Separate sub-forums for bug and requests?

It's been suggested that we separate bug requests and feature requests to their own sub forum. This should make it easier to handle everything for all involved.

I'm thinking a single sub forum, 'JJ OS Bug Reports & Feature Requests' with the idea that you create a new topic for each bug or feature request.

In addition, I can add a 'topic tags' drop down on the 'post a message' page which allows you to append the start of the title with the relevant tag, such as '[BUG]' or [REQUEST] or if relevant at a later date [SOLVED] etc. So for example, a topic title could be:

[REQUEST] Legacy MPC file format export

What do you think?

Yes +1!

+2

it´s good!

can you +add please,

to facilitate searching

topics listed/numbered

1 request Legacy MPC file format export
2 bug
3 bug
4 bug
5 request
6 request
7
8
.
.
22 request
.
.
146 bug
.
.
.


thank´s for your atention.

I can download a ready-made mod for phpbb that will add the title tag, but adding a numbering system will involve me digging into the code and working out a mod all myself, and I just don't have the time for that.

MPC-Tutor wrote:What do you think?

sally wrote:+2

it´s good!

for the users!

cool. would be good for individual FR and bug discussion instead of it all getting lost in the stickies.

MPC-Tutor wrote:I can download a ready-made mod for phpbb that will add the title tag, but adding a numbering system will involve me digging into the code and working out a mod all myself, and I just don't have the time for that.

The ready-made mod sounds like a good idea.

Or you could just link to the dedicated bug system on JJOS.net, which has built-in support for far more than any mod will ever give you, which is specifically tailored for the MPC running JJ OS.

Jamon wrote:Or you could just link to the dedicated bug system on JJOS.net, which has built-in support for far more than any mod will ever give you, which is specifically tailored for the MPC running JJ OS.

There's a link to your site in the 'Resources' drop down menu.

I'm not particularly looking to set up a 'bug reporting hub' for JJ here, obviously if people want to post up bugs and requests to fellow forum members, then let's make it more organised and easier to view in a 'forum style', but I feel it would be better for JJ to incorporate and administer a proper bug reporting system directly on the JJ site itself.

Ideally there'd be a public bug database provided by the authors, so they could integrate it into their development system and manage it all in one place. But they're using things like email and cgi forms, and it's difficult to work with them because of language barriers.

This sub-forum is basically the JJ OS site, and people try to force-fit things like version announcements and bug reports. Adding a dedicated sub-forum, even some phpBB mods, improves things slightly, but it's still not really ideal, because the data is unorganized text.

People aren't going to use something new on their own. This is the established meeting place, and people tend to do what's easiest, with the most perceived efficacy. Why hunt through a link list, and post a bug on a dead site when you can just hit 'Reply' in a thread?

Maybe for now the easiest thing is to discourage bug reporting here, and encourage it on JJOS.net as it is. Then I can make sure the system works, and refine it to meet people's needs. If it proves to be successful, then it'll be solid, and I won't need to tweak the site anymore, so there's possibility of things like transferring it to the JJ OS authors so they can run it and use it for their official development system.

MPC-Forums is probably a business, so there'd be things working against you wanting to direct visitors away from your domain. To fix that, I can add something to direct people back to where it's profitable for you. With a quick glance on this page I see a banner for mpc-samples.com. I could add a banner or link like that if you want during a test period where you divert them to report bugs there.

There are lots of other possibilities too, like exploring you taking ownership of JJOS.net. Or, it may prove to be that things just aren't going to change drastically, and maybe I or someone else could develop a better phpBB mod for posting bug reports within this JJ OS sub-forum, where the data is stored in a more specific format than general forum post. It depends on what everyone wants.

Who is the sub-forum for, the users or developers?

It seems to be a forum mimicking a bug database, that is not connected to the developers. For it to affect anything, either the developers have to use the forum, or the users have to duplicate their reports.

The bug thread is almost 5 years old, with hundreds of bug reports mixed in with feedback and chatter. With no other options, the sub-forum would've been a good idea, before the thread could grow as it has.

But today, it might not be best, because all it does is improve organization for the future. Skip ahead 5 years, and instead of pages of posts, you have pages of threads. That's a little better, but think what you could've had.

A real bug database, with years of history, sortable, searchable, and integrated with the real development system that actually improves the ability for JJ OS to be improved. It's not about the forum, it's about the machine.

The bug sub-forum should be closed, thread kept locked, with a final post linking people to report problems to JJOS.net. If they want to talk about a bug with the forum, they can post a thread in this sub-forum.

If people did this 5 years ago, they wouldn't have a thread full of posts, but a database full of reports. There is a difference. Besides making it easier to sort, you can also export the data and use it for something.

Are you thinking ahead? How long will JJ OS development be active? It's stopped before, and it could at any time. Especially with attention continuing to shift towards PC audio software, and Akai mostly producing controllers.

There's a chance, instead of letting it die, we can get the source code. Then the bug database wasn't just a disposable way to get your problem fixed, it's a public history that makes it easier for developers to keep the MPC alive.

Maybe people don't care. Maybe the frustration of a few people still using the MPC with the last updated JJ OS version from years ago won't matter. But to them, it will. They may wish they could get one little annoyance fixed.

But they can't. Not if people don't do something now. By getting involved in the development process beyond this forum, there's a chance of setting up something that could transition into a public project that lives on.

Otherwise, once JJ OS is dead, the business, or the developer, it's gone. You're left with some forum posts, which may not even be accessible, because internet technology may transform significantly in coming years.

I think the new sub-forum is perfect! Tbh I didn't even bother with the single threads as they had grown too big.

Once these bug/feature-topics mature here and the issues are agreed upon, they can be forwarded in a more efficient & structured way compared to people separately dropping single bugs/features to JJ.

Makes a whole lot more sense.

You're left with some forum posts, which may not even be accessible, because internet technology may transform significantly in coming years.

What? "Internet technology" is and will be HTTP-based. So as long as servers keep responding to requests in a way that our browsers (the client) understand it, we're all good. And here in this forum these posts are stored to a db from where they can be exported and imported to suit whatever need if one ever rises.

Jamon wrote:Are you thinking ahead?

I was contacted by a couple of regular forum posters here who asked me to set up a sub forum for bugs and feature requests. Job done. Nym is now in charge of moderating and organising everything and I'm 100% confident he'll do a superb job. He'll also be liasing with the JJ side of things.

We'll see how things progress and take it from there. If we need to export the database or set up a live connection from it to the JJ site at some point, then we'll look into it then. For the moment, let's see how it goes.

In the end, this is MPC-forums, forum members wanted an on-site bug reporting forum, so they got one. I appreciate you have something going on over at JJOS.net, and no doubt as things progress we'll be able to crossover and work stuff out together. But ATM, I simply do not have the time to deal with this any further than setting up a sub forum.

MPC-Tutor wrote:I'm thinking a single sub forum, 'JJ OS Bug Reports & Feature Requests' with the idea that you create a new topic for each bug or feature request.

such as '[BUG]' or [REQUEST]


What do you think?

add '[BUG for mpc2500_xl313.os2]' better, I think, excuse me.