Hans<br>thankyou very much for this constructive reply, and you make some useful points;<br>you are right, I had obliviously overlooked PITS.<br><br>Yes, it does seem a bit "heavy",<br>I will try to make it a bit more friendly.<br>
I agree the page name could be better, <br>perhaps I'll change it to "How to Get Help" ?<br><br>I did intend it to be comprehensive, <br>perhaps a reaction (and a point of reference for) requests are received for which little if no self help has been attempted.<br>
Many of the points won't apply to each problem, and it may not be apparent which do,<br>but at least they are there as a reminder.<br><br>I'll be updating it next week<br><br>thanks again<br><br>Simon<br><br><br><div>
<span class="gmail_quote">On 01/03/2008, <b class="gmail_sendername">Hans</b> <<a href="mailto:design5@softflow.co.uk">design5@softflow.co.uk</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Thursday, February 28, 2008, 10:07:02 PM, Simon wrote:<br> > I've drafted a page<br> > <a href="http://pmwiki.org/wiki/Cookbook/HowToReportBugs">http://pmwiki.org/wiki/Cookbook/HowToReportBugs</a><br> > in an attempt to assist everyone who seeks help from the mailing lists<br>
<br> <br>I read through the page and like to raise a few points:<br> <br> * For people seeking help I find the page both encouraging, as it<br> gives lots of pointers on what to try or where to look, and<br> discouraging, as it mentions after a list of 13 check points:<br>
<br> "Having done all of this, and being none the wiser about your issue<br> (although probably somewhat wiser about PmWiki) you could<br> <br> * leave a query on the questions page<br> * post a message the the PmWiki mailing lists"<br>
<br> It implies one needs to go through all the check points mentioned<br> before, even doing tests in different environments, before asking a<br> question here on this mailing list. I would feel put off by such a<br> request and probably never dare ask a question here.<br>
<br> I think that joining this mailing list should be encouraged, and<br> raising questions should not be dependant on having gone through a<br> vast list of tasks, including searching archives, searching PmWiki,<br> running tests etc.<br>
<br> It is often very difficult to find answers doing searches. One may<br> not know the right way to ask and the right keywords, or the search<br> results are too wide in scope, too many links to look into etc.<br> <br>
* Reporting bugs and seeking help from mailing lists are two<br> different issues. I think the page is misnamed and would be better<br> called SeekingHelp or something like it. To report a bug i thought<br> is done either directly to Pm or via the mailing list or as a PITS<br>
entry.<br> <br> * What happened to PITS? There is no mention of PITS, and I thought<br> PITS is the primary PmWiki system for tracking bugs. If the page<br> would be about what its name says, then it would focus on how to<br>
make a bug report using PITS, or approach the mailing list with one's<br> bug report.<br> <br><br> <br> <br> ~Hans<br> <br> </blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><br><a href="http://kiwiwiki.co.nz">http://kiwiwiki.co.nz</a>