From time to time we have users who open the same question multiple times.
(1) Supporters - People that come to help might waste their time on something that was answered in the other thread.
(2) Users - people that search for the same issue might find the thread which has less information and miss the information in the other thread.
(3) original poster (OP) - the person who asked the question will probably not remember to follow all the threads which he opened.
In short, this is a lose-lose case where everyone lose!
In each interface the features which are built-in are different so these option might not fit all forums interfaces. With that said, as I want to focus mainly on the QnA forums, I will provide my insights according to the QnA features exists at this time.
The list is sorted from the best option for first time case - note that a user which continue such action is a different story. I the OP was inform on the issue and was asked to avoid such cases, then his behavior can be considered as abusive and should be treated accordingly.
In any case, the options which prevent such issue in advance, will be best!
In any communication interface, there must be a clear policy document which we can point the OP to. A link to the policy document must be presented in a way that no one will miss it and that everyone can view it from any page where the OP post his question. Usually it is recommended to add a clear link at the top of the page.
An intellisense feature provides information while the user type the content. It is well common in code editors in order to provide code completion, parameter info, quick info, and member lists. In the scope of the the discussion an intellisense feature will provide the user a list of previous thread according to the information he is typing.
Note! This feature existing at Microsoft QnA forums.
Insights! | Do not assume that the OP saw the forum policy or noticed the content of the intellisense information! Most people are focusing on their needs and ignore "background noises". It may not be the most positive behavior but it is definitely a natural behavior. |
How?
What?
Inform the user about the forum policy, add a link to the official policy document if exists and ask him to avoid such cases in the future. Don't forget to send him links to all the duplicate threads which you found. Ask the user to select one of the threads, in all other thread add a link to the active thread and close the rest of the threads as duplicated.
Note! This feature not available to community moderators at Microsoft QnA forums.
Provide the same information as in the case of private message
Note! |
Taking actions behind the scenes has no value for the future behavior of the user and might lead the user to re-do the same, as he was not inform about an issue - this only raise the issue as it lead for more duplicate threads (actions behind the scene are for example deleting message, reporting message, and so on).
If you chose to take an action behind the scenes then you should also try to inform the OP about the taken actions! |
By merging the duplicate threads you can ensure that no information is lost. Users who go to each of the links to the separate threads come to the same place - the merged thread. With that said, this action makes it a little difficult to orient in a discussion because one discussion combines responses from several discussions and the order of the messages can be confusing.
Note! This feature NOT existing at Microsoft QnA forums. It is exist in the MSDN forums.
By locking the duplicate threads you can ensure that no information is lost. Users can still navigate to each of the links and watch the separate discussion. It is HIGHLY important to add a message that explain why this thread was locked and provide a link to the active thread.
In the QnA system locking the thread is done by closing the thread. It is important to know that close the thread does not prevent people from adding comments! You should go over each of the messages in the thread and lock the comment!
Note! This feature existing at Microsoft QnA forums.
Redirecting users from a thread to another thread has a very problematic side effect: The original link still exists but it cannot be used to get the original message. This makes it harder to report the issue since the link redirect to an active thread and it make it impossible to inform the user about the issue and show him the duplicated thread.
Do you want to add your insights? You can add comments to this post or contact me in private if you want me to update the post, and in the meantime just remember to have fun and continue helping others.
Forums, the final frontier
– Ronen Ariely,
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