Media Portals achilles heel; Support. (1 Viewer)

[lowcrust]

Not trying to step on any toes or stir up bad blood, just sharing my perspective;

I have all these questions, then search for answers in the manual (nothing there) then find answers on the forum.. but most of them assume quite a lot of pre-existing knowledge of MP. I'm no slouch when it comes to neither logic nor computers, but a lot of MP is illogical (personal opinion of course, but compared to many other programs it is different) or overly complicated in my humble opinion (just the fact that support is spread out over a thousand forums for instance, there's more boards here than on the 2.5 million post/300000 members phpbb board for instance).

How about assigning a support team? I think it holds higher priority than starting new projects. I love the idea of MP version 2 but at the same time I must admit that from an outsiders point of view (meaning non-developer but also new MP user) it does look like it's another high profile project started without any of the older (TV server, MP 1, Wiki, Manual etc etc) being finished (or close to being finished) first.

I also believe the program could be streamlined to be easier to setup and configure. At least I think that should be the number one priority with Media Portal 2.

I would gladly help in writing tutorials and/or instructional videos, but I would have to get a grasp on how to accomplish a lot of the things I want MP. It's difficult for me to do so with the poor documentation of MP as well as the somewhat clumsy configuration. Again, I'm only out to improve the project, NOT to be negative nor ungrateful.

What's your opinions on the support/documentation?

 

[rekenaar]

Yes, it's a difficult one - assigning a support team in an open source project. I saw many many offers from people willing to help, but the problem is that very often it don't last long. I think it is quite a burden working on a project like this without any remuneration. Volunteers don't always know what they are getting themselves in.

The thing is - you and I must try and make a difference. We are the "users" today, but we must try to be the "support" for tomorrow. I know it is very difficult. We must first learn. We can try to answer a few questions on this forum and in the process we will get some right and some wrong. As long as we will learn...as long as we will document.

I have the same view as you - I want to help improve MP and the wiki documentation. My first step, for a few months, is to try and read as much forum posts as possible. Learn in the process. Trying to stear newcomers in the right direction. Not always getting it right and sometimes even getting a sarcastic remark or two. Bottom line is that I am willing to learn, willing to help and as soon as I know enough, I will be willing to contribute in other areas as well.

I am monitoring the SVN commits of both MP and MPII. Yes, it seems like if there are quite a lot more work going into MPII, but thus far I am constantly seeing bugs fixed in MP 1 as well. That's good for me. They are still trying to reach a stable MP 1.

I do agree that we have a few too many boards.

 

[cheetah05]

It would be nice for people to document what the solution was to their problem, in a separate page on the wiki, so you don't have to go through multiple pages in threads to find solutions.

 

[The_Stig]

Fully agree with cheetah05. We really have a problem in the wiki. Seems that only a few users really edit it. But that is the main point of having a wiki.

So I can only encourage all the users which are unhappy to just add some infos to the wiki...

 

[Darre]

Talking about the wiki.. how come its so hard to search for stuff in it? I don't know how a wiki search works, but it seems when you search for something it has to be a keyword on the page it is in, or else it wont show. Many times I've found the word that came back without a result by manually looking through lots of pages. That's not very effective.

 

[infinite.loop]

Fully agree with cheetah05. We really have a problem in the wiki. Seems that only a few users really edit it. But that is the main point of having a wiki.

So I can only encourage all the users which are unhappy to just add some infos to the wiki...

indeed.

maybe the community would like to "give something back" by contributing to the wiki?

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Talking about the wiki.. how come its so hard to search for stuff in it? I don't know how a wiki search works, but it seems when you search for something it has to be a keyword on the page it is in, or else it wont show

Does seem a bit strange, will see if that is normal, or a way to do it, that is easier to understand for everyone.

Thanks for pointing this out.

 

[surfermc]

Talking about the wiki.. how come its so hard to search for stuff in it? I don't know how a wiki search works, but it seems when you search for something it has to be a keyword on the page it is in, or else it wont show. Many times I've found the word that came back without a result by manually looking through lots of pages. That's not very effective.

Have you some examples of searches that are causing problems? THere are 2 different searches available one for titles and the other for text in the page.

 

[Darre]

Talking about the wiki.. how come its so hard to search for stuff in it? I don't know how a wiki search works, but it seems when you search for something it has to be a keyword on the page it is in, or else it wont show. Many times I've found the word that came back without a result by manually looking through lots of pages. That's not very effective.

Have you some examples of searches that are causing problems? THere are 2 different searches available one for titles and the other for text in the page.

:sorry:Never noticed that 'text' button.. When I search I normally just type 'whatever I search for' and press enter.
Maybe make 2 search boxes as well as 2 buttons for people like me? Anyways thanks mate! Will make it easier to find stuff there now, even tho I rarely use it, its quite handy when I need it =)

 

[zion22]

Never noticed that 'text' button.. When I search I normally just type 'whatever I search for' and press enter.

Yeah, took me some time to discover that too >_<