There’s a lack of dedicated forums per program in this forum.

[Evaluation complete.]

There’s a lack of separate forums for each individual program, where customers can more easily navigate and find posts, and professionals - preferably with real and deep knowledge of the programs in serious setups - can respond. The mere existence of these dedicated sections makes them visible and easier to use for all types of customers.

I truly miss having topics (the programs) where expertise and applications within each program are distinct. There could also be a forum for those who use them in an integrated setup via StudioLink, but fundamentally, most users focus on the functionality of one specific program, even if they work with StudioLink.

A chaotic mix of posts that should be categorized with tags - tags that users either don’t understand or rarely use - seems more suited to an internal setup within an IT company. It’s also not particularly helpful to search through such a large volume.

Clarity is still king.

[Evaluation complete.]

And a desperate need for a chatroom thread for silly discussions like these:

 

[GarryP]

There used to be different forum sections for each application but that was causing problems where people would search for an answer in the section related to the specific application they were using and not find one, and miss the fact that the question had already been answered in a section for one of the other applications.

Because the applications share so many functionalities, Serif decided to combine these sections into one to make it easier for users to find answers to issues that were shared between the applications.

I don’t think there is a ‘perfect situation’ in this case, sometimes it’s better one way round and other times it’s better the other way round, but I think - having experience of using the forums both ways - the shared sections are better than having application-specific sections, from both a ‘getting answers’ and ‘providing support’ point of view.

[fde101]

Rather than per-application sections, I wonder if it might be better to have discussion sections for people using the applications in different fields: one for logo design, one for game art development, one for general software development (creating art and icons used in application user interfaces), one for web development, one for architecture, one for photographers, one for book publishers, etc. - so that people can discuss topics related to the specific workflows they use in those fields?

[GarryP]

That sounds like it might be as bad as, or could be even worse than, the application-specific split for the same sort of reasons as mentioned above.

Someone, for example, might only look in the “Photography” section for things and might miss some very useful information that was posted in the “Game Art Development” section.

I have absolutely no proof that it would be a bad idea, I just think it’s better not to split the discussions between different ‘clans’, partly because there are lots of interesting things happening which might be missed by some people if they only (or mostly) look in one place. (If you only look at the “Thriller” bookshelves in a book shop then you might miss out on some very good books in “General Fiction” or elsewhere.)

A good technique/workflow can be a good technique/workflow for anyone, not just for any specific field of interest.

[Gripsholm Lion]

Excessive siloing in IA rarely works well. Once you run into blurring between siloes, you know that you've very likely taken it too far. That ruins the UX rather than enhancing it.

[Evaluation complete.]

I seriously doubt that the few forums have made it easier for people to find what they’re looking for. On the other hand, I have experienced forums with far too many subforums.

However, I do miss more topic-focused discussions, where experienced and especially professional users can connect with each other and with beginners. A place where professionals can more easily discuss challenges and solutions without everything (rooted in people being here for social reasons) getting mixed in, and especially, it would be wonderful if solutions to problems didn’t sink to the bottom but could somehow be easier to find.

That’s my need and my interest. There’s always so much to learn.

[Alfred]

1 minute ago, Ingelise said:

it would be wonderful if solutions to problems didn’t sink to the bottom

A topic will always sink to the bottom when users stop posting to it, unless it’s pinned by a moderator (i.e. a Serif staff member).

[Pšenda]

21 hours ago, Ingelise said:

tags that users either don’t understand or rarely use

Highlighting the importance of tags by adding them to the input dialog when creating a post has been requested for a long time

Just as the division of the forum for individual applications has been requested/discussed many times here. One of the oldest, for example, here: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/13085-you-have-two-different-products-you-need-separate-forums/

I think Serif's attitude towards the form and function of the forum is that - to make it as easy and least complicated/intimidating as possible even for absolute beginners (not only in Affinity applications, but in IT in general) - he just tries to make the forum as accessible as possible "everyone". With the fact that an expert and an experienced user will always find a way to access the relevant information.

 

[Evaluation complete.]

Serif has indeed set up the forum like this, yes, but... I think it’s important to separate people and their needs and behaviors from Serif's perception of people's needs and behaviors. If they actually believe that regular people will use tags in a structured and homogeneous way, they are a safe distance from reality. People just don’t orient themselves or use forums and IT like that.

Right now, the forum is a bit more organized than social media, but it still has the same issue where vast amounts of information keep sinking down, down, down. You can't navigate or search your way through it without spending half your life doing so - unless you're incredibly lucky.

However, if you're crafty like me, you've found another method. But it shouldn't have to be necessary if the forum is supposed to be equally accessible to everyone. And free to use.

[Evaluation complete.]

To get back to the core: What I’m looking for is a space where professionals or those above average skill level, with more than just basic needs and experience, can exchange knowledge—clearly separated from bug reports and similar issues, and organized by themes.

The major frustration with Affinity (and other programs) is that the overwhelming majority of resources online are aimed at pure beginners and other inexperienced users. In a place like this, you can actually meet people with solutions to complex problems or who have come up with solutions to challenges that wouldn't occur to most.

It’s incredibly disappointing that the very best posts with qualified solutions disappear into the depths, and that advanced users don’t have a dedicated space to engage in dialogue on these topics.

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, Ingelise said:

It’s incredibly disappointing that the very best posts with qualified solutions disappear into the depths, and that advanced users don’t have a dedicated space to engage in dialogue on these topics.

How would you go about defining what such a space is dedicated to? Who decides where to draw the line between what should be considered “advanced” and what should not?

[Old Bruce]

2 hours ago, Pšenda said:

Highlighting the importance of tags by adding them to the input dialog when creating a post has been requested for a long time

I wish there was a list of already created tags from which we could choose. 

[Alfred]

5 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

I wish there was a list of already created tags from which we could choose. 

I suspect that to be really helpful it would have to be a list from which the user is forced to choose, even if the option ‘None of the above’ were included. At least the user would stop and think about it.

[Pšenda]

3 hours ago, Ingelise said:

It’s incredibly disappointing that the very best posts with qualified solutions disappear into the depths

Personally, it would be enough for me if the forum offered sorting/searching according to the rating of "expertise". The existing "Like" is of course completely useless (it is also given to posts like "hopefully tomorrow will be nice"), but if users could rate interesting and useful posts as "worth reading" or "pin" them to their forum history (obviously not local and by anyone else unseen favorites in the browser), and this pinning/appreciation would then be shared with other users as a certain credit for the quality/expertise of the post, so these interesting and made useful posts easy to find.

[fde101]

On 11/10/2024 at 5:49 PM, Pšenda said:

this pinning/appreciation would then be shared with other users as a certain credit for the quality/expertise of the post

The problem here is that different people will have different ideas about what that is, and something worth reading by some may be useless to others.

I almost wonder if being able to like a tag would help here: you could tag a post as "tutorial-calendars" and people who find it useful for learning to create calendars or to improve on the creation of calendars could "like" that tag.  Then have the ability to search tags and list posts which use that tag in descending order of the number of times that tag was "like"d.

[Pšenda]

3 minutes ago, fde101 said:

The problem here is that different people will have different ideas about what that is, and something worth reading by some may be useless to others.

Of course, the "usefulness" of a post is highly dependent on the needs and knowledge of each user. However, marking the usefulness/expertise of certain posts (the greater the number, the better/more useful) would at least differentiate them somewhat from the generic and constantly repeating ones (why do I see purple lines?). Moderators could, of course, also qualify the posts - either by the mentioned designation, or perhaps by sharing/linking to a specific forum (something like simultaneous pinning), or perhaps even by handing over these "authorities" to some more experienced/knowledgable users (so that the expertise score of the post does not spoil liking that basic information like "Didn't you press the TAB key?"). Of course, it could also be done automatically at the forum level, when the mark of "expertise" of a topic/post from a user with a higher degree of reputation (it could be set/modified by a moderator) has a higher weight than from a newcomer.
P.S. the current way of "Liking" evaluates individual posts, but in this case it might be more about evaluating entire topics/threads as such.