# Poll: do you like having separate official/discussion threads for software releases?



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

For background on why we started organizing things this way, see this thread:

Software thread organization


garsh said:


> Comment about how we've been treating the threads about specific software releases:
> 
> We have a group of members who like us to keep these software threads "clean", so that they only (or at least, mostly) contain useful information. So we had been deleting (or moving) many posts out from these threads when they strayed off-topic. They can then "subscribe" to these threads and get notifications of new information, which they like.
> Lately, we've been getting backlash from some other members who don't appreciate having their posts deleted. I understand that - they're just trying to carry on a conversation, and to these people, it feels like we've just slapped them on the wrist, even though their behavior was just fine. It's not a good feeling to be having fun, enjoying others' company, just to have your posts deleted.
> ...


I'd like to get some feedback on this approach. Is it useful, or just confusing? Do you prefer it to the old way? Do you have suggestions?


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## Tesla Newbie (Aug 2, 2017)

I find them useful for all the reasons you created them in the first place. It’s helpful to have one place to look for a summary of what was changed and potentially any major bugs introduced with the changes. Just the facts. Also, I often become interested in some aspect of the car sometime after it is introduced. The official threads help steer me to the appropriate conversation.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

I wanna answer yes AND no lol. I like the official thread with no chatter so I can quickly check on a new release and see what’s changed. Though I feel that there should be another official (pinned) thread for the latest release that allows discussions.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

shareef777 said:


> I wanna answer yes AND no lol. I like the official thread with no chatter so I can quickly check on a new release and see what's changed. Though I feel that there should be another official (pinned) thread for the latest release that allows discussions.


Can you explain a little more?

We have discussion threads for every release. Are you saying that you just wish they were pinned? Or is there something else you'd like to change?


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## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

My only issue is locating the official thread in order to change my vote when I get the update.


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## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

FRC said:


> My only issue is locating the official thread in order to change my vote when I get the update.


Would it help if we had a link in the original post of the discussion thread?


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## SR22pilot (Aug 16, 2018)

I wouldn’t mind if the official thread stayed focused on the release features and the other thread was less restricted. However a thread that ONLY contains a poll is next to useless to me. I rarely see it show up in new posts so I rarely check the poll and rarely change my vote. This isn’t the biggest deal in the world so I can live with the present system but it doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t see where it solves anything. I suspect my opinion is driven by the fact that I never look beyond the new posts for the day.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

garsh said:


> Can you explain a little more?
> 
> We have discussion threads for every release. Are you saying that you just wish they were pinned? Or is there something else you'd like to change?


Yes, pinned (and ideally started by a mod). When hopping on and seeing a new release I'm hesitant to create a discussion thread assuming there may be one there already. Don't like seeing duplicate posts, more-so if I'm the one making the duplicate lol.


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## shareef777 (Mar 10, 2019)

Just a thought, but maybe merge them and have the first post continually updated to include release notes and and details discovered by others?

But to your point, I absolutely find the official thread useful and informative, and definitely appreciate the effort to post official release details instead of just user assumptions.

This will become even more handy to understand our cars abilities (and more importantly limits) when stop/go is introduced and we get closer to complete FSD.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

SR22pilot said:


> I wouldn't mind if the official thread stayed focused on the release features and the other thread was less restricted. However a thread that ONLY contains a poll is next to useless to me. I rarely see it show up in new posts so I rarely check the poll and rarely change my vote. This isn't the biggest deal in the world so I can live with the present system but it doesn't make sense to me. I don't see where it solves anything. I suspect my opinion is driven by the fact that I never look beyond the new posts for the day.


the 'official' thread has links to the chat threads, when there are actual changes in a release,. those are noted. it is not just a poll. But it does show how often a release is just minor bug fixes and no significant changes either to the release notes or noticed by users.


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## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

They're better for initial organization, maybe, but after a few days the "new update" thread and its accompanying discussion thread end up losing track of each other. Makes it tougher for me - who tends to get software updates really late - to match the associated discussion thread to note issues etc., and sometimes I even give up on finding it.


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## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

JasonF said:


> They're better for initial organization, maybe, but after a few days the "new update" thread and its accompanying discussion thread end up losing track of each other. Makes it tougher for me - who tends to get software updates really late - to match the associated discussion thread to note issues etc., and sometimes I even give up on finding it.


Would it help if we had a link in the original post of the discussion thread to the official thread? The official thread already links each discussion thread.


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## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

iChris93 said:


> Would it help if we had a link in the original post of the discussion thread to the official thread? The official thread already links each discussion thread.


It works best if it's the way people look for it. I don't know if this _is_ the way most people look for it, but I usually look for the software version number in the thread. I think the last time I tried to hunt down the accompanying discussion thread, I had to go back to the Software topic and go through the list looking for it. This was a few weeks ago though - my last software update was before this whole pandemic started.


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## SR22pilot (Aug 16, 2018)

MelindaV said:


> the 'official' thread has links to the chat threads, when there are actual changes in a release,. those are noted. it is not just a poll. But it does show how often a release is just minor bug fixes and no significant changes either to the release notes or noticed by users.


Yes, but since it quickly goes stale, it stops showing up in new posts so I don't see it again.


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## JWardell (May 9, 2016)

They are not useful to me, but that's because I want to read all the details and experiences. 
I think they would be useful to those just looking for quick reference which is I assume most normal people


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## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

No normal people here!


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## SimonMatthews (Apr 20, 2018)

I don't find it useful because I get notifications of a new reply, but when I click on the link, the reply has been moved. It's frustrating.


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## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

SimonMatthews said:


> I don't find it useful because I get notifications of a new reply, but when I click on the link, the reply has been moved. It's frustrating.


Which thread are you talking about? We don't really move posts out of the discussion threads anymore and no one should be posting in the official thread.


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## DocScott (Mar 6, 2019)

shareef777 said:


> Just a thought, but maybe merge them and have the first post continually updated to include release notes and and details discovered by others?


This seems like the usual way of doing it. One big pinned post at the start of the discussion thread which has everything that's currently in the official thread. The only issue I can see is that the official threads currently covers multiple point releases, and the discussion threads are specific.


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