Github is better than this forum

xiaoxstz

I think Github is better than this forum for the items below:

* Each issue has status: open/closed. It's easy to know whether this issue has been solved
* We can like/dislike comments. So, it's easy to know which comment is a good one. It's a bit like Stack Overflow

So, I don't like the readme on the Github repository "Please post feature requests or bug reports to the Zotero Forums"

dstillman

We use GitHub for development. Every issue there is a confirmed issue created by a developer that we would like to address. Flooding it with end-user posts would destroy its utility to us as a development tool.

As someone who knows what GitHub is, you're welcome to search GitHub for confirmed issues before posting here, but we don't expect people to do that — you can just ask a question here. Most people have no idea what GitHub is, and we want to keep Zotero discussions accessible to as many people as possible. Also, in our experience, people generally aren't able to accurately assess whether something is a bug, a feature request, an existing feature they've missed, a misunderstanding, etc., so an issue tracker just isn't the right initial venue for most discussions.

Various forum improvements — better search, marking things as solved, highlighting featured comments — are planned, but I'd encourage you to actually participate in these forums, which have been a core part of Zotero development for 17 years, before passing judgment.

migugg

Given that similar posts pop up here repeatedly, would it not be helpful if there were an announcement on top of the forums, or maybe even on top of the forum page, above all posts, that contains a note outlining some basic points such as:
-These forums will be improved soon with marking things as solved, highlighting featured comments.
-if your query refers to an app version, include "mobile" /"android" in the message header.
-If your query refers to the new zotero 7 version, include "zotero 7" in the messsage header.
-If you think you know what kind your issue is, preface the title with "Bug:" or "Feature Request:"
-Before posting, try to search documentation, knowledge base and Tips and Tricks first. (with links to these pages. (I think many people are not aware of these, as these are quite difficult to find at the bottom of the documenation)
-Try to describe your issue in one sentence in the message header. Try to avoid posting help request items titled "help needed" or similar unspecific titles.
-Do not add "+1" or similar to feature requests, as these clog the forums.