Develop Bugs

New Questions and Answers section: great idea, really poor implementation

Can anyone explain to me the new policies started in the new Q&A section?
Has anyone seen this? Apparently, you have to jump through hoops to open a new thread in the new Questions and Answers section.
From RULES - Must Read Before Posting Sticky in Q&A
ALL QUESTIONS WILL BE POSTED IN SEPERATE THREADS. IF YOU WISH TO OPEN A NEW THREAD FOR YOUR QUESTION, PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING: If you wish to open a thread, you must PM me with the name of your thread, and the page number where it is located. IF YOU OPEN A THREAD, AND DO NOT SEND A PRIVATE MESSAGE TO TWEAKMAN, YOUR THREAD WILL BE DELETED. There will be no exception to this. You must send the message to have your thread open!!!
ANY NEW THREAD, NOT OPENED BY A MODERATOR WILL BE REMOVED IMMEDITALEY: If you have a question you would like posted, you will not be turned away. This is only done to ensure that your question doesn't become lost in the pages as this section grows.
TO SEND A PRIVATE MESSAGE TO REQUEST YOUR THREAD DO THE FOLLOWING:
1:GO TO THE TOP LEFT SIDE OF THIS POST AND CLICK ON USER NAME "TWEAKMAN"
2:ONCE ON THE NEW PAGE, GO TO CONTACT INFO
3:SELECT THE OPTION TO SEND A PRIVATE MESSAGE (NO OTHER FORM OF MESSAGE WILL BE ACCEPTED)
4:INCLUDE ONLY YOUR QUESTION
5:YOUR DONE!! YOUR QUESTION WILL BE POSTED IN A NEW THREAD FOR FURTHER HELP AND DISCUSSION!
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I can think of three really good reasons not to do this:
Nobody reads the stickies.
Especially newcomers to the forum. People are just going to post new threads and wonder why they keep getting deleted.
It isn't very convenient.
What happens if I have a problem when Tweakman is asleep? Or on the toilet? I really feel sorry for that guy if he is going to have to publish every question anyone asks.
It is unnecessarily difficult.
The creation of this section was to help the Development and Hacking section get rid of general question posts. But if it is easier to make a new post in Development and Hacking, then people are just going to keep on doing that. Like this guy.
And then there is this:
ALL NEW QUESTIONS WILL BE REMOVED AFTER 7 DAYS: Once a thread is opened with your question, it will be left standing for a total of 7 (seven) days. If your question has not been answered at that time, you may repost your question as many times as needed. Again, this is to ensure that your question doesn't become lost in the pages as this section grows.
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I don't get this either. What's wrong with the system as it is? Why can't we just leave the questions so that people can search for answers before they post? (Okay, granted most newcomers don't search either, but some do.) If people aren't getting answers, they can just bump their thread.
Am I wrong?

I agree, great intentions, but the whole idea is poorly conceived, just like the original thread in Development and hacking...nothing got answered, and if it did, how do you navigate to it to find it? Is anyone going to dig through this crap to answer someone else's question. I think not.

Give it time.
The kinks will be worked out.
Don't be so negative.

it will be open for all to post soon...... they are working on a team to keep the thread organized once fully opened

joel2009 said:
it will be open for all to post soon...... they are working on a team to keep the thread organized once fully opened
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Sounds good. I hope lots of people pitch-in to help.

Q&a Section Now Open For All To Post

[IDEA] Check for similar threads before posting and more

I only post in the 'Dream Android Development' forums, but I'm sure that the problem of people posting new threads with questions that have already been asked and/or answered can be found all over the forums. I may have found a solution, or at least something that should help. They are mods from vbulletin.org. Two of them check for similar threads before a new thread is posted, while the third can help questions being posted in the wrong forum. Please consider using them.
[Ajax] Check for similar thread before posting a new one
Cyb - Check If Already Posted
Cyb - Prevent Newbies from Posting to Wrong Forum

bolmedias said:
I only post in the 'Dream Android Development' forums, but I'm sure that the problem of people posting new threads with questions that have already been asked and/or answered can be found all over the forums. I may have found a solution, or at least something that should help. They are mods from vbulletin.org. Two of them check for similar threads before a new thread is posted, while the third can help questions being posted in the wrong forum. Please consider using them.
[Ajax] Check for similar thread before posting a new one
Cyb - Check If Already Posted
Cyb - Prevent Newbies from Posting to Wrong Forum
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As Flar has stated in the past, the problem with adding new plugins is that it becomes harder to upgrade the vb software without problems in one go. The plugins we have at the moment are causing enough issues at upgrade time.
Dave

DaveShaw said:
As Flar has stated in the past, the problem with adding new plugins is that it becomes harder to upgrade the vb software without problems in one go. The plugins we have at the moment are causing enough issues at upgrade time.
Dave
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Sorry for posting this thread then. Looks like I should have searched
It was just a suggestion, feel free to lock the thread if you want.

bolmedias said:
Sorry for posting this thread then. Looks like I should have searched
It was just a suggestion, feel free to lock the thread if you want.
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It's OK , they are good ideas and I like the ajax Check for similar thread before posting a new one stuff.
I was just letting you know of some of the problems we have with plugins and why the admin team are reluctant to add plugins.
Dave

[25/7/11] Updated Rules Of The Development Section **Please Read, Then Read Again**

I'll get straight to the point....
Despite stickys and forum announcements most of us are still finding ourselves becoming terribly, terribly vexed at the amount of [Q]'s cluttering the dev section...
Therefore, from now on, if you do not follow the rules outlined below, you will be infracted. Break them again and you may find yourself unable to post anything at all on any forum!!
[Q]Surely thats a bit harsh aint it??
[A]Not really....
We've tried to be nice about it but that clearly doesnt work.
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If you cannot read and abide by the simple rules in this sticky then I dont know how you're going to manage to hack your device without running into trouble.​
The Dev section is NOT for asking questions.....
The Dev section is NOT for general topics..........
All threads posted MUST be prefixed with a description of the thread, [ROM] / [Kernel] etc etc.....*
*(Not planning on being particuarly strict on this. You guys (the devs), know how to title a thread.... just a pointer for new devs.)
Basically, unless your thread is to actually release something or discuss something of a very technical and n00b unfriendly nature, it doesnt belong here!
Pretty simple really.....
If you see something that shouldnt be here then PM me....
I will try to check in as reguarly as I can but I have a few sections to keep an eye on and believe it or not, a life outside XDA
Yes thats right, there is life outside XDA
Post What Where:
General - general technical discussion items, news, anything else that does not fit into the other fora categories.
Accessories - any items to do with components and/or accessories relating to your device.
Rom Development - only meant for very advanced technical discussion directly related to ROM development activity and the delivery of actual ROMs and ROM components ONLY. Nothing else goes in here.
Themes & Apps - anything to do directly with the development of themes and/or applications. Nothing else goes in here.
MOD EDIT: BEFORE POSTING ANY THREAD IN THE DEVELOPMENT SECTION, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING:
If you have developed a ROM, or are working with others to do so, the development forum is somewhere to discuss and share ideas, post useful feedback and logs or crash dumps, and to discuss a common goal developers are trying to achieve.
It is NOT the place to post your question because it gets higher traffic, or because more experienced users frequent it. Doing this just annoys those who are working on the device, and drives them away. Developers don't want to wade through 20 threads of "Help me urgently" to find their threads for porting and fixing camera issues etc. Similarly, if a thread is designated as discussion for developers say, porting a camera fix, please do not post in there asking "When will it be ready?", "Can I flash this yet?" etc. This is both completely disrespectful to those working on the project (you evidently haven't read the important posts in the thread), and also is making it harder for developers to find comments from other developers or testers when required.
Similarly, don't make loads of "Thanks for your work here" posts in an active development thread. It's just as annoying to developers as asking when something will be ready. If a ROM is complete, then go ahead and thank the developer if you wish, but don't go into threads for devs only, and interrupt it to post "thanks". It's basically spamming, and is treated as such.
If you are posting in development, you should have read every sticky and notice there, and should be actively developing or helping in the development of something. Developing isn't installing a ROM, or using a tweak, it's creating a ROM or other hack or tweak. If you haven't read for several days before starting out on XDA, you are likely about to ask something already solved. I registered on XDA when I first wanted to post, and that was to join in a discussion on something. Sure, join up and ask a question, but read the information available in General and Q&A first, as your question will have been asked before. Search is your friend here, become familiar with it.
Regarding when to post in development if you are not actually developing something, there is one occasion where it's acceptable. If you find a leak of a new ROM, which isn't already posted, and you verify it's legitimacy via either running it, or based on the source you obtained it from, then this is assisting in development, and should be posted in development. If you want to ask when a leak will be available use search first, then if not already in discussion, open a thread in general or Q&A.
If you have a problem flashing a ROM, this is NOT related to development. It's up to you to determine if it is specific to a particular ROM, and post useful information in that developer's existing thread for the ROM. If it happens on more than one ROM, and isn't a known issue (remember you should read several times more words than you post), then find out what you are doing wrong. Check guides written by others, try to repeat the problem and see if it happens every time. Something needs to be reproducible to be fixed effectively.
Once you have identified what you need help with go to the device Q&A forum (general if device lacks one), and make a clear, informative thread that explains the issue, and what you have tried doing to fix it. Did you re-download the ROM? Did you ask a friend to flash it for you, to reduce chance of user error? What steps (exactly) did you follow? What errors did you see (exact wording)? Did you double check all the steps? Did you do a wipe or hard reset?
If you make a clear, concise, yet detailed post, you will find help forthcoming, and should get the problem sorted very quickly. If someone suggests you try something, report back on what happened, did it work etc. Then, next time someone has this issue and searches, they will find this and have a verified and tested solution.
So remember... before you start a thread in development, ask yourself what you are developing. If you can't answer, then stop, step away from the post button, and think about where you are posting. Would it be better in General or Q&A, or is some more time with your best friend, search, required?

Can this be posted on all dev boards please? It is sorely missed...

Dr.Romca said:
Can this be posted on all dev boards please? It is sorely missed...
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Truely ! I read them , cuz i am making other improved and detailed versions of other people's tutorials , more like the Arabic for the Jxmatteo 1.2 , and the storage thing , and other stuff ... so i don''t want to mess up with the rules since i am enjoying helping people ...

hm

The spirit of XDA
Read this from the beginning till the end​

Henry_01 said:
Read this from the beginning till the end​
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Good read
Sent from my Wildfire S A510e using xda premium

Can I delete old threads?

Is it possible to delete old threads if so how? thanks

Only moderators can delete threads.
Moved to About XDA section.

If you need a thread to be closed, you will need to contact your FSM (forum specific fomerator) and ask them to close the thread for you. As for deleting a thread, i think a moderator would rather close the thread, as someone else searching for an answer to a question might find the answer in your thread, stopping the need for that member opening a new thread to ask their question.

Exactly

I was the same problem. Thanks for your guidance.

It is a bit of a bummer as to why you cannot delete posts and threads of your own but you can see why it is necessary for that permission to only be given to a MOD.
But the REPORT button could be seen as the close button.

Best marshmallow sense rom

Nougats ram management is killing me here

You were discussing this subject here
https://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-10/help/ran-management-t3653810
Now you don't respond there and yet open a new thread again ? If you dont discuss the exact issue you are experiencing how on earth can we offer any help ! And opening different threads on the same subject is against forum rules.

Thread closed. Please do not create duplicate threads or posts.
Cheers,
Magnum_Enforcer
FSM