Feedback/Suggestion: Q&A requiring Category selection and response type

genthusiast

It is sometimes suggested by moderators for guests to Search in Community for similar threads addressing the same topic before they type in their question/idea.

If messages were parsed for 'popular tag' suggestions perhaps then after posting the question/discussion the guest could be presented with threads matching those tags? I'm just thinking ... not many people will take the time to Search threads or Help Center because it's typical to just want to type in our issue(s) immediately since that option is available.

If pre-q&a sorting/routing/categorizing - done by the guest - isn't required then the Community doesn't have the opportunity to present Help Center or Community thread results based upon those selections prior to them entering a new message/idea thread. It makes it too easy to just type in the issue without searching for prior documentation.

If pre-sorting were required - then common issues could possibly be addressed by the 'most active threads' or 'most active Help Center documents' for the Category selected.

Routing certain questions from members of The Church of Jesus Christ could require a church login to access those Categories (as the recent account change notice indicated). Parsing those 'tags' for these issues could auto-route them so that they don't go to a Community Category.

If the presented 'most active results' do not address the issue - then the guest could also select whether they would like their issue to have response from Community members or only FamilySearch representatives. This might help them get more suitable/appropriate responses.

Julia Szent-Györgyi

Both the mod advice and your suggestion presuppose the availability of a robust topic search. In my experience, this forum does not meet that requirement. Even if I remember the exact phrasing of a topic title, the search doesn't necessarily turn it up, with decade-old threads crowding out the current ones, making it appear like I really am the first person to ask about this latest bug.

I am 100% on board with the idea of auto-routing LDS topics into a section that's invisible to me, although I am unsure of an effective mechanism for it. Reducing the fragmentation would help with the human end -- presented with a dozen categories each in both Q and A and Ideas, it's no wonder that people never find the one they need.