Suggestion: Use a forum instead of mailing list

Hi!

Any idea why we are using a mail list in place of a BB forum?
1. Very difficult to search (in fact there is no built-in search. Google search is also not as good as internal forum search).
2. No sticky posts possible to guide newcomers.
3. Not possible to segregate into sections
4. Not possible to use markup to add emphasis or hyperlinks
5. Not possible to search for a particular user's posts

Hi,

Hi!

Any idea why we are using a mail list in place of a BB forum?
1. Very difficult to search (in fact there is no built-in search. Google search is also not as good as internal forum search).
2. No sticky posts possible to guide newcomers.
3. Not possible to segregate into sections
4. Not possible to use markup to add emphasis or hyperlinks
5. Not possible to search for a particular user's posts

Those who have a low and/or expensive connexion are not able to participate on a forum, where you can't work off line. Most of what you ask is possible through a mailer and you can easily search and direct people through Nabble list archives or use it as a forum when needed. All our lists are mirrored through Nabble system.

Kind regards
Sophie

Narayanaras,
As a part of the LibreOffice Drupal website scope that was developed
about a month ago we are tackling this issue head on. The Drupal
website team believes we can keep all parties happy by using Drupal
forums, which brings with it all of the benefits you have mentioned as
well as supporting rich text, while allowing legacy support for
mailing lists which will keep the people who are still on dialup or
mobile users happy.

The Steering Committee has given us ~6 months to implement the system,
so sorry about the wait, but we don't want to disrupt the systems that
the OOo community has worked off for many years, we want to improve
them and the systems around them without losing functionality or
members.

If you have an interest in this and some past experience with setting
up or administering systems like this you are welcome to join the
Drupal website team and give us a hand to implement this faster than
scheduled.

Thanks,
Michael Wheatland

Sure! So what do we do next?

Has someone worked out the IA for the site, and to be reviewed? Or is it to be developed as the first step?
Where is this "legacy issues" list posted? (as a concept "legacy issues" it is alright, but we need exact specs to work on.)
Also what are the usability inputs?

Plus there would be a migration plan to the new website. Please share that too.

I can bring in professional help from my friends if needed.

-Narayan

Legacy specifications has been worked out to be simply "Mailing list
functionality" ie notification of posts and reply by email as well as
creation of forum topics via email, NNTP and XML feed support.
Development of this area has not progressed fast due to the resources
and priorities in setting up the site.

The IA for the site was published in the LibreOffice Website Drupal Group here:
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Website/Drupal
http://goo.gl/1xKuC - For the IA.

This is the framework, the refinement and some modifications have come
from the mailing lists, which as you have already mentioned is very
difficult to sort through to find anything specific.

I hope this helps. The first thing to do is get involved with the
discussion on the website mailing list.

Thanks,
Michael Wheatland