{SOLVED} [FEATURE] Thread Prefixes. We gets them.

[donald]

Hi,

Over the next week we are going to TRY these neat thread Topic Prefixes.

When starting a thread there is a drop down that will list a prefix for the types of threads that we see most here on these forums.

Currently this is active in the Beginners questions forum, the prefixes are:
[Video]
[Sound]
[Networking]
[O/S]
[Software]
[Hardware]
[Installation]
{SOLVED}

The prefixes are admin defined, which means that we can all select the types of prefixes we want.

Please leave some feedback in this thread, thank you.

[donald]

My feed back so far:

It messes up the Last post thread title on the far right of the screen. The [word] [word] omits what the thread is about.

last_post.png (17.12 KiB) Viewed 5194 times

If we keep it I think we would have to do short hand or 3 letter abbreviations for the prefixes, which can be confusing for non English speakers.

[Random_Troll]

I would rather this feature be dropped. It adds nothing useful and has the potential to adversely affect SEO in respect of the [SOLVED] tag (IMO).

[donald]

I would rather this feature be dropped. It adds nothing useful and has the potential to adversely affect SEO in respect of the [SOLVED] tag (IMO).

The [Solved] tag?

I think it is too late to remove the feature as it adds directly to the subject/thread title.

The use of it is for both search engines and users to be able to locate threads with problems/issues that are solved rather than having the user waste their time researching threads without a fixed result.

[Random_Troll]

No, I mean the useless [Video], [Sound], [Networking], et al, tags. The [SOLVED] tag is the only useful tag IMO. The other tags just add noise and shorten the available space for describing the problem at hand.

[steve_v]

Agreed. ^ Extra useless even, in that we already have subforums for several of those broad categories.

[donald]

Ahh I see.

Lets have more member/moderator feedback and go from there.

[cds60601]

All could go but Solved. I guess the real question; how often does the Solved tag get used? And are users using "the tag" or are they manually adding the word itself?

[donald]

All could go but Solved. I guess the real question; how often does the Solved tag get used? And are users using "the tag" or are they manually adding the word itself?

The OP goes back into the thread and pulls it down from the menu rather than the older manner of editing the thread title.

The tag is used frequently here.

[Random_Troll]

The OP goes back into the thread and pulls it down from the menu rather than the older manner of editing the thread title.

Really?

I've been telling people to edit the OP. What was wrong with that, exactly?

[cds60601]

All could go but Solved. I guess the real question; how often does the Solved tag get used? And are users using "the tag" or are they manually adding the word itself?

The OP goes back into the thread and pulls it down from the menu rather than the older manner of editing the thread title.

The tag is used frequently here.

I agree - I guess what I meant was, how often is the user using the pull down opposed to actually typing in, [Solved].
The thought behind that question is that is users are actually typing it in, would it still be worth providing the drop down.
I suppose in the end, it really does not matter as long as its added.

[cds60601]

The OP goes back into the thread and pulls it down from the menu rather than the older manner of editing the thread title.

Really?

I've been telling people to edit the OP. What was wrong with that, exactly?

Bingo - this is what I have been doing myself except for this morning. LOL, I actually used the drop down.

[donald]

The OP goes back into the thread and pulls it down from the menu rather than the older manner of editing the thread title.

Really?

I've been telling people to edit the OP. What was wrong with that, exactly?

Ha, nothing. I tend to hand edit as well.

All could go but Solved. I guess the real question; how often does the Solved tag get used? And are users using "the tag" or are they manually adding the word itself?

The OP goes back into the thread and pulls it down from the menu rather than the older manner of editing the thread title.

The tag is used frequently here.

I agree - I guess what I meant was, how often is the user using the pull down opposed to actually typing in, [Solved].
The thought behind that question is that is users are actually typing it in, would it still be worth providing the drop down.
I suppose in the end, it really does not matter as long as its added.

I have no idea to be honest, it is not a metric that is tracked as the result looks the same if the user inputs it or uses the pull down menu.

[sunrat]

I agree that the [Solved] prefix is the only really useful one, and others have been applied by users inappropriately on a number of occasions I have noticed. I most certainly would not miss them and have never used them myself. Users can still add a prefix manually if they feel the need.
As for having the drop-down menu to add a prefix versus manual editing, they both achieve the same result so no problem with that. I always ask members to add the [Solved] prefix using the drop-down when appropriate now that we have it. It's a couple of keyboard presses easier.

[dilberts_left_nut]

Agree.
"Solved" is good, the rest really does just duplicate subforum functionallity.

[CynicalDebian]

"Solved" is good, the rest really does just duplicate subforum functionallity.

I appreciate the SID/Testing prefixes, but the others are not useful.

[sunrat]

I appreciate the SID/Testing prefixes, but the others are not useful.

Maybe, but Sid/Testing posts should always be in the Sid/Testing subforum anyway.

[CynicalDebian]

@sunrat

As in, it helps differentiate if the user is using pure testing or pure unstable. (Better than splitting the subforum into two).

[sunrat]

@sunrat

As in, it helps differentiate if the user is using pure testing or pure unstable. (Better than splitting the subforum into two).

Well I said maybe.

[donald]

"Solved" is good, the rest really does just duplicate subforum functionallity.

I appreciate the SID/Testing prefixes, but the others are not useful.

This is my feeling as well. I think in the majority of the sub-forums, if they are not useful they should be removed pending users response. But for this subforum; Forum Information..., Testing..., and Docs HowTo... the tags are essential.

My take away understanding so far is the tags are not a one size fits all item.