Can we improve the path from ubuntu.com to here?

Question

In the time I've spent here, I've noticed a clear difference between AU and the other SE sites I frequent. There seem to be far more bad questions (that show no research effort, don't explain anything about what they need etc) here than in the other sites. I suspect that this is largely because so many users come here straight from official Canonical pages.

For example, the Ask! link on the Ubuntu home page comes straight here, and clicking on "Contact Us" on the unity.ubuntu.com main page shows this:

We answer questions about how to use Unity on Ask Ubuntu, feel free to check out the most popular questions people have been asking us ask your own!

This results in many users coming here thinking that

1. they are talking to people who are paid to answer their question;
2. that this is a forum like any other;
3. they don't need to do any research, just ask any question and it will be answered.

This post is a perfect example of the issue. The OP states that they downloaded the Ubuntu ISO from "this site", clearly, they think that this is the same site as ubuntu.com.

AU is part of the SE network and we try to apply the same quality standards. This is very hard to do though and both the regulars of the site and the users are likely to come away with a bitter taste in their mouths. We get tired of bad questions and they don't understand why we won't help them.

While, because it is directly linked to the official page of its subject matter, AU is different from all other SE sites, it treats new users just the same as any other SE community. I think it would benefit everyone if a bit more information were shown to new users on AU, or at least to those coming through the links above, than is shown now.

So, would it be possible to add an extra page between clicking on either of those two links and landing here? Just something quickly explaining that we're volunteers, that we expect research etc. Even something as simple as showing the text of the how to ask might significantly improve things.

AU is a special case, perhaps it needs special treatment?

Answer 1

If there's an issue with the wording on an ubuntu.com site to here, file a bug on it.

• https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-website-content/+bug/1286283

I'll try to address some concerns:

We answer questions about how to use Unity on Ask Ubuntu, feel free to check out the most popular questions people have been asking us ask your own!

This results in many users coming here thinking that

- they are talking to people who are paid to answer their question;
- that this is a forum like any other;
- they don't need to do any research, just ask any question and it will be answered.

I'm the one who wrote this text on that website. I do not think that it is the cause of the problem since that text has been there since the site launched. In fact, I would argue that unity was a crucial step in launching the site and showing people what quality should look like.

There have been some cases where Ubuntu.com just links to people here, but we've fixed those afaict.

I think it would benefit everyone if a bit more information were shown to new users on AU, or at least to those coming through the links above, than is shown now.

This comes up time and time again; put your browser in porn mode, then try to ask a new question, these days SE barrages you with the intro FAQ, the how-to-ask-page, which is shown to new users, and all sorts of hints as people type in their first question. Another page from ubuntu.com to here wouldn't really help.

Just something quickly explaining that we're volunteers, that we expect research etc. Even something as simple as showing the text of the how to ask might significantly improve things.

Most people who work on Ubuntu are volunteers, and the website already explains to you over and over how to ask a good question and has steps in place to ensure that the user gets that before they move forward.

The crap you are seeing on the front page today are people who chose to ignore all of that information, click next, see the duplicates presented to them, ignore them, click next, and the continue to post junk.

The problem isn't that they don't understand, the problem is that we can't get rid of it faster than people can post.

By the way, we've had this problem for a long time. Adding Ask Ubuntu to the installer and/or the top link on Ubuntu.com wasn't the cause of all this -- people are coming from google and then they click on a link and ask a question.

Answer 2

I suspect that this is largely because so many users come here straight from official Canonical pages.

This results in many users coming here thinking that ...

I just want to say that you have no data whatsoever to defend this claim. They might just as well come from search engines.

Edit: I don't think the referrer should determine the action we take. Whether a question comes from Google or Ubuntu really does not matter. We just need to be able to find a way to handle poor questions rapidly and accurately. And we need a way to force first time users to learn a bit about the site before using it. I can understand first time users that have a messed up an install and that look for an answer asap. I think Oli's wizard is helpful in these cases. And for the rest we need to vote, vote, vote.

Answer 3

I also thought that Ask Ubuntu is from Canonical for a long time, I only came to know that it is a part of SE when I joined AU.

I suggest the questions from new users should not be directly posted rather it should be visible to only reputed members (and moderators) and thus should be moderated and if the question is worth posting than it should be posted publicly.

This moderation before posting questions from new users should be kept for at least two questions or 5 reputation (whatever comes first).