[dokuwiki] Re: DokuWiki forum

Andi, this is important.  I'm going to be slightly disrespectful in an attempt 
to beat some sense into you...

> Discussion is something different. Wikis are not ideal for threaded
> discussions. That's what mailing lists and forums are for.

We need to acknowledge that when people work together to create a formal 
product (a wiki page), they have to informally discuss the product they're 
creating.  Splitbrain.org is a case in point, as virtually every page includes 
a discussion section, even though it's only a crude discussion forum.

WIKIS REQUIRE DISCUSSION FORUMS

I agree that wiki technology is poorly suited to serve as a basis for a 
discussion forum.  This doesn't mean we brush off requests for improved 
discussion support.  It means we look at non-wiki solutions and ways to make 
DokuWiki play well with those solutions -- even rapid, brainless integration 
with such a solution.  Obviously, the better discussions are for DokuWiki 
pages, the more people like DokuWiki.

USER FEEDBACK == OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE

When a DokuWiki user says that some area of DokuWiki needs to be improved, that 
means something somewhere is causing discomfort.  It doesn't mean that we 
should go off and do exactly what the user suggested, but it does mean we 
should think out-of-the-box for creative ways to alleviate the concern.

Perhaps it's easy to hook DokuWiki up with a third party discussion forum, so 
it seems that there's no real problem here.  But there is a real problem: 
DokuWiki users don't know it's easy.  Besides, it is never easy to have to 
figure something it, if for no other reason than there is a perceived risk that 
the effort may not produce a working result.  So I propose:

MINIMUM SOLUTION: Have a page spell out the procedure for integrating DokuWiki 
with one or more third party discussion forums.

BETTER SOLUTION: Extend DokuWiki in ways that make it natural to hook DokuWiki 
into third party discussion forums, perhaps allowing people to add their own 
integration plugins.

Is this making sense?  I'm saying, when you hear a plea for improved discussion 
support, ignore any implied solutions (or the obvious one) and look for a 
solution that solves the true underlying problem.  But let's not dismiss the 
generous feedback motivates us to make DokuWiki better.

Sorry if I sound a bit frustrated.  I also earlier called for improved 
discussion support.

~joe
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