Community-edited documentation

[PaulC]

I'm pretty new around here (hello!), seems like a helpful community.

If I might ask a naive question, has anyone considered setting up a community-edited documentation web site? Forums are great for discussion, but poor for sharing wisdom (the nuggets are there, but hard to find, buried in the noise...).

I'm sure there's a core group of folk that have been here a while, learned and contributed much. Anyone up for setting up a community wiki to record that hard-won knowledge in a structured fashion?  The official documentation isn't exactly accessible for most, but rather than complain about it, perhaps we should enable the community to collaborate on good documentation?

I'm already liking this little device, it would be nice to 'pay it forward'. Even if we started with a FAQ, and moved onto a simple curated collection of links to key posts on this forum, it'd be an improvement.

Any of the senior members interested in doing this?

- Paul

[giqcass]

I would have to agree with you.  Some of the good documentation I have found thus far has been off site unless it was something basic.  There is some really good documentation on this forum but it is tough to find.

[giqcass]

I would also like to add half the questions I see here have already been asked and answered many times.

[PaulC]

The other communities I've participated in have put together FAQs to preserve their member's sanity. Otherwise the long-time members start getting frustrated with new members that ask the same question for the 1,998,253th time. Better for everyone if you can say 'please read FAQ #23' than 'oh my lord, not that question again, do you not know how to search?'

The official documentation is better than none, but it's dense information that won't be very accessible to most people. A little explanation, particularly of context and assumptions, could go a long way in making it more helpful to mere mortals

- Paul

[PaulC]

No-one else has an opinion?

[Ostracus]

I've entertained the idea. The rest of it is finding the time to set up, and run such a thing. I assume the best so far is one could set up a publicly accessible folder on Skydrive. The community could set some kind of expectations, and standards.

[giqcass]

Well lets talk about expectations and standards here.  Is everyone thinking kind of Wikipedia style?
Do we have admins approve each article?  Do we let people rate it up or down based on helpfulness?
Perhaps an article get's posted blog Style and then people comment below.  The first post then is maintained by the original poster or admin/moderator with comments below added to the first post if they are relevant.  An index would be automatically created based on categories and sub categories the poster chose.

We would need:
Contributors
Admins
Rules


Tired tonight.  Time to go to bed.

[Ostracus]

There's another thing to note. I suspect why RonR's advice did as well as it did is because he had the time to play with the devices.

[Felix]

PaulC: it's an excellent suggestion. But the problem I have with this suggestion is that Admin guide is such a terrible document in the first place. And Obihai staff seems completely uninterested in improving the documentation. I am suspecting that Obihai is trying to seal a deal with service providers, and direct-to-consumer documentation will become irrelevant. I hope I am wrong, but I don't see any other explanation.

Skydrive might be an interesting idea, but I would expect that Obihai could set up a wiki on this website, where experienced users would contribute knowledge, moderators edit the style and everybody wins. Otherwise, experts like RonR get frustrated and just leave. Best case, nuggets of information are scattered across forum threads.

How sad!

[Ostracus]

PaulC: it's an excellent suggestion. But the problem I have with this suggestion is that Admin guide is such a terrible document in the first place. And Obihai staff seems completely uninterested in improving the documentation. I am suspecting that Obihai is trying to seal a deal with service providers, and direct-to-consumer documentation will become irrelevant. I hope I am wrong, but I don't see any other explanation.

Skydrive might be an interesting idea, but I would expect that Obihai could set up a wiki on this website, where experienced users would contribute knowledge, moderators edit the style and everybody wins. Otherwise, experts like RonR get frustrated and just leave. Best case, nuggets of information are scattered across forum threads.

How sad!

Indeed, although I'd be surprised if Linksys actively supports their ATAs. Anyway if moddability is done away with a lot will simply leave for another brand.

[Lavarock7]

I resell hosting and thought about this. I do not have time to run a forum, but would be happy to supply hosting for the forums at my expense. If someone wants to spearhead this, they can contact me for further exploration.

[Rick]

I agree with the point that OBi seems headed in the direction of utilizing service providers and selling direct to consumers isn't what they are setup for - never were. 

I'd also point out that if the number of questions posted by newbies on the forum is indicative of their selling volume, they won't be around for long.  Whether 1% or 5% of users find this forum and ask questions, that's not enough volume to sustain a firm. 

One has to remember that this is a company founded by engineers that have previously worked at highly successful companies.  As such, they know the value and need of high quality documentation, and they should know that good documentation is not written by engineers.  Yet they chose to write some of the worst documentation I've ever seen.  That tells you a lot.

I like the device, it's useful for my limited purpose (removing a landline, saving $350+ a year).  But it's not ready for mass selling, that will take service providers with support staff and call centers, and great, simple, documentation.

[carl]

I'd also point out that if the number of questions posted by newbies on the forum is indicative of their selling volume, they won't be around for long.  Whether 1% or 5% of users find this forum and ask questions, that's not enough volume to sustain a firm. 

An interesting observation but possibly too pessimistic. I have the impression that the overwhelming majority of people who purchase Obi use it strictly for Google Voice.To set up an obi for GV is so straightforward simple and without problems that they do not need a forum. the problems start with SIP providers especially with those not preconfigured on Obi or when people want to get more than just the basic .
Yeah, a Wikipedia style documentation would be a great thing.