Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

[bombayrockers]

I have started this thread to suggest improvements to the puppy forum

My suggestion
1. All images submitted to the forum get automatically posted on www.tinypic.com

[pakt]

A direct link on the forum to the wiki. This has been suggested a number of times...

[kethd]

I can't agree that we should be encouraging the hosting of anything but the most temporary extraneous stuff on tinypic, until someone can tell me how long they keep things, and what algorithm they use to expire.

As the Puppy community grows, we need to be more concerned about ensuring the group preservation of our core aggregate resources: the forum and the wiki. I care very little about images; I care very much about text.

We have already been through some glitches with the wiki; we are about to lose some early wiki legacy material (history).

We need to strive to make the infrastructure "public" as much as possible. Multiple people in multiple countries should be making archive copies.

[kethd]

I have made a number of Forum improvement suggestions elsewhere in the forum.
* Improve sub-titles on the forum main page
* Repeat the sub-title on the front page of each individual forum, and add more explanation there at the top, about what material does and doesn't below in that forum.
* Fix the forum clock
* Explain the Personal Messaging mailboxes
* Add such material to the Forum FAQ
* Make it easy for all users to add to the Forum FAQ, such as by linking from the FAQ to a Forum Forum or Puppy Forum Wiki page.
* Make it clear to everyone which Forum is the right place for discussions of the Forum, and Wiki, and all such misc infrastructure and meta issues.
* Host somewhere in the Forum a permanent sticky thread/poll on >How did you hear about Puppy?
* Make it possible to search the forum, searching ONLY in the subject line/title
* Every forum page have a standardized link to PupCentral, pupweb.org. And a standardized search bar for the whole known PupVerse.
* The Forum should be listed higher up on the pupweb.org main page.

However, the reality is, we simply have to be very grateful for what we have, the Forum as it is. It makes it possible for us all to easily work together! We have a small crew of volunteer administrators, who I am sure are way too busy trying to do way too much. The Forum itself is an open source tool created by volunteers at phpBB. So at this time even something as trivial as editing the Forum FAQ is beyond our capabilities. Does anyone want to volunteer to help with understanding/improving our Forum infrastructure?

See also:
http://www.murga.org/%7Epuppy/viewtopic.php?t=3871
WIKI, Forum, Meta PupVerse discussions?

http://www.murga.org/%7Epuppy/viewtopic.php?t=3873
PUPWEB.org = PuppyCentral?

http://www.murga.org/%7Epuppy/viewtopic.php?t=3976
Sentbox Savebox confusion

[aahhaaa]

I'd suggest that the forum categories be re-organized somewhat...

what some people consider Beginners info can be mighty puzzling to real Linux newbies- that's a big divide. some folks add extraneous problems to the HOW-TO posts- these should be kept concise, up-to-date, and clearly labled as to version; otherwise you can't use them with proper confidence.

My suggestion would be to define new subcategories related to things like Installation, PUP001, Communications, Printing, Games, Desktop Tweaking, Adding Dotpups, etc; and maybe one we don't have much of- using the apps. Wiser heads may come up with better categories.

As somebody new to both Linux & Puppy, I'm always finding little nuggets of handy info in the middle of threads, but they are mighty hard to find again later.

This is no complaint, I'm clam happy; but I think any changes should be made before the next burst of growth. (looked at the Frapper map lately?)

[Flash]

Certainly the forum could be improved, as JohnM and time permit, but I don't see any need for a sudden and drastic redo. Incremental changes would be better, I think.

Keep in mind that administering the forum takes time I could spend playing around with Puppy or doing much-neglected chores

I looked for a way to set the clock, but without success. Some of the other things mentioned also seem beyond my control.

If you have suggestions for improving the categories, please post them to look as much like the finished product as possible. Like this for example:

[aahhaaa]

Hi Flash- no complaints about the job you're doing!

For what I mean, I'd just point out this HOWTO sticky thread:
Step by Step: Installing Puppy Linux to Your Hard Drive
http://www.murga.org/~puppy/viewtopic.php?t=1598

It starts with 1.0.4, has good info scattered thru it, but by page 3 it tails off with unanswered Qs. I would have liked to see it locked & referred to the wiki on the first page, possibly with a comment that it is superceded in later versions or not.

If there was a section called something like Puppy on Hard Drives, I think posts that are now scattered over Beginners, Regulars, HOW TO, Bugs, etc would be more focussed. I know to search, but sometimes I don't know what to search for. (Like in above thread, comments about having DOS on the HD). There are general areas - like wireless, OO2, USB, etc that maybe should develop their own sections? Or maybe just more obvious connections to the wiki and the manual project?

Another active area recently has been tweaking the desktop. Threads that start with 'download this pup' wind up with everybody posting their problems onto that thread, which I think discourages many people from trying things 'for now'. I like the SOLVED idea, that's a big improvement when hunting for a tip.

As I said, I'm not complaining, but am wondering what the forum would be like if the number of posters starts to go up geometrically; which I think is kinda likely.

[Guest]

I thought a forum was for discussion, the actual instructions on how to obtain and install Puppy would be better handled by the documentation project.

[aahhaaa]

Try finding the documentation project from this page. From any page on this forum. The wiki directs newbies here for more info...

I don't see how my suggestion interferes with discussion; it only groups similar discussions in easily findable places. This is a basic idea in educational design.

When a discussion that starts with HOWTO install turns into a discussion of compiled code that doesn't work, or various ways to disassemble a HD, it can be intimidating to people, even to most people.
Also, not everybody is an under-the-hood enthusiast, they are first-looking at Puppy to see if it is a replacement for BillOS.

For those of us on dial-up, its taking serious time to keep up with the forum posts, and these are early days.

We have new users now. New to Linux and new to Puppy both. Every hurdle, no matter how simple, loses us some potential users. Mebbe they aren't great Linux hands, but they might be great musicians or writers or graphicists, or will become great Linux hands with a machine to learn on.

imho

[pakt]

aahhaaa, I couldn't have said it better myself. Your suggestions are much needed.

(This is not a criticism of the work that has already been done by the moderators and others who have spent a lot of time and energy to write the help information on the forum.)

[willhunt]

greater docs on how to use the search page?

[Dex]

I think the forum has become bloated with Old Topics that are no longer needed. Maybe archiving everything created at a certaint date and older?

[raffy]

There is now opportunity for everyone to put material helpful for newbies at the main site (puppylinux.org)

aahhaaa is already there and can write pages directly.

[kethd]

Every time I have problems accessing the Puppy Forum (which just happened -- it seemed down hard for quite a while) I am reminded how important I think it is to the Puppy community!

I hope that at least two people are backing up the whole Forum site contents independently, in a form that would allow it to be restored in a full working form on another host!

Ideally, this would be happening at least once a week...

[Flash]

I backed it up on the 31st but I don't know what I'd do with the backup file if the site goes down. It's JohnMurga's website. I back it up in case someone vandalizes the forum but I can still log on and use the Admin stuff.