Open Stack

Hi Stefano:

I think it would be an interesting experiment to try out. However, do I
have one concern:

Are you suggesting that the Ask widget replace the existing Disqus comments
on the docs page as a mechanism for users to ask questions, or would this
be an addition?

I don't think we should do *both* Disqus comments and the Ask widget at the
same time. I think having both on a page would confuse users about which
feedback mechanism they should use.

Lorin


On Wed, Oct 30, 2013 at 8:56 PM, Stefano Maffulli <stefano at openstack.org>wrote:

> Hello folks,
>
> I have been talking with Anne and Tom about trying to capture more
> effectively feedback from users that browse the Documentation and at the
> same time, capture the doubts/pain of users back into the
> document-writing process.
>
> One idea I've been toying with is to provide a place for users to ask
> questions if/when they have doubts about the documentation and get those
> questions answered by a wider community. At the same time, I thought it
> would be good to have a way for doc writers to identify the parts of the
> documentation that are more likely to attract questions.
>
> With these ramblings in mind, I spoke with the developers of Askbot
> (powering https://ask.openstack.org) who happen to have been thinking
> about similar ideas, expanding Askbot capabilities beyond 'one' website.
>
> Evgeny here in cc sent me his thoughts about how Ask OpenStack could
> integrate with docs.openstack.org using 'widgets'. I invited him to join
> a wider discussion on the docs mailing list (keep him in the loop in the
> answers).
>
> > Below is a bit more detailed proposal for the widget feature.
> >
> > The doc page in the right sidebar we could have a minimizable widget
> > (when minimized it would take a small sidebar strip and would be
> > displayed in muted style), when unfolded it could take say 50% of the
> > width.
> >
> > Content of the widget would be a simplified version of the Askbot
> > layout, with just the content and the basic pages (question listing,
> > question details, login page - we'd have to create a stripped down
> > version for all pages used here).
> >
> > Another use case could be - via inserting markers into the text of
> > the doc page where the questions are or around the paragraphs. When
> > you click on the marker - a corresponding question opens in the
> > sidebar. I.e. - questions can be tied to specific paragraphs, where
> > possible.
> >
> > If a paragraph does not have questions - hovering over the text of
> > the doc page will display a prompt to "ask a question" about the
> > paragraph over which the pointer is hovering.
> >
> > It could be useful to link authors of the page with the profiles in
> > the Q&A system, if they exist, in order to notify the authors of the
> > new questions.
> >
> > On the "regular" forum question pages there would be "backlinks" to
> > the relevant doc pages.
> >
> > Questions may be assigned/reassigned to one or more doc pages.
>
> What do you think?
>
> /stef
>
> --
> Ask and answer questions on https://ask.openstack.org
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Openstack-docs at lists.openstack.org
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>



-- 
Lorin Hochstein
Lead Architect - Cloud Services
Nimbis Services, Inc.
www.nimbisservices.com
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