Redirect repetitive posts based on title/content?

We get a lot of repetitive questions regarding certain issues. Depending on the mood I'm in, I can get a little snippy at times responding to them. As noted in a thread this morning, when I see myself doing that, I take a brief, self-imposed break from even opening those threads. That helps. But I know there's a better way!

Let's say that John Q Public starts creating a thread. Either in its title or body, a certain word/phrase/name appears. Let's say it's "unknown icon" or "can you identify" or "what is this alert," etc. [I see my fellow regulars rolling their eyes.] Yes, it's yet another "i don't know what this is can you tell me what app this is from my phone doesn't tell me anything it just appeared one day i don't use anything like it someone said it could be a dating app PLEASE HELP ME!!!"

When I'm cranky, but not cranky enough yet to absent myself from that thread, I'll write a brief, 'if you're interested in my explanation of why this is virtually impossible, please see this post,' and leave it at that.

And then there are the endless 'how do I [fill in the blank] on my JP5 tablet' posts. These are prison-issued, locked-down, kiosk mode-only tablets. If the now-released prisoner wants full use of their tablet, they must send it to, and pay, JPay to unlock it. Officially, that is. We see the folks who want to bypass paying and/or those who claim to know how--for a price.

Why not trap, based on content, and redirect these while they're being posted? Send them to an appropriate sticky that sums everything up for them. The 'unknown icon' sticky would explain the logistics of it all, the JP5 sticky would give its rundown AND explain that asking for, or offering, help to illegally bypass its protection is not allowed. Then, *if* they still think they have a legitimate, different question, let them post it.

As always, @Rob, just my 2¢'s worth; feel free to do whatever you please with it!

 

Yes, of course, but I know other forums do it, so I'm hoping AF can, too.

On other forums, they'll show a list of potential threads, based on content, that may solve/answer your question. Then, after reviewing them, if you still think you need to post, you can. It's basically the same logic.

 

@Rob, are you getting a sense of what I mean?

https://androidforums.com/threads/help-identifying-an-app.1324165/

https://androidforums.com/threads/help-please-help-me-figure-out-this-icon.1324204/

Wouldn't it be cleaner to just send them to a FAQ, and then let them post, if they really want to?

Frankly, it's gotten pretty annoying--for me--seeing these threads continually appearing. I know! No one's forcing me to read them. But I'm 100% sure I'm not the only regular who feels this way.

 

Thanks, @Rob, I really appreciate your input.

I think we're pretty much on the same page. I knew going in that this would take some effort, but once done, it should be worth it.

Since tagging first became available, I've been trying to do my part. I use words/phrases that are relevant to what I'm posting, and with an eye to SEO. As I occasionally revisit an old thread, like when there's new activity in it, I use that opportunity to add tags to it, too.

I hear you on thread titles like 'Help!' or 'problem,' with zero indication of what they're about. Requiring a minimum of X characters for the subject could help, but it could also piss people off. Perhaps a gentle 'please be descriptive'-type message when they arrive in the subject field would help.

I'm not surprised by your results testing the 'stop gap' measures. Again, we don't want to make people mad, just nudge them gently to a better option.

Assuming you're able [on Xenforo, right?] to write the logic needed, tackling one topic at a time should make it tolerable. Once one is done, with the bugs, kinks, tweaks worked out, and having learned from it, the others should be a lot easier.

Let's take this thread's topic. Certain words/phrases appear regularly in the 'what is this icon?' threads:

- help me identify
- unknown app
- unknown icon
- [does anyone know] what this icon is
- help with notification
- can anyone identify
- unknown alert

Using those strings would be a good starting point!

I took a quick look at what you're doing with the S20 Ultra, and it's good!, but would look very different for the unknown icon thing. The latter doesn't lend itself so easily to black and white sections. Think of those bazillions of icons I'm always referring to for an idea why! But it's doable. Definitely doable.

 

A thought popped up last night and I thought I'd run it by you.

Regarding the 'help!' subjects/titles: how about breaking that up into multiple fields? These are just examples, meant to illustrate the concept. All fields are mandatory. Joe Blow presses the 'new post' button:

- field 1: a drop-down menu with many more choices than we currently, optionally have--hardware problem, app problem, sound problem, Android question, rooting question, texting issues, security issues... Whatever they choose becomes text [for SEO] at the beginning of the finished subject.

- field 2: is this specific to your device?--yes/no/don't know

-- field 2a: your device

- field 3: briefly describe your problem/question

End results:

Hardware problem - Moto Z² Force - my display has lines

Android question - how do I upgrade to version X?

That's the basic idea. It needn't be cumbersome for the poster--we don't want them to abort and leave in a huff. So no 'difficult' questions, like 'who's the manufacturer of your processor?' or 'how much does your battery weigh?' Just simple stuff that even a complete newbie can answer, and an 'out' if they don't know.

Fields could conditionally trigger other fields, as in my device example above.

Again, everything would end up as text for search engines to find.

Thoughts?

 

https://androidforums.com/threads/what-this-icon-is.1324678/

https://androidforums.com/threads/help-identifying-an-app.1324165/

https://androidforums.com/threads/help-please-help-me-figure-out-this-icon.1324204/

https://androidforums.com/threads/strange-icon-in-notification-shade.1324624/

https://androidforums.com/threads/need-help-finding-app.1324383/

https://androidforums.com/threads/top-status-bar-icons.1324586/

https://androidforums.com/threads/app-icon.1324397/

Sure would be nice if none of these had gotten to the point of posting...