you can rarely see a question posted there. And that really started from the very first day under the new name. Recently there's a new question posted maybe once per week.
I guess it would be a good idea to rename it back or rename it again to something else (if "Tools and Development" is too long for a "short" name, then maybe "Development" would be good enough). I don't think it would be fair to merge it back in the main Oracle TA, but that's also a possibility considering the current inactivity...
Date of the last PAQ is a good indicator:
If TA cannot fill one page of PAQs in one year - there is some problem - it is hidden too deep in the hierarchy or it doesn't deserve separate category.
So, check such TAs first, starting with:
56 Web Authoring
84 HP Scanners
94 Gaming Tips & Tricks
97 Windows 95 Games
108 MS-DOS Games
...
Here is the link again: https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20619626/Test-for-ameba.html
If TA cannot fill one page of PAQs in one year - there is some problem - it is hidden too deep in the hierarchy or it doesn't deserve separate category.
So, check such TAs first, starting with:
56 Web Authoring
84 HP Scanners
94 Gaming Tips & Tricks
97 Windows 95 Games
108 MS-DOS Games
...
Here is the link again: https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20619626/Test-for-ameba.html
<< [recommending a new TA:] VBA under MS Office (*by some new Office Experts and Paulo above) >>
you are going to KILL the Microsoft Access TA with that (especially since someone like you knows VBA for programs other than Access, even though it isn't that much of a difference). 75% of the questions in the Access TA have to do with VBA. by making a VBA TA you'll destroy EE's #2 TA, especially since 75% of development in Access is VBA (or SQL).
for DEAD TA's, like Berkley DB, all questions can be moved to it's parent topic (databases, for instance) including Open and PAQ questions, using that admin tool.
And Community Support should look like the following:
Community Support (to be used by Mods, of course)
Bugs (to be used by Engineers)
Ideas and Input (to be used by EAB. they should be, have been, and can handle the merger of the three TA's, as explained below)
Feedback (for whoever passes by :-)
CV's (to be used by CV's)
Suggestions, Expert Input, and New Topics should all be combined into one thread... this will be the EAB's thread. and note how it's changed to "CV's" and moved to the bottom. thats to prevent random people from going to the cleanup area... it will be kept hidden for the CV's. and also "New to EE?" is gone (paulo, question mark is cause it's a question, "Are you New to EE?"). they can post in CS for TIMELY help from a moderator.
and for god's sake, change "Storage New!" to "Storage" :-)
just my 0.02 (0.01 after taxes),
Andrew
you are going to KILL the Microsoft Access TA with that (especially since someone like you knows VBA for programs other than Access, even though it isn't that much of a difference). 75% of the questions in the Access TA have to do with VBA. by making a VBA TA you'll destroy EE's #2 TA, especially since 75% of development in Access is VBA (or SQL).
for DEAD TA's, like Berkley DB, all questions can be moved to it's parent topic (databases, for instance) including Open and PAQ questions, using that admin tool.
And Community Support should look like the following:
Community Support (to be used by Mods, of course)
Bugs (to be used by Engineers)
Ideas and Input (to be used by EAB. they should be, have been, and can handle the merger of the three TA's, as explained below)
Feedback (for whoever passes by :-)
CV's (to be used by CV's)
Suggestions, Expert Input, and New Topics should all be combined into one thread... this will be the EAB's thread. and note how it's changed to "CV's" and moved to the bottom. thats to prevent random people from going to the cleanup area... it will be kept hidden for the CV's. and also "New to EE?" is gone (paulo, question mark is cause it's a question, "Are you New to EE?"). they can post in CS for TIMELY help from a moderator.
and for god's sake, change "Storage New!" to "Storage" :-)
just my 0.02 (0.01 after taxes),
Andrew
hey, DX, checking those *DEAD* Effiel TA's, and got this:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20594073/point-transfer.html
pretty recent, about a month ago. i'd just silently delete the question unless you really want to push 'charges'...
Andrew
p.s. all Effiel TA's need to be deleted. if ya wanna keep the main one (*just* in case), then do so, but you don't need it. they can just use the parent topic if they really need to.
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20594073/point-transfer.html
pretty recent, about a month ago. i'd just silently delete the question unless you really want to push 'charges'...
Andrew
p.s. all Effiel TA's need to be deleted. if ya wanna keep the main one (*just* in case), then do so, but you don't need it. they can just use the parent topic if they really need to.
i got a notif from a large comment from wes, but after refreshing (using the EE link, of course) and even using the browser, i can't see it. maybe if i post a comment after it it will show up...
Andrew
Andrew
That's the beauty in getting the comment in the notifs: even if the comment gets (accidently?) deleted you still get to see it, and keep it, and frame it ;)
Paulo
Paulo
ASKER
I believe he deleted it because the formatting wasn't as he expected. :)
DX
DX
By the way, since my name was brought up on that:
when I said something about the relation between the Office TA and the Programming TA, I wasn't exactly thinking about creating a new VBA TA (now that I think about it maybe it wasn't such a bad idea). Anyway, Andrew, I think Access won't be much affected for this: Most people go to Access from Databases and from here you would see no VBA. Unless the VBA TA was also added under Access and Outlook (which also makes sense since these tools also use VBA), but in that case you would have the VBA TA under Access and Outlook and side by side with them since they would all be subtopics from MSOffice (I think I'm confusing even myself).
Just to take into consideration...
Paulo
----
>>I believe he deleted it because the formatting wasn't as he expected.
Yep, that's what I thought as well... Anyway, it looks nice when imported into Excel [Office Rules :)]
when I said something about the relation between the Office TA and the Programming TA, I wasn't exactly thinking about creating a new VBA TA (now that I think about it maybe it wasn't such a bad idea). Anyway, Andrew, I think Access won't be much affected for this: Most people go to Access from Databases and from here you would see no VBA. Unless the VBA TA was also added under Access and Outlook (which also makes sense since these tools also use VBA), but in that case you would have the VBA TA under Access and Outlook and side by side with them since they would all be subtopics from MSOffice (I think I'm confusing even myself).
Just to take into consideration...
Paulo
----
>>I believe he deleted it because the formatting wasn't as he expected.
Yep, that's what I thought as well... Anyway, it looks nice when imported into Excel [Office Rules :)]
> large comment from wes
I have posted it to my question - my totals do not match perfectly, I think because some "secret" topics (admin, eab, mods_only) were deleted. It has 171 TAs.
Maybe that data can be added to my sorted table, as indicator of recent activity, similar to my LastPAQ. E.g. add 2 columns:
Tot5m = number of new questions in last 5 months (between 12/28/2002 and 5/24/2003)
Tot5m = (Paq3 + Open3) - (Paq2 + Lock2 + Open2)
Paq5m = number of new PAQs between 12/28/2002 and 5/24/2003
Paq5m = Paq3 - Paq2
I have posted it to my question - my totals do not match perfectly, I think because some "secret" topics (admin, eab, mods_only) were deleted. It has 171 TAs.
Maybe that data can be added to my sorted table, as indicator of recent activity, similar to my LastPAQ. E.g. add 2 columns:
Tot5m = number of new questions in last 5 months (between 12/28/2002 and 5/24/2003)
Tot5m = (Paq3 + Open3) - (Paq2 + Lock2 + Open2)
Paq5m = number of new PAQs between 12/28/2002 and 5/24/2003
Paq5m = Paq3 - Paq2
>>> That's the beauty in getting the comment in the notifs: even if the comment gets (accidently?) deleted you still get to see it, and keep it, and frame it ;)
beauty? that may be true, but i see it differently. that's also a reason to remove the comment text from the e-mail ;)
>>> I believe he deleted it because the formatting wasn't as he expected. :)
perhaps he should try Dan's Comment Previewer tool... :)
Andrew
beauty? that may be true, but i see it differently. that's also a reason to remove the comment text from the e-mail ;)
>>> I believe he deleted it because the formatting wasn't as he expected. :)
perhaps he should try Dan's Comment Previewer tool... :)
Andrew
Hi DigitalXtreme,
I would like to suggest a VBA TA below Visual Basic
This would cater for VBA questions when programming within Word, Excel and similar applications.
Although the language is similar to VB, it is not always the same, and I would think it is fair to give this a separate TA.
Dabas
I would like to suggest a VBA TA below Visual Basic
This would cater for VBA questions when programming within Word, Excel and similar applications.
Although the language is similar to VB, it is not always the same, and I would think it is fair to give this a separate TA.
Dabas
think you meant VBA under MS Office ;P
bruintje,
Not sure. Maybe it can be cross linked so it is under both? (Same as MS Access now appears under MS Office AND under Databases)
Somebody that would like to ask a VBA related question might go the VB way, or might go the MSOffice way.
Alternatively, under MS OFfice sections for MS Word and MS Excel can be suggested.
Dabas
Not sure. Maybe it can be cross linked so it is under both? (Same as MS Access now appears under MS Office AND under Databases)
Somebody that would like to ask a VBA related question might go the VB way, or might go the MSOffice way.
Alternatively, under MS OFfice sections for MS Word and MS Excel can be suggested.
Dabas
funny but now we're getting into a more off topic discussion, why split ms office ??? we got some great allrounders in there and the current (mostly)excel experts are taking word and powerpoint q's as well it makes them better
the last few months i've seen requests to split office up in seperate sections and i'm against it on all accounts ...... i've learned everything about office in the MS Office section so please leave it as is, you only create some dead wood in a new powerpoint, visio section ..... take a look at outlook it's barely living
the last few months i've seen requests to split office up in seperate sections and i'm against it on all accounts ...... i've learned everything about office in the MS Office section so please leave it as is, you only create some dead wood in a new powerpoint, visio section ..... take a look at outlook it's barely living
I agree with Bru on this last paragraph. And there are many Outlook questions popping up in MSOffice latelly (at least I've answered a few).
My opinion about the rest has been stated in previous posts and I won't repeat it here (I'm still confused from my suggestion about replicating an eventual VBA TA across all those topics).
Paulo
My opinion about the rest has been stated in previous posts and I won't repeat it here (I'm still confused from my suggestion about replicating an eventual VBA TA across all those topics).
Paulo
again, creating a VBA TA would destroy the TA that uses it the most: Access. You can't strip the #2 TA in popularity of 75% of it's questions.
Andrew
Andrew
ah that's cool, didn't realize that ...... good point, then no VBA section since it tends to kill other TA's ?
that leaves alone that we need a Sharepoint TA ....... third attempt
nexusnation,
> creating a VBA TA would destroy the TA that uses it the most: Access
Although I tend to see the value of bruintje's objections to my proposal, I do not agree with this one.
Quite a lot of the programming in Access is data related. If we look at the DAO or ADO part of things, it is nearly identical to solutions in VB.
When I proposed VBA, I was referring more to the non-database functions exposed by VBA in Excel, Word, etc.
Nevertheless, I do understand the objections exposed in this thread.
Being relatively new here I was not aware that I was treading on a subject that already has (seemingly bitter) history.
My proposal was more based on the fact that I do find Excel related questions all over the place: in VB TA, VB Controls TA, Programming TA, Languages TA.... I just thought to myself that obviously the questioners had a difficult time finding the right TA to ask their question in.
I doubt that such a questioner does monitor a thread like this one, so we will not hear their point of view.
Maybe we are looking at these solutions mostly from our (answering experts) point of view. I assume that percentage wise, the non-represented questionners (and I do not refer to experts that occassionally also ask a question) might outnumber the answerers manyfold.
Dabas
> creating a VBA TA would destroy the TA that uses it the most: Access
Although I tend to see the value of bruintje's objections to my proposal, I do not agree with this one.
Quite a lot of the programming in Access is data related. If we look at the DAO or ADO part of things, it is nearly identical to solutions in VB.
When I proposed VBA, I was referring more to the non-database functions exposed by VBA in Excel, Word, etc.
Nevertheless, I do understand the objections exposed in this thread.
Being relatively new here I was not aware that I was treading on a subject that already has (seemingly bitter) history.
My proposal was more based on the fact that I do find Excel related questions all over the place: in VB TA, VB Controls TA, Programming TA, Languages TA.... I just thought to myself that obviously the questioners had a difficult time finding the right TA to ask their question in.
I doubt that such a questioner does monitor a thread like this one, so we will not hear their point of view.
Maybe we are looking at these solutions mostly from our (answering experts) point of view. I assume that percentage wise, the non-represented questionners (and I do not refer to experts that occassionally also ask a question) might outnumber the answerers manyfold.
Dabas
Dabas, that was the point I was trying to make on my first post on this thread. I didn't had a VBA TA in mind at the time. I was just looking for some sort of way for the people reaching VB to find their way to VBA if needed. An adequate description for that TA might work for some cases. Or then again maybe not...
And an excert from a post that I now see I didn't press the submit button on yet (I'm getting too much distractions today):
It would destroy MSOffice as well... Well, not destroy... just redirect some (most) of the questions. So now we'd have a TA that basically merged 50% of MSOffice and 75% of Access and, say, 20%(?) VB. This would get as big as the VB TA... and I think one as big as that is enough already... not to mention some of the other inconvenients already posted here.
The pro's are that all VBA questions would now be handled in one single topic area, easier to find because it would have references to it all over the place.
Is there any chance for us to discuss this when it comes to be decided or is this our (experts) final opportunity on this? Cause this thread was meant to be about suggestions for the whole site and it seems like a single knowledge area (important as it may be) is monopolizing the attentions... maybe we should start a new thread on this and ask others more directly involved to express their opinions as well?
Paulo
And an excert from a post that I now see I didn't press the submit button on yet (I'm getting too much distractions today):
It would destroy MSOffice as well... Well, not destroy... just redirect some (most) of the questions. So now we'd have a TA that basically merged 50% of MSOffice and 75% of Access and, say, 20%(?) VB. This would get as big as the VB TA... and I think one as big as that is enough already... not to mention some of the other inconvenients already posted here.
The pro's are that all VBA questions would now be handled in one single topic area, easier to find because it would have references to it all over the place.
Is there any chance for us to discuss this when it comes to be decided or is this our (experts) final opportunity on this? Cause this thread was meant to be about suggestions for the whole site and it seems like a single knowledge area (important as it may be) is monopolizing the attentions... maybe we should start a new thread on this and ask others more directly involved to express their opinions as well?
Paulo
pauloaguia,
Rereading your first post....
I think we are thinking alike.
Dabas
Rereading your first post....
I think we are thinking alike.
Dabas
thanks for the info wes,
but again, adding the VBA under VB and MS Office, but not Access will still bring questions to the VBA area that belong in the Access area (sounds confusing :)
VBA is too different with the basic Office apps as it is with Access, and many, such as myself, only know VBA in Access because that is what we needed to learn it for.
perhaps having a note in the TA description (jan has a question open to collect those) of VB to direct them to either Access or MS Office or Outlook. but adding a TA for VBA will destroy Access. yes, we are trying to save MS Office but destroying the #2 TA in the process? not a good idea.
just my $0.02 ($0.01 after taxes),
Andrew
but again, adding the VBA under VB and MS Office, but not Access will still bring questions to the VBA area that belong in the Access area (sounds confusing :)
VBA is too different with the basic Office apps as it is with Access, and many, such as myself, only know VBA in Access because that is what we needed to learn it for.
perhaps having a note in the TA description (jan has a question open to collect those) of VB to direct them to either Access or MS Office or Outlook. but adding a TA for VBA will destroy Access. yes, we are trying to save MS Office but destroying the #2 TA in the process? not a good idea.
just my $0.02 ($0.01 after taxes),
Andrew
oh, and i DO NOT disagree with the VBA TA. but with the limited education in the Google crush to begin with, many Access-related VBA questions will end up in the VBA area, not Access. In a perfect world, yes, people would carefully read and they would use a VBA TA for Excel, Word, etc. i'm not saying that i don't like the idea... i think it's great. i'm saying that it will destroy the Access TA because people INCORRECTLY will post their stuff in the VBA TA.
Andrew
p.s. then again, i'm part of that Google Crush, but i'm also that person who's "1 in a thousand" (i think Dan said that in Cd&'s 'Goodbye thread')
Andrew
p.s. then again, i'm part of that Google Crush, but i'm also that person who's "1 in a thousand" (i think Dan said that in Cd&'s 'Goodbye thread')
I didn't say anything about a VBA TA, I think that is a bad idea, actually. I just think that cross referencing the two would be a much better idea as it would eliminate the confusion that is currently happening now.
Wes
Wes
wes,
i skimmed through your post, and i now realize that you were just posting suggestions in your previous thread that had TA discussion.
woopsies!
under VB, perhaps creating 3 sub-topics:
"VBA (MS Access)" <links to MS Access Area
"VBA (MS Outlook)" <links to MS Outlook Area
"VBA (MS Office)" <links to MS Office Area
that sounds a lot better than a new TA, and even the Google Crush can understand enough to click the right one...
Andrew
i skimmed through your post, and i now realize that you were just posting suggestions in your previous thread that had TA discussion.
woopsies!
under VB, perhaps creating 3 sub-topics:
"VBA (MS Access)" <links to MS Access Area
"VBA (MS Outlook)" <links to MS Outlook Area
"VBA (MS Office)" <links to MS Office Area
that sounds a lot better than a new TA, and even the Google Crush can understand enough to click the right one...
Andrew
WesLennon,
I agree that a VBA TA might be a bad idea, but maybe for different reasons.
From the different answers in this thread, one thing is clear: There are many different ways to interpret what VBA is.
When I first mentioned VBA, I had Excel and Word in mind, definitely not MS Access, which for me is very different from say Excel VBA.
Dabas
I agree that a VBA TA might be a bad idea, but maybe for different reasons.
From the different answers in this thread, one thing is clear: There are many different ways to interpret what VBA is.
When I first mentioned VBA, I had Excel and Word in mind, definitely not MS Access, which for me is very different from say Excel VBA.
Dabas
but still VBA :)
no interpretation necessary...
Andrew
no interpretation necessary...
Andrew
I vote strongly AGAINST VBA TA.
Most of the problems with VBA can easily and promptly handled by the experts in VB.
Most of the problems with VBA can easily and promptly handled by the experts in VB.
agreeing with Paulo that this thread has it's focus mainly on one topic only but it seems that those who care to post are steering the course .....
thanks for your info Wes, much appreciated
if it's possible to crosslink that would be fine indeed and doesn't create that many problem in getting users at the right place with their questions
getting back to the subject
we have some suggestions for new TA's and another solution to help users in finding their way to the most appropriate TA to ask their question
in the first few posts the direction was also on cleaning up dead wood and how to do that without too much hassle like offending experts who post in those TA's that we would lable dead and still be able to cover the bases for example you could shove all Intel programming TA's on one big heap
or are you going to make a list based on a statistic as proposed above in a few comments that will have a sort of proposed deletion of TA's question and announce this thread through CS/Lounge or whatever to have everyone's input, so you get no angry ranked experts calling hell when their TA has disappeared one morning :-)
thanks for your info Wes, much appreciated
if it's possible to crosslink that would be fine indeed and doesn't create that many problem in getting users at the right place with their questions
getting back to the subject
we have some suggestions for new TA's and another solution to help users in finding their way to the most appropriate TA to ask their question
in the first few posts the direction was also on cleaning up dead wood and how to do that without too much hassle like offending experts who post in those TA's that we would lable dead and still be able to cover the bases for example you could shove all Intel programming TA's on one big heap
or are you going to make a list based on a statistic as proposed above in a few comments that will have a sort of proposed deletion of TA's question and announce this thread through CS/Lounge or whatever to have everyone's input, so you get no angry ranked experts calling hell when their TA has disappeared one morning :-)
Now listen very carefully, I shall say this only once! :)
Two categories should be promoted to be the "root" categories: Languages and Web Languages.
Web Languages - has 10% of all questions (10.28%)
Languages - has 30% of all questions (29.85% without JavaScript, or 33.13%)
They can be in two places: as 'top category' and also in their present parent category...
This will make easier navigation for more than 40% of users.
Some TAs, which are now 4th level, will get better chance to survive.
There will be less VB questions in Programming(General) TA.
Two categories should be promoted to be the "root" categories: Languages and Web Languages.
Web Languages - has 10% of all questions (10.28%)
Languages - has 30% of all questions (29.85% without JavaScript, or 33.13%)
They can be in two places: as 'top category' and also in their present parent category...
This will make easier navigation for more than 40% of users.
Some TAs, which are now 4th level, will get better chance to survive.
There will be less VB questions in Programming(General) TA.
And that ameba is exactly what we are attempting to do, is to seperate the kurds from the whey, too many non-general qustions are being posted in the GENERAL TA Because they (Customers) will post in the first TA they see rather than to look beyone the scope of what all is in the Sub TA's.
Especially in VB!!!
Wes
Especially in VB!!!
Wes
pauloaguia:
> And what about "New Topics"? Maybe it should be under Suggestions?
New Topics TA - this doesn't have big traffic, but it is important - may prevent failure to react on new big things, like it happenned to .NET. "Early adopters" of .NET had to find their home at other websites/newsgroups...
New TA:
Some TAs on some other places that don't think that preventing their users from making any $ will make them more rich:
devx: careers.advice and 8 announcements groups (I was subscribed to vb.announcements newsgroup - new articles, new products, books, new MS 'sessions', conferences...)
old ee: Jobs
some other site:
Developer Forum
Discuss issues important to developers, ask for career advice, debate ...
Developer News
Share and discuss news that affect the developer community. Use this forum to let others know of any interesting news, ask of others how a new event might have an impact on us, and share your opinion on important trends
Announcements and press releases
Use this forum to make announcements and for press releases. If you have a freeware, shareware, or commercial ware, you can announce any interesting developments on this board. Posts about new versions of sofware and tools are good candidates.
some vb site I use:
Announcements
VB, ASP and .NET related articles, products, projects, events, jobs and user group announcements.
some code site:
Industry Contacts
Our Industry contact list allows companies to add or change their details so that our readers can find them quickly and easily. Each entry has also a discussion board so you can leave your comments on each company for others to read.
> And what about "New Topics"? Maybe it should be under Suggestions?
New Topics TA - this doesn't have big traffic, but it is important - may prevent failure to react on new big things, like it happenned to .NET. "Early adopters" of .NET had to find their home at other websites/newsgroups...
New TA:
Some TAs on some other places that don't think that preventing their users from making any $ will make them more rich:
devx: careers.advice and 8 announcements groups (I was subscribed to vb.announcements newsgroup - new articles, new products, books, new MS 'sessions', conferences...)
old ee: Jobs
some other site:
Developer Forum
Discuss issues important to developers, ask for career advice, debate ...
Developer News
Share and discuss news that affect the developer community. Use this forum to let others know of any interesting news, ask of others how a new event might have an impact on us, and share your opinion on important trends
Announcements and press releases
Use this forum to make announcements and for press releases. If you have a freeware, shareware, or commercial ware, you can announce any interesting developments on this board. Posts about new versions of sofware and tools are good candidates.
some vb site I use:
Announcements
VB, ASP and .NET related articles, products, projects, events, jobs and user group announcements.
some code site:
Industry Contacts
Our Industry contact list allows companies to add or change their details so that our readers can find them quickly and easily. Each entry has also a discussion board so you can leave your comments on each company for others to read.
I suppose I have to take some responsibility here, when I had the thread open in New TA Topic Area a while back, I sent it to Austin, he sent it back and ask me to put in place a hierarchy as to which TA's go in which catagories, I kept Applications-->MS Office (2)-->MS Access and MS Office, I had also added Word, Excel, and PowerPoint there as well, which engineering decided to remove. I had the chance at that time to cross link to where they showed up in VB Main and Applications, but withe hundreds of possible TA's sent in, and deciding as to which to keep, and their places, it just didn't occur to me at the time.
I did convince them to add the .NET's and the X-series for OS's. At that time, I did have some of the lesser used TA's or Sub-TA's to other areas, and again, Engineering didn't want to go to the trouble.
I did convince them to add the .NET's and the X-series for OS's. At that time, I did have some of the lesser used TA's or Sub-TA's to other areas, and again, Engineering didn't want to go to the trouble.
ok this is totally off topic but it is a bug. is you go to Cd&'s first post in this thread it says that it was posted on 5/27/03. when you go into his profile it says that his last login was on 5/19/03. i dont know if the admin of the techs know of this. which one if right? the on in the thread or the the on on his profile?
-Matt
-Matt
mattjp88, it's a known bug - please see https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20626571/Last-Login-Date.html
Wes wrote in new question:
> I will not tolerate debates here only suggestions, any debates will be removed if they begin.
DigitalXtreme:
> any post unrelated or unnecessary to the question being asked MAY be deleted at our discretion
What is with you EE people? It is not that big volume - you are asking for opinion but member should not post opinions? I think you all need a vacation! Burning books (deleting posts) is not acceptable!
"Without free speech no search for truth is possible... no discovery of truth is useful... Better a thousandfold abuse of free speech than denial of free speech."
> I will not tolerate debates here only suggestions, any debates will be removed if they begin.
DigitalXtreme:
> any post unrelated or unnecessary to the question being asked MAY be deleted at our discretion
What is with you EE people? It is not that big volume - you are asking for opinion but member should not post opinions? I think you all need a vacation! Burning books (deleting posts) is not acceptable!
"Without free speech no search for truth is possible... no discovery of truth is useful... Better a thousandfold abuse of free speech than denial of free speech."
>>> What if, we take the VB TA, add a sub Topic VBA (MS Office), and in Applications, under Access, add a Sub TA for MS Office (VBA), and have both VBA's linked to the VB, this should alleviate the problem, no?
you lost me, wes. you want to add VBA pointer links that link to VB TA?
>>> Most of the problems with VBA can easily and promptly handled by the experts in VB.
or Access.
i suggest again, for under the VBA TA for their to be these pointer TA's.
"VBA (MS Access)" <links to MS Access Area
"VBA (MS Outlook)" <links to MS Outlook Area
"VBA (MS Office)" <links to MS Office Area
that way, they will find the TA that most closely uses the VBA. Access, Outlook, and if neither of those then MS Office. if they have some other purpose for VBA then they'll use VB.
this will disperse VBA questions in VB area to the appropriate MS Office TA. that sound good?
Andrew
you lost me, wes. you want to add VBA pointer links that link to VB TA?
>>> Most of the problems with VBA can easily and promptly handled by the experts in VB.
or Access.
i suggest again, for under the VBA TA for their to be these pointer TA's.
"VBA (MS Access)" <links to MS Access Area
"VBA (MS Outlook)" <links to MS Outlook Area
"VBA (MS Office)" <links to MS Office Area
that way, they will find the TA that most closely uses the VBA. Access, Outlook, and if neither of those then MS Office. if they have some other purpose for VBA then they'll use VB.
this will disperse VBA questions in VB area to the appropriate MS Office TA. that sound good?
Andrew
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
I agree with Wes on this. We meant this to be a straight out list of what TA's need removing, adding, changing, etc... Without all the debating about it. Please either create a new question if you have something that others might dispute and you want input on it or if you would like I will create another question for strictly debates over various TA's. We will post only final decisions in one TA so we don't make the Engineers read through a thread like this to determine what is being said and where it should go with 20 posts of debates in between. See my point?
DX
DX
ASKER
>>We will post only final decisions in one TA<<
should have said
We will post only final decisions in one question
should have said
We will post only final decisions in one question
Well, mods & admins - I see a patern: "you have 72 hours", "you will be reviewed", "you will be edited" - I'll post a warning if I see it again - *you* will be reviewed.
ameba,
It seems you have issues here. Would you be kind enough to post a question in Community Support to vent your issues you have with us. We try to support the community, but it seems that we are not supporting you or the community as you have been active in pointing out things that we have done wrong. With that, when you post your concerns and issues, please state a course of action which we should take to assist us in making it better for all and not just you. When you post your issues question, post the link here to assist us.
Thank you
Computer101
E-E Admin
It seems you have issues here. Would you be kind enough to post a question in Community Support to vent your issues you have with us. We try to support the community, but it seems that we are not supporting you or the community as you have been active in pointing out things that we have done wrong. With that, when you post your concerns and issues, please state a course of action which we should take to assist us in making it better for all and not just you. When you post your issues question, post the link here to assist us.
Thank you
Computer101
E-E Admin
If I have an issue and notice something - I react "in place" - if you need a course of action - it is simple for each case, e.g. here: think about it and ask yourself a question:
Do you have that kind of talk "I will not tolerate ..." in your real life? Well, maybe you have if you are talking to kids, but I doubt you can tell that to your wife or to your customers.
I do not have the time nor inclination to create a summary of my comments. I will post CS question when I want.
Do you have that kind of talk "I will not tolerate ..." in your real life? Well, maybe you have if you are talking to kids, but I doubt you can tell that to your wife or to your customers.
I do not have the time nor inclination to create a summary of my comments. I will post CS question when I want.
"If I have an issue and notice something - I react "in place"
As I do, and I did.
So, it is about you. It is your thoughts and your terms. We "react in place" to community needs. As stated, if you have an issue with any Moderator or Admin, post in Community Support. I can assure you one thing, we do ask the question to ourselves, and if in doubt, we get the opinion of about 10 others that are doing the same job we are doing, dealing with and posting in more questions than you could imagine. Look at my profile and the profile of the Admins and Moderators, you will see that we deal with many things.
Just to answer your question, yes I do have that talk, "I will not tolerate" because, I will not, I do not beat around the bush. And the customers I serve understand it 100%. When you have employees, customers or others you deal with who have done something wrong, you do not take corrective action and stand firm to make it right?
And again, in your comment "I do not have the time nor inclination to create a summary of my comments. I will post CS question when I want." Well, it is about you. I tried to take this thread and keep it on track with the initial question asked and you came thundering in here with issues because of the question Wes posted.
Well, from here on out, if you have issues, post them in CS and leave this question so that the intent of it can be met because "I will not tolerate it".
Thank you
Computer101
E-E Admin
As I do, and I did.
So, it is about you. It is your thoughts and your terms. We "react in place" to community needs. As stated, if you have an issue with any Moderator or Admin, post in Community Support. I can assure you one thing, we do ask the question to ourselves, and if in doubt, we get the opinion of about 10 others that are doing the same job we are doing, dealing with and posting in more questions than you could imagine. Look at my profile and the profile of the Admins and Moderators, you will see that we deal with many things.
Just to answer your question, yes I do have that talk, "I will not tolerate" because, I will not, I do not beat around the bush. And the customers I serve understand it 100%. When you have employees, customers or others you deal with who have done something wrong, you do not take corrective action and stand firm to make it right?
And again, in your comment "I do not have the time nor inclination to create a summary of my comments. I will post CS question when I want." Well, it is about you. I tried to take this thread and keep it on track with the initial question asked and you came thundering in here with issues because of the question Wes posted.
Well, from here on out, if you have issues, post them in CS and leave this question so that the intent of it can be met because "I will not tolerate it".
Thank you
Computer101
E-E Admin
Bruno,
please calm down. you are rather respected on this site. let's not throw that out the window by getting into arguements with mods and admins over small things.
Andrew
CV
please calm down. you are rather respected on this site. let's not throw that out the window by getting into arguements with mods and admins over small things.
Andrew
CV
And what does it mean now your "I will not tolerate it"???
You will review my account, right? You will erase me - kill me & my account, right?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN? YOU POLICE WANNABE!
You will review my account, right? You will erase me - kill me & my account, right?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN? YOU POLICE WANNABE!
bruno,
calm down. you are dangling over a volcano and the rope is fraying. swing off to the side before you fry yourself.
Andrew
calm down. you are dangling over a volcano and the rope is fraying. swing off to the side before you fry yourself.
Andrew
It means that I am trying to keep this on track. If you have issues with Moderators or Admins, post a seperate question.
What else is it suppose to mean. Am I to comment about the wanna be thing, no, why? Is your account under review, no. Does it mean I have issues with you, no.
So, I take it we can drop it here and drive on?
Thanks
Computer101
E-E Admin (WANNABE)
What else is it suppose to mean. Am I to comment about the wanna be thing, no, why? Is your account under review, no. Does it mean I have issues with you, no.
So, I take it we can drop it here and drive on?
Thanks
Computer101
E-E Admin (WANNABE)
I like the WANNABE thing, I may use it again unless it is a patent.
:-)
Computer101
:-)
Computer101
Nex, for the record,
It is not Bruno, it is ameba who has posted and the expert I am dealing with.
Thanks
C101
It is not Bruno, it is ameba who has posted and the expert I am dealing with.
Thanks
C101
OK, C101, sorry for the wannabe phrase!
I'll still post if I see something is not right.
Thanks
I'll still post if I see something is not right.
Thanks
Got it, agreed
C101
C101
>>> E-E Admin (WANNABE)
ok, i gotta laugh.
and ameba's first name is bruno. just trying to calm him down, so i figured that i'd use his first name. next time, i'll try something like this:
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
bruno, ***NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH BRUNOBEAR OR ANYONE ELSE WITH THE NAME BRUNO. THIS IS ACTUALLY MEANT FOR "AMEBA" WHO'S FIRST NAME IS BRUNO. SORRY IF I CONFUSE ANY ADMINISTRATORS***,
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
i know how we've been discussing Cleanup comments that will not be able to be accepted, so we don't need to include that intention-getter text saying not to accept the comment as an answer. i think you know where i'm going with this one... :-)
Andrew
p.s. no Shift or Caps Lock keys were harmed in the making of this post :-)
ok, i gotta laugh.
and ameba's first name is bruno. just trying to calm him down, so i figured that i'd use his first name. next time, i'll try something like this:
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
bruno, ***NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH BRUNOBEAR OR ANYONE ELSE WITH THE NAME BRUNO. THIS IS ACTUALLY MEANT FOR "AMEBA" WHO'S FIRST NAME IS BRUNO. SORRY IF I CONFUSE ANY ADMINISTRATORS***,
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
i know how we've been discussing Cleanup comments that will not be able to be accepted, so we don't need to include that intention-getter text saying not to accept the comment as an answer. i think you know where i'm going with this one... :-)
Andrew
p.s. no Shift or Caps Lock keys were harmed in the making of this post :-)
Comment from ameba Date: 06/01/2003 09:09PM CDT
>>>I'll still post if I see something is not right.<<<
In whose eyes are you speaking for? Your own, you have the right to post anything you wish, in MOST places, but you do not speak for the Community, and as you have the right to free speach, I have the right to not respond. In all the threats of action you have commented on in the last two years, I have yet to see anyone agree with you. We communicate with the Community, not just one opinion, we have job descritptions, and they will be carried out, as we do not own this site, and the owners do have that right, unless you wish to purchase it from them, and it is not for sale. You once complained that it was wrong for us to have an age limit of 13, that is a rule set by the government to protect the young, and as we are an open Community, we have to follow that law.
This is most likly the last response you will get from me, until you speak to me in a civil mannor.
Wes
>>>I'll still post if I see something is not right.<<<
In whose eyes are you speaking for? Your own, you have the right to post anything you wish, in MOST places, but you do not speak for the Community, and as you have the right to free speach, I have the right to not respond. In all the threats of action you have commented on in the last two years, I have yet to see anyone agree with you. We communicate with the Community, not just one opinion, we have job descritptions, and they will be carried out, as we do not own this site, and the owners do have that right, unless you wish to purchase it from them, and it is not for sale. You once complained that it was wrong for us to have an age limit of 13, that is a rule set by the government to protect the young, and as we are an open Community, we have to follow that law.
This is most likly the last response you will get from me, until you speak to me in a civil mannor.
Wes
DigitalXtreme,
Yahoo groups has the ability of having members take part in a poll.
It would be nice if EE had a similar facility.
Without any further setup, a TA under Lounge named Polls could allow somebody to ask a question with the purpose of the poll, (Example: Do you think there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?), and others answering adding their Yes and No answers.
Dabas
Yahoo groups has the ability of having members take part in a poll.
It would be nice if EE had a similar facility.
Without any further setup, a TA under Lounge named Polls could allow somebody to ask a question with the purpose of the poll, (Example: Do you think there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?), and others answering adding their Yes and No answers.
Dabas
DigitalXtreme,
Sorry, I might have not explained properly.
My suggestion was not a poll on this question.
My suggestion is to have a new topic named polls, under the Lounge area, where askers can ask a question and answerers can give their answers below it.
A more complex poll feature would be nice, but I think it is early days to submit it as a suggestion, as I assume Engineering are busy with more important issues right now....
Dabas
Sorry, I might have not explained properly.
My suggestion was not a poll on this question.
My suggestion is to have a new topic named polls, under the Lounge area, where askers can ask a question and answerers can give their answers below it.
A more complex poll feature would be nice, but I think it is early days to submit it as a suggestion, as I assume Engineering are busy with more important issues right now....
Dabas
ASKER
Sorry Dabas, now I see what you meant. <grin> Thanks, nice idea. :)
DX
DX
I think Browsers TA under Web Development should be changed. This topic is intended for web development, not for using browser issues. But at least half the questions asked there are about the latter.
The topic name should be changed to "Browsers Web Development" or get rid of it all together to prevent confusion. A new TA should be added under Applications titled "Browsers" with a subtopic "Internet Explorer".
Pass it on! :)