01-18-2017, 02:34 PM
No one probably noticed this, but I spent a few days working through the entire Help Desk forum. The following is the compiled report that I shared with the staff over this process:
Quote:I tagged threads as either a question, an update, or a typo (title change, thread deletion, general typos, pestering request to approve a pending thread, log errors, etc).
I merged many stand-alone threads into an exist 'mega' version. Like 'Name Change', 'Reactive Me', and typo threads from before we made the switch to user-initiated edits.
I also purged many, many threads. These either fell under the following category: Orphan threads (a member asking for an update or asking a question and they never received a response for some reason); Broken threads (the switch to mybb didn't port over some posts, leaving threads with seemingly random responses); Out-dated rules (threads discussing rules or in-character game elements that have since been changed, updated, discarded, whatever); Out-dated forum features (members having issues about old features that don't apply to our MyBB board); Fortnights (threads of people complaining about and/or requesting something related to weeklies or fortnights); General Nonsense (some threads were babbling nonsense). I also moved about a half-dozen threads into the Community Stars R&D that were member suggestions or concepts that I wanted easy access to.
The end result was to create a leaner Help Desk archive. I know that we don't often expect members to actually use the damn search feature, but they might and this will make sure their searches are a little more fruitful. Same with you guys, if you ever find yourself using CTRL+F to try and look up some precedent to an issue a member has or the answer to a question that has already been answered. And trust me, I just went through 4 years of questions... members ask the same crap all the time.
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As part of this whole process of making the Help Desk archive more efficient, as well as to eventually create a 'centralized move catalogue', I went through Move Approval I. We're all aware how the process has changed, and anyone who looked at the thread knew most (not all) of it was out-dated. I went through and purged a lot of posts including Moves that were never finalized and/or scrapped mid-processing, as well as some moves from unexisting characters that were only a sentence or two max (stuff we'd probably laugh at nowadays.
I split apart along segment with a back-and-forth on Power Rings, some remarks about Telekinesis, and another long discussion about poisons and trying to balance those
Then I took the remainder of the thread and merged it with Move Approval II.
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I manually went through both Quick Questions threads. I removed questions or answers that have since changed (due to our evolving mechanics), but I'm also splicing/splitting out long debates/questions into their own threads and giving them easy to digest titles. The goal is to ultimately trim out all the out-dated stuff, remove the bloat, and be left with smaller threads that are genuinely just answers to short, simple questions. The end result was a 'Quick Questions Archive' that's only 30-some pages and consists entirely of: "Member Question -> Staff Response."
A new Quick Question thread was christened at the conclusion of this.
As I mentioned throughout... the point was to make the Help Desk more helpful and less filled with outdated nonsense and clutter. I think that's been achieved, and as we move forward, we the staff will try to ensure the same standards about making the forum as helpful as possible to members.