Re: Site for LedgerSMB Forum

["Chris Travers" <..hidden..>]

Hi;

I think there are questions as to the utility of forums.  I will give my list of pros/cons here.

Pros:
There is some question whether our target market will be happier on forums as we move into more of the Quickbooks Basic market.  Maybe.....

Cons:
Mailing lists allow for generally better collaboration than forums.
Unless there is a commitment from the core team to actually respond to the forums, it is hard to see how they will be effective.
If there is a commitment from the core team to respond on forums, this means that it is one more resource taking away from debelopment time.

Based on the above reasons, I am not entirely sure I would support adding forums at this time as a part of our core infrastructure.  Additionally I would note that I have been active in recruiting office manager types (non-techie) types to the mailing lists and have gotten no complaints so far.

There was actually a person who did create a web site for LedgerSMB forums. The only issue was that we (on the core team) felt that the site gave the impression that it was part of the infrastructure we maintain and so a request was made that was never responded to:  simply state specifically that this is a contributed resource and who is contributing it.  This avoids the project having problems if things go badly and helps contributing individuals get credit for what they do.  I personally would not support endorsing a site outside the direct control of the project core team which does not explicitly state who is contributing and running it.  If these changes are made, I have no doubt that we will link to them in the public community.

In the mean time, this is an opportunity for those who want a larger role in the community:  If you think this is important to run and are willing to devote the time and attention to answering questions at least at first, and want to have credit for your contributions, please feel free to create a forum site and follow the simple rules above:  State that this is a resource contributed to the community by you.  We have done the same with the wiki that Frauerpower contributed :-)

Best Wishes,
Chris Travers