Feature #5984

decide what kind of web support do we want to provide

Added by Tails 2013-07-18 07:49:00 . Updated 2013-08-10 01:00:31 .

Status:
Resolved
Priority:
Normal
Assignee:
Category:
Target version:
Start date:
Due date:
% Done:

0%

Feature Branch:
Type of work:
Discuss
Blueprint:

Starter:
0
Affected tool:
Deliverable for:

Description

  • We closed our web forum in June 2013.
  • Tor gave up on having its own ask.torproject.org based on Askbot.
  • We didn’t decide to follow their move to StackExchange so far.

We have to discuss what kind of web support we want to provide, taking into account our availability, the possible cooperation with Tor, the limitations of the different tools, etc.

Possible scenarios are:

  • Improve Askbot to our requirements
  • Go ahead with StackExchange
  • Setup a mailing list as replacement
  • Do nothing
  • FAQ

Subtasks

Related issues

Related to Tails - Feature #6179: Pass a RFP on Debian for Askbot Resolved 2013-07-20
Related to Tails - Feature #6180: Create a tails-support@ and tails-bugs@ mailing list Resolved 2013-07-20
Related to Tails - Feature #6289: Publish an initial FAQ Resolved 2013-10-18
Blocks Tails - Feature #5893: Sort the content of the old forum Duplicate

History

#1 Updated by sajolida 2013-07-20 02:06:30

  • Status changed from Confirmed to Resolved
  • Starter set to No

Great plan for now

  • Pass a RFP on Debian for Askbot.
  • Give up on StackExchange for now.
  • Set up a tails-support public mailing-list with no archive, to have slightly less monitoring of the content, and announce it.
  • Collect the frequent questions and answers from the old forum in a FAQ on /support/frequently_asked_questions redirected from /support/faq.
  • Keep on harvesting questions & answers from tails-support to feed the FAQ.
  • Evaluate the plan in late October.
  • Propose to other servers to host both lists.

Great plan for later

  • Pay for Askbot improvements, Debian packaging, and managing the whole thing (including answering questions) for the first two years.

#2 Updated by sajolida 2013-08-10 01:00:31

Some reasons for this decision

  • The main Q&A application that we studied (Askbot, OSQA, and Shapado) are not packaged for Debian. Having our own instance would add a maintenance overhead that we are not ready to handle at the moment.
  • They are all lacking features related to anonymity, internationalization, or the possibility of sharing a single instance between different projects.
  • We are very short on human resources to maintain and be active on such a tool for the moment. We want to focus on getting the project more sustainable in the long-run first. See our roadmap.
  • Tor decided to have its own StackExchange instance. We decide not to follow them yet. They are several issues regarding privacy, and data ownership that make us still doubt.
  • We want to take advantage of the knowledge that was gathered in the forum and reuse it.