770108 - Add "ask a new question" button to closed threads

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(support.mozilla.org :: Questions, task, P2)

Description

[Kadir Topal [:atopal]]

We have started to close threads more aggressively than before, that might lead to a situation where people find threads and can't figure out a way to post their issue. We should help them by guiding them to the "AAQ process". Maybe by showing a message on top or the bottom of the thread (or both) saying something like "This thread was closed, because it's over 6 month old and probably refers to an outdated version of Firefox. Please ask a new question, if you need help."

Comment 1

[Alice Wyman]

(In reply to Kadir Topal [:atopal] from comment #0)

> Maybe by showing a message on top or the bottom of the thread (or both)
> saying something like "This thread was closed, because it's over 6 month old
> and probably refers to an outdated version of Firefox. Please ask a new
> question, if you need help."

Related discussion: https://support.mozilla.org/forums/contributors/708115?page=4

Comment 2

[Will Kahn-Greene [:willkg] ET needinfo? me]

I think that sounds like a prudent idea.

However, we're just closing threads without any historical record of why they got closed. So I don't think there's any way to infer exactly why the thread was closed.

We can show more general text like, "This thread was closed. Please ask a new question if you need help."

Comment 3

[Bram Pitoyo [:bram]]

Attachment: Locked and featured threads

Will user be able to search old threads? Would the content of a closed thread remain viewable?

What might be good is to change the terminology from “closed” (which imply the thread removed from the index) to “locked” (which imply the thread not being able to accept anymore comment due to irrelevance). This term, along with the ubiquitous lock icon appearing next to the thread name, is a familiar metaphor used in most forum software.

Or, we can provide a reason for locking and use that as a thread marker, so it encourages user to not click on it. Maybe “outdated” or “irrelevant”.

I understand that this will be another bug, but the next logical move is to also provide a “featured” thread marker, to highlight threads where we have the most complete, most recent and most relevant answers. These featured threads will get prioritized on search and display, to make them easier to find and more likely to solve user’s problems.

Comment 4

[Kadir Topal [:atopal]]

Sorry Bram for not being clear. This is not about the thread listing. It's about the thread itself. Currently we just have a single line of text that reads "This question is locked". It should be more prominent and say "This thread was closed. Please ask a new question if you need help." And "ask a new question" should be linked to the "ask a question" page. 

At this point I wouldn't mark threads in the thread listing in a special way since the vast majority of threads will be closed, and we currently don't have a way to distinguish particularly good or bad threads from the others.

Comment 5

[Kadir Topal [:atopal]]

For an example of the current "closed" screen, see: https://support.allizom.org/en-US/questions/780389

Comment 6

[Bram Pitoyo [:bram]]

Attachment: Thread closed banner

Thanks for clarifying. I am aware of the problem.

I was trying to remedy it by introducing something that would bypass the need for the message “This thread was closed. Please ask a new question if you need help” which is feel is a suboptimal solution.

My thought was, user should know whether the thread was closed before he opens it, so the decision to ask a new question could happen sooner.

But it doesn’t solve the problem of what happens when user lands via search result. Hence, your proposed solution.

Attached is what the thread closed message should look like. It should be placed above the question, with the same style that we use for Notes in the KB (light blue background).

Comment 7

[Ricky Rosario [:rrosario, :r1cky]]

I just landed this on prod:

https://github.com/mozilla/kitsune/commit/6bca03c9410f61cb8ea3abc4b4b1351c9a93534c