Support/Kitsune/Features/Duplication
Purpose
- Higher rate of replied to threads, by decreasing the effort needed for an action.
- Higher rate of quality replies, by reusing replies by linking to them continuously.
- 10% increase in helpful votes per thousand visitors
Outcome
A feature that let's us mark one question as the duplicate of another question.
Open issues/risks
- Who is able to comment after the thread is frozen? Only the asker or also the person who has answered in the thread.
Definition
Feature overview
Forum contributors need a way to close threads when they are duplicates. The following things should happen when a thread is marked as a duplicate
- The duplicate thread is closed to all further comments and answers.
- The duplicate has a clear message that states that it is a duplicate of another question. The messaging is for the thread starter. It should also state that the thread starter might comment to get it unduped.
- The duplicated thread is removed from the search and “all threads” view
- The title of the thread becomes a synonym for the original thread
Users & use cases
The goal is to reduce the number of repeat questions and answers in the forum. A secondary goal is to showcase good replies. Ideally a question should be answered once and read a million times.
A contributor open a thread and realizes it is a duplicate question. He searches the forum for the original thread, makes sure it looks identical and marks the duplicate thread as duplicate.
The thread starter and everyone subscribed gets a message about the duplication. He follows the link that leads to the original question, finds the answer and solves his problem.
The thread starter and everyone subscribed gets a message about the duplication. He follows the link that leads to the original question, tries the solution, it does not work, and the question doesn't seem similar. So he goes back to his thread, and comments that this is not a duplicate. The contributor who marked that thread gets the comment, comes back to it and removed the "duplicate" mark.
Dependencies
Requirements
Non-Goals
Design
Functional Spec
- Adds one more status to the status of threads: duplicate
- Automatic insertion of text that explains the duplicate and what to do next.
- Giving thread starters the right to change the status from duplicate to new.
What contributors should do
- Mark thread as “Duplicates”
- Post the URL to the canonical thread
Things that will need to be figured out
- A duplicated thread may have good comments. Could we not just close duplicated threads, but merge them together into one canonical thread, if that duplicated thread contains good comments?
