Close and delete all discussions related to QString encoding

dangelog

... because they just add noise to the website. There's no added value in having the yet-yet-yet-another-discussion on about how to convert char arrays into strings (and vice versa).

Just point people to the right methods in QString / QTextCodec, or the entries in the FAQ, or online resources such as http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Unicode.html or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_encoding , then please close the thread and/or mark them for deletion after 7 days.

andre

I disagree. Or rather: I am not convinced.

Could you:

point out the current/recent items dealing with this?

provide some decent Qt related resource on the matter?

I think pointing to general articles, good as they may be, is not a good answer on how to address these issues with Qt. Do you mean "this":http://developer.qt.nokia.com/faq/answer/how_can_i_convert_a_qstring_to_char_and_vice_versa FAQ entry?

Should we also start closing all signal/slot beginner threads?

goetz

I think peppe refers to "this thread":http://developer.qt.nokia.com/forums/viewthread/5517 from April 28th.

I agree to redirect to API docs and FAQs instead of explaining once again, but would leave the threads open and definitely not delete them.

troubalex

What I think makes most sense is this:

if a thread is repeating a question that has already been answered, close it and point to the previous thread
if it's a new problem, point to suitable resources available but leave it open in case there are related or follow-up questions

Deleting doesn't sound too wise to me because then the questions will definitely be repeated since searching is no longer an option.

Does that make sense to you, peppe?

dangelog

[quote author="Andre" date="1304412611"]
Could you:

point out the current/recent items dealing with this?

[/quote]

For instance:

And there are many more for sure (like questions asked in follow ups, when the topic's title was not related to the encoding problem and wasn't changed).

[quote]

provide some decent Qt related resource on the matter?

I think pointing to general articles, good as they may be, is not a good answer on how to address these issues with Qt. Do you mean "this":http://developer.qt.nokia.com/faq/answer/how_can_i_convert_a_qstring_to_char_and_vice_versa FAQ entry?[/quote]

That one was the FAQ entry I was referring to. So, if there's no good article, the principle should be: take those answers and create a good wiki article, once and for all.

[quote]Should we also start closing all signal/slot beginner threads?[/quote]

Yes: there's no point in having them if the answers (more than the questions) don't add any value. They just pollute the search results. And it's quite arrogant to start a thread without even googling beforehand.

All the added value by answers should instead be cherry-picked and put in some good wiki article (my article on threads is, in fact, based upon my experience when dealing with users on #qt. Now I simply point users to that article.)

[quote]I agree to redirect to API docs and FAQs instead of explaining once again, but would leave the threads open and definitely not delete them.[/quote]

Why? What's the value in having many results in a search, when most of the results simply contain a link to the right FAQ/wiki article?

[quote author="Alexandra" date="1304422560"]What I think makes most sense is this:

if a thread is repeating a question that has already been answered, close it and point to the previous thread
if it's a new problem, point to suitable resources available but leave it open in case there are related or follow-up questions[/quote]

Totally agree. A question that produces valuable answers should stay. And those answers, if possible, should be merged in articles.

[quote]
Deleting doesn't sound too wise to me because then the questions will definitely be repeated since searching is no longer an option.
[/quote]

What do you mean? That those threads won't appear in search results any more? It's not a big loss if they don't contain any value. To keep a good quality of the search results I would simply delete posts closed with a link to a FAQ/wiki article (say, after a week if there are no follow ups).

PS. Now I feel that this turned into a more general site discussion. Maybe I should change the thread's topic? :-)

goetz

[quote author="peppe" date="1304437402"]
What do you mean? That those threads won't appear in search results any more? It's not a big loss if they don't contain any value. To keep a good quality of the search results I would simply delete posts closed with a link to a FAQ/wiki article (say, after a week if there are no follow ups).
[/quote]

If we start deleting stuff because it clutters search results, a real big bunch of other posts would have to be purged too. The same goes for tags, "rate this up" and other stuff too.

As soon as the Q&A forums is implemented, including rating questions and answers up (or down?), search results will be more helpful too.

giesbert

I agree on the idea with the wiki articles. It would be good to create them based on the answeres of some (perhaps re popping) threads. But I would also no delete the threads.

dangelog

http://developer.qt.nokia.com/forums/viewthread/5590 yet another one...

goetz

[quote author="peppe" date="1304583956"]http://developer.qt.nokia.com/forums/viewthread/5590 yet another one...[/quote]

Only after we asked several questions and the like.... I does not count, IMHO.