Implemented Thoughts on Mod Support forum?

Mod Support forum?

  • Absolutely! I think it would be helpful because... (please post)

    Votes: 4 100.0%
  • Nope, I don't think it'd work because... (please post)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    4

Magically Clueless

Administrator
Staff member
This is something I've been unsure about and need a lot of feedback from the modders specifically.
I do not want to stretch support folks thin, since I know we use the Discord and Reddit already. How do you feel about there being a specific mod support forum here, and how much do you think it would be used?

While I don't want to stretch support modders thin, I also understand there will be a lot of people here who download mods and need a place to ask questions. Not to mention, there may be new modders and people who provide support along the way.

I'd appreciate your thoughts about this!
 

corrin

Planter
i think it's a good idea, with a disclaimer in the pinned post like "you're more likely to get help faster if you go to these places: (links to discord and reddit)"

i mentioned this in the main thread, but a subforum to post modding guides and tips would be awesome. the wiki is.... first of all not the easiest to navigate formatting wise, second of all it has a lot of rules in place about not providing too much support for specific mods, etc. it's also kind of overwhelming imo, especially if you're totally new to modding, and the discord moves pretty fast so people don't always feel like they can ask their questions. a forum like this would be ideal to fill the space the CF forums left with stuff like the guide to map modding, etc. that are now outdated. it also has the advantage of letting people comment and ask questions, which the wiki doesn't!

so for example you could have a thread like "step by step how to make a recolor mod" with image examples (not the easiest on the wiki or reddit). then in the thread people could ask questions about that specific sub-thing, come there for help, etc. same with a thread on "resources for fixing broken saves" with links to existing guides and more specific steps, or a thread with someone's personal mod recommendations, a thread on how to read a SMAPI log, etc. that kind of specific guide doesn't really have a place on the wiki and is hard to make on reddit without being able to embed images easily. but here, you could have a super long in depth tutorial on something with all the pieces in neatly organized posts under spoilers so people could skim to their specific question.

a general "ask your modding questions" thread would also be a great thing to have here imo. ask something you're wondering about but haven't gotten an answer to elsewhere, and people can walk you through it and show you more resources for it. and that kind of thing would lead to more mod making/using threads with specific tutorials that people could link and reference!

also, honestly, nexus comments are a horrible place to troubleshoot bugs, and i could imagine in the future some people might prefer to just close their nexus comments entirely and direct people to their mod's thread here for support.
 

minervamaga

Farmhand
I think at least a general support area would be useful. Like corrin said, it's hard for us to provide too much info for some common mod frameworks on the wiki due to restrictions, so having a lot of the first timer documentation here would be great. But at the same time, helping someone via forum posts is very slow in comparison to Discord.
 
Is there a way to have a pinned “warning” message of sorts when starting a new topic? If so, having one that says something along the lines of “If you’re asking for help with a mod make sure to include your SMAPI log (link). Even if you don’t see any console errors the log can provide information.” That way we might cut back on the first comment of every discussion being “Please post your log.”

Quick thoughts on mobile will type up more tomorrow.
 

CompSciLauren

Sodbuster
I really like the idea. I think the community is big enough that we can have Reddit, Discord, and the mod support forum, and they would all be useful in their own ways. Like @corrin said, the forum would be especially useful for posting guides/tutorials! It would also benefit any players who don't use Discord or Reddit, or who use it but would prefer this format instead. I know of at least one SDV friend who doesn't use Discord (and I don't think Reddit either). I think they would have a much better time accessing something like this over the other options. The forum layout just seems like it would be more familiar/easier to use for some people, like my friend for example.
 

Magically Clueless

Administrator
Staff member
Thank you guys for all the thoughts so far. I'll make a mod support forum so it's there for people who need it! i'll be sure to give the normal links and link off to the discord and r/SMAPI too
 
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