Split the forum to app related???

[thomaso]

23 hours ago, tonyt said:

PLEASE split the forum into separate sections for each app. I only use APhoto

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/55-feedback-for-affinity-photo-on-desktop/

This forum section is titled to be for AfPhoto only. It is used for questions ("how to?"), complaints ("not working") and feature requests. – What else do you need?

[walt.farrell]

17 minutes ago, thomaso said:

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/55-feedback-for-affinity-photo-on-desktop/

This forum section is titled to be for AfPhoto only. It is used for questions ("how to?"), complaints ("not working") and feature requests. – What else do you need?

No. That is simply the old Feature Requests forum, renamed recently by @Patrick Connor. The parent page for that forum says of them:

Quote

Post feature requests that you think will make Affinity even better. Any discussions and suggestions about the software go in these forums

The key point is that they are for feature requests (suggestions) and discussions "about the software".

They are not (I believe) for "how do I...?" kinds of questions.

Complaints, I'm not sure. Arguably if something is not working it could be a bug (post in the bug forum) or a user problem (post in a question forum).

Note, too, that the Serif staff have typically not participated in discussions in the Feature Request forums, and I expect that will be the same with them now that they're renamed as Feedback. But only Serif staff really know

Possibly Patrick can clarify the intent of these forums, including what we should post where, and who we can expect to be listening and responding.

[thomaso]

54 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

No. That is simply the old Feature Requests forum, renamed recently (...)
(...) Post feature requests that you think will make Affinity even better. Any discussions and suggestions about the software go in these forums

Why "no"? And why "simply old"? – It still exists and still can be filled, right? According to the description you quoted it sounds perfect for any AfPhoto-only topic.

56 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

The key point is that they are for feature requests (suggestions) and discussions "about the software".
They are not (I believe) for "how do I...?" kinds of questions.
Complaints, I'm not sure.

The key point is that people are using it for all sorts of topics related to AfPhoto. Just read the recent topics and you'll see: there it is All in One + Exclusiv for AfPhoto, as requested here from the TO and his/her agreers.

[walt.farrell]

"No," because I was disagreeing with your characterization that it is for everything about Affinity Photo.

And perhaps people are now using it for everything. If Patrick comes along and says that I've misinterpreted his intentions in doing that rename, that's fine. He's the chief moderator for the forums, I believe.

But I think, with the rename, that people are misusing it. And he really did intend that it be for talking about the software (Why doesn't it do x? Why does it do y?) and not "How should I solve this particular problem I have". The distinction between that kind of question is subtle enough that I think the rename is going to result in more things in the wrong forum, unless I'm wrong and that really is his way of starting to separate the topics out.

But tracking feature requests in among all the other chatter that involves Photo (or Designer, or ...) in any way would be difficult. That's why I'm pretty sure it was intended to be comments about the software, generally, or specific suggestions, not about asking how to use the existing functions to solve a particular problem.

And, actually, looking at the last few days of posts, I pretty much see feature requests.

[R C-R]

2 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

... unless I'm wrong ...

I do not think you are wrong.

[Patrick Connor]

Discussions and suggestions are about what the software doesn't yet do not about what it already does. These are the feature request forums recently expanded ( in name only ) to encourage observations and discussions. Typically threads that do not require input from Tech Support, QA or Development, as those types of threads are not normally replied to by Serif. It's somewhere for customers to express opinions rather than ask us how to do things or tell us what's not working for them. Those are discussed elsewhere. Think feature requests plus plus.

Bugs are about things it does do but should not do. Post here when you have found something and have confidence it should not.

Beta are the same as bugs but for beta builds.

Questions is to ask  "how do i.', "What should happen...', 'which software does this thing' . Anything that ware struggling to do that you need advice but the software probably should be able to do (sometimes it cannot and will be moved to the suggestion forum). Typically installation problems go here simply because customers know it should work, but is not working for them. 

[Kimbo]

As part of my learning I read a lot of the threads in this particular questions section of the forum. I can see why people may think threads not relating to a particular branch of affinity may not be useful to them, but also believe they are useful to many others. There is a lot of crossover between the branches.

I mostly work/play in publisher but at times need the others, and this means I read the other threads too, there might be something useful being discussed, that I can make use of in the future.

Perhaps a simple "select a software tag before you can post" is an option.

[Patrick Connor]

Tagging is the obvious solution, but in these forums enforced tagging is for every forum or for none. I don't think anyone would thank me for forcing every thread to have Photo/Designer/Publisher tagged in the bugs and beta and suggestions forums. Perhaps if we started again but not now I don't think

[thomaso]

2 hours ago, Patrick Connor said:

Discussions and suggestions are about what the software doesn't yet do not about what it already does. These are the feature request forums

Thank you for clearing this up. – I must have been confused by some topics of the last months in the AfPhoto suggestions:

How to simulate Lightroom's “texture” effect [June 29]
How to define aspect ratio? [Dec 29]
How to improve brush shortcuts for mouse and tablet use [June 7]
How to read EXIF data from a .afphoto document [May 28]
How to modify default values / resize document? [Apr 24]
How to get a bigger brush preview in Affinity Photo? [Mar 20]

50 minutes ago, Patrick Connor said:

Tagging is the obvious solution, but in these forums enforced tagging is for every forum or for none. I don't think anyone would thank me for forcing every thread to have Photo/Designer/Publisher tagged in the bugs and beta and suggestions forums. Perhaps if we started again but not now I don't think 

Maybe it could just be colored dots, similar to the colored, application related forum titles that are used for search results:

[Sara72]

Maybe some friendly encouragement to get people to tag more and have some ready made suggestions? Designer, Photo, Publisher being the top 3 suggestions and those be coloured tags to the appropriate software.  

[Patrick Connor]

15 hours ago, thomaso said:

Thank you for clearing this up. – I must have been confused by some topics of the last months in the AfPhoto suggestions:

How to simulate Lightroom's “texture” effect [June 29]
How to define aspect ratio? [Dec 29]
How to improve brush shortcuts for mouse and tablet use [June 7]
How to read EXIF data from a .afphoto document [May 28]
How to modify default values / resize document? [Apr 24]
How to get a bigger brush preview in Affinity Photo? [Mar 20]

Maybe it could just be colored dots, similar to the colored, application related forum titles that are used for search results:

 

Yes you seem to be confused, perhaps by not reading the threads, and assuming threads with a question mark are not meant to be in the suggestions forum. All your examples are in the right forum. 

The first one is a question which the OP actually recognises is probably not already available and stated

On 6/29/2019 at 3:26 PM, miss_c said:

Is there an equivalent in Affinity Photo and if not, could you add this slider?

you cannot blame her for couching the request in a "is this already possible" sentence.

Most of those "Questions" were originally posted to the questions forum, and when they were found to be asking for something that the software could not do they were MOVED to the suggestions/feature requests forum by a member of staff, who says so in the thread!

On 12/11/2018 at 11:51 AM, Dan C said:

Hi Manpro,

Welcome to the forums

Unfortunately creating slices by aspect ratio isn't currently possible, apologies! I'll move this thread to Feature Requests for our devs to see and consider adding in the future. 

and this one

On 5/28/2019 at 1:01 PM, Callum said:

I have moved this thread back to Feature Requests as I feel it is a better fit there.

and this one

On 4/24/2019 at 8:47 AM, Dan C said:

Hi PhilSig,

Welcome to the forums

Unfortunately there's no option to set 'default' values for the resize document window, it will always show the current document size. I'll move this thread to Feature Requests and Feedback now for our devs to see and consider!

and this one

On 3/21/2019 at 12:56 PM, Dan C said:

Hi Weltende,

Welcome to the forums

Unfortunately there's no option to change the preview brush size in Affinity currently. I'll move this thread to Feature Requests and Feedback for our devs to see and consider!

....so yup they are in the right place...

Finally this is a suggestion in the form of a question "How to improve brush shortcuts for mouse and tablet use" so perfectly placed. I am happy to move any questions wrongly placed in the suggestions forums if they how to do things the software can do, but your list are not examples of that.

Quote

Maybe it could just be colored dots, similar to the colored, application related forum titles that are used for search results:

If we could do something simple we would. I will keep looking for a good solution to this. It may be 3 more forums (or even 6 with iPad variants: ADE Desktop questions & ADe iPad questions/ APh Desktop questions & APh iPad questions/ APu Desktop questions & APu iPad questions) but there still needs to be somewhere to ask general (perhaps pre-purchase) tech support questions. I am loathe to make this more complicated at this point.

[R C-R]

55 minutes ago, Patrick Connor said:

I am loathe to make this more complicated at this point.

Making a software support forum overly complicated, particularly for new users & potential buyers, strikes me as an extremely bad idea.

[Patrick Connor]

I just wish there was a way to force product tagging in only the Questions forums

[John Rostron]

@Patrick Connor, I do still think that the labels for the different forums on the Home page are a bit ambiguous. For Affinity support and questions,, it says:

Quote

If you have any questions about Affinity Software - then post in these forums.

As Patrrick implied earlier, this forum is for How do I do this ... or Can I do this ... The current label does not specify this, so it is unsurprising that inappropriate questions are asked.

For the Suggestions, Discussions and Feature Requests, it says:

Quote

Post feature requests that you think will make Affinity even better. Any discussions and suggestions about the software go in these forums

The first sentence is quite clear. The second sentence is not. It is the word 'discussions' that is confusing. Please remove this. What exactly do you mean by 'discussions'? Some 'discussions' would belong here, and others in the Questions forum.

For the Tutorials section, it says:

Quote

Affinity tutorials, tips and tricks for easy learning.

Many posts in this forum are requests for tutorial, which would be better posted in the Questions forum. Could this be clarified in the the label.

John

[Patrick Connor]

16 hours ago, John Rostron said:

The first sentence is quite clear. The second sentence is not. It is the word 'discussions' that is confusing. Please remove this. What exactly do you mean by 'discussions'? Some 'discussions' would belong here, and others in the Questions forum.

I added that word deliberately recently. Tech support concentrate on answering Questions (in the questions forum) Discussions (like suggestions) do not require a response and are more for customers to participate as they see fit. If something is borderline and can go in either place then so be it we are not that anal.

16 hours ago, John Rostron said:

Many posts in this forum are requests for tutorial, which would be better posted in the Questions forum. Could this be clarified in the the label.

Many more than you think... That forum is 100% moderated and cannot be posted to unless approved by a moderator. I check each one before I approve and move incorrectly posted content to Questions before approval (if it's not a tutuorial). Other moderators aren't quite to thorough and so they are approved and then moved to questions as an afterthought. I have improved that forums label, but newbies will still post there no matter how good the text is, as these forms are sprawling already and not knowing what you are doing as a first time poster has to be forgiven.

[Cecil]

On 7/8/2019 at 11:11 AM, Patrick Connor said:

I just wish there was a way to force product tagging in only the Questions forums

Please review the thread “Same old, same old” posted yesterday. I could not link the post to this old thread, for some reason.  I think tags and signatures just do not work. I think a simple, mandatory addition to any new Post may help.