Knowledge Base discussions

Improving the KB user experience

  • 19 Replies
  • Last reply by John99
  1. Joni
    Joni 361 posts
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    In case you haven't been keeping up with the Monday and Thursday community meetings, we have a few things in store for this quarter (April - June).

    Our major goal is to improve the experience on our articles pages, mobile pages and search. Our high level goals are to:

    1. Minimize the number of gestures required to get to articles (no more than 3 gestures). The last thing a frustrated user needs is a lot of hurdles.

    2. Increase our overall helpfulness to 90%. Our average is 72%.

    3. Qualitative goals: improve the article layout so we can add more videos and related articles without cluttering up the page and improving search results to make it easier for users to find articles. This portion will be validated through user testing, and of course, feedback from the community.

    We might not implement all of this in Q2, but this is our chance to continue our research, testing, and make recommendations. Here is the roadmap for each project. If you have any recommended user stories, please share them on this thread:

    Updated on April 10, 2:46 PM PST with correct links

    In case you haven't been keeping up with the Monday and Thursday community meetings, we have a few things in store for this quarter (April - June). Our major goal is to improve the experience on our articles pages, mobile pages and search. Our high level goals are to: 1. Minimize the number of gestures required to get to articles (no more than 3 gestures). The last thing a frustrated user needs is a lot of hurdles. 2. Increase our overall helpfulness to 90%. Our average is 72%. 3. Qualitative goals: improve the article layout so we can add more videos and related articles without cluttering up the page and improving search results to make it easier for users to find articles. This portion will be validated through user testing, and of course, feedback from the community. We might not implement all of this in Q2, but this is our chance to continue our research, testing, and make recommendations. Here is the roadmap for each project. If you have any recommended user stories, please share them on this thread: *[https://trello.com/b/hPu9j7fy/article-page-redesign Article page experience] *[https://trello.com/b/ldoBuL0J/mobile-product-page-redesign Mobile page experience] *[https://trello.com/b/3TyzEOvn/search-quality-draft Search quality] ''Updated on April 10, 2:46 PM PST with correct links''

    Modified by Joni on

  2. AliceWyman
    AliceWyman 6408 posts
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    Joni said

    The first two links show me a message,

    Board not found.

    This board may be private. If someone gave you this link, they may need to invite you to one of their boards or organizations.

    I can get to Search quality but I also get the above message on certain links.

    ''Joni [[#post-64835|said]]'' <blockquote> *[https://trello.com/b/kit8Un7u/article-page-redesign-draft Article page experience] *[https://trello.com/b/RTbRugah/mobile-page-redesign-draft Mobile page experience] *[https://trello.com/b/3TyzEOvn/search-quality-draft Search quality] </blockquote> The first two links show me a message, ----- Board not found. This board may be private. If someone gave you this link, they may need to invite you to one of their boards or organizations. ----- I can get to Search quality but I also get the above message on certain links.
  3. Joni
    Joni 361 posts
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    Sorry, the URLs have changed. I've just updated the links in my original post to the correct ones.

    Sorry, the URLs have changed. I've just updated the links in my original post to the correct ones.
  4. Safwan Rahman
    Safwan Rahman 43 posts
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    I would like to propose a change about KB Article for contributor. The thing is by seeing a contributor profile, we can not get how much they have contributed. Like, a contributor added a single line in a KB and another contributor added major content in a KB, both contributor profile looks same. By this way, In the case when a contributor added a single word in 10 KB articles and another contributor added much content to only one KB article, the first one got rewarded much! but the second one who did much work to only one article does not get rewarded. We need to find out the way to solve this. Otherwise its quite hard to get potential contributors who would give his effort to make KB better.

    I would like to propose a change about KB Article for contributor. The thing is by seeing a contributor profile, we can not get how much they have contributed. Like, a contributor added a single line in a KB and another contributor added major content in a KB, both contributor profile looks same. By this way, In the case when a contributor added a single word in 10 KB articles and another contributor added much content to only one KB article, the first one got rewarded much! but the second one who did much work to only one article does not get rewarded. We need to find out the way to solve this. Otherwise its quite hard to get potential contributors who would give his effort to make KB better.
  5. Mark Schmidt
    Mark Schmidt 51 posts
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    Safwan Rahman said

    We need to find out the way to solve this. Otherwise its quite hard to get potential contributors who would give his effort to make KB better.

    I agree- the current "contributions" reporting is very lacking. This thread is specifically about making user-facing improvements. But I am personally interested in potential contributor-facing improvements.

    I have also noticed that people get an "answer" contribution on their profile when they reply to questions in the support forums, even if they are someone with a problem who is actually asking for help. Clearly somebody who posts 10 times looking for help should not have a profile saying that they've contributed 10 times by answering questions- these things are far from equivalent.

    I will be thinking about how we can fix these and other issues on the SUMO site over the next few months. If you have any other ideas, let me know. :)

    ''Safwan Rahman [[#post-64952|said]]'' <blockquote> We need to find out the way to solve this. Otherwise its quite hard to get potential contributors who would give his effort to make KB better. </blockquote> I agree- the current "contributions" reporting is very lacking. This thread is specifically about making user-facing improvements. But I am personally interested in potential contributor-facing improvements. I have also noticed that people get an "answer" contribution on their profile when they reply to questions in the support forums, even if they are someone with a problem who is actually asking for help. Clearly somebody who posts 10 times looking for help should not have a profile saying that they've contributed 10 times by answering questions- these things are far from equivalent. I will be thinking about how we can fix these and other issues on the SUMO site over the next few months. If you have any other ideas, let me know. :)

    Modified by Mark Schmidt on

  6. Joni
    Joni 361 posts
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    Thanks for the suggestion, Safwan. This is something we should tackle in the upcoming quarters. I've added your suggestion to the KB wish list. I review the list before each quarter begins, so please feel free to add any other ideas.

    In the meantime, let's save this thread for user-facing changes. Here are a few features we're adding during the upcoming sprint:

    1. Breadcrumb navigation (articles with more than one "parent topic" will have a "see also" section listing other parent topics) 2. Links to other products 3. Related articles and topics (we'll be able to curate related articles ourselves) 4. Collapsible sections for long articles (we've opted for this instead of the floating table of contents)

    Here's an idea of what these four components will look like on the page. Keep an eye out for more updates during the platform meetings and don't forget to share your feedback.

    Thanks for the suggestion, Safwan. This is something we should tackle in the upcoming quarters. I've added your suggestion to the [https://sumo.etherpad.mozilla.org/351 KB wish list]. I review the list before each quarter begins, so please feel free to add any other ideas. In the meantime, let's save this thread for user-facing changes. Here are a few features we're adding during the upcoming sprint: 1. Breadcrumb navigation (articles with more than one "parent topic" will have a "see also" section listing other parent topics) 2. Links to other products 3. Related articles and topics (we'll be able to curate related articles ourselves) 4. Collapsible sections for long articles (we've opted for this instead of the floating table of contents) [http://i.imgur.com/wBBv4fI.png Here's an idea] of what these four components will look like on the page. Keep an eye out for more updates during the platform meetings and don't forget to share your feedback.
  7. AliceWyman
    AliceWyman 6408 posts
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    Joni said

    In the meantime, let's save this thread for user-facing changes. Here are a few features we're adding during the upcoming sprint: <snip> 4. Collapsible sections for long articles (we've opted for this instead of the floating table of contents) Here's an idea of what these four components will look like on the page. Keep an eye out for more updates during the platform meetings and don't forget to share your feedback.

    Using collapsed sections can cause problems with some articles. Related bugs:

    Another problem I just noticed appears in the Troubleshoot and diagnose Firefox problems article. No bug filed but I started this discussion thread: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-and-diagnose-firefox-problems/discuss/6072 Collapsed sections: Problem with displayed content - caused by template?

    I also noticed a problem in how Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings is displayed. It only has two headings but the second one is partially expanded.

    Joni, you wrote in this thread that collapsed sections were added to all articles with a Table Of Contents, not just long articles. This feature was implemented in Bug 1158595 - [user story 1C] As a user, I'd like to read an article in small, self-sustaining chunks. More background in the (duplicate) Bug 968235 - Add ability to collapse entire sections of articles.

    Should the TOC be removed from shorter articles, and/or those with only two or three headings?

    Any idea when bug 1142285 will be fixed or should we go ahead and remove the TOC from any article that uses {for} in < h1> headings?

    ''Joni [[#post-64985|said]]'' <blockquote> In the meantime, let's save this thread for user-facing changes. Here are a few features we're adding during the upcoming sprint: <snip> 4. Collapsible sections for long articles (we've opted for this instead of the floating table of contents) [http://i.imgur.com/wBBv4fI.png Here's an idea] of what these four components will look like on the page. Keep an eye out for more updates during the platform meetings and don't forget to share your feedback. </blockquote> Using collapsed sections can cause problems with some articles. Related bugs: *[https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1142285 Bug 1142285] - in article with collapsed sections ''<'' h1> headings are not shown properly when used with {for} ** See [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-stop-firefox-making-automatic-connections/discuss/5985#post-11479 this discussion - workaround: remove {for} and add note]. See also, [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/adobe-flash-plugin-has-crashed/discuss/6070 this discussion - workaround: remove TOC] *[https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1162853 Bug 1162853] - After having implemented collapsible paragraph titles, anchor names are not visible anymore **See [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/forums/l10n-forum/709474?last=65071#post-64764 discussion - workaround: stop linking to anchors?] Another problem I just noticed appears in the [[Troubleshoot and diagnose Firefox problems]] article. No bug filed but I started this discussion thread: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-and-diagnose-firefox-problems/discuss/6072 Collapsed sections: Problem with displayed content - caused by template? I also noticed a problem in how [[Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings]] is displayed. It only has two headings but the second one is partially expanded. Joni, you wrote in [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/adobe-flash-plugin-has-crashed/discuss/6070#post-11756 this thread] that collapsed sections were added to '''all''' articles with a Table Of Contents, not just long articles. This feature was implemented in ''[https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1158595 Bug 1158595] - [user story 1C] As a user, I'd like to read an article in small, self-sustaining chunks''. More background in the (duplicate) ''[https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=968235 Bug 968235] - Add ability to collapse entire sections of articles''. Should the TOC be removed from shorter articles, and/or those with only two or three headings? Any idea when [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1142285 bug 1142285] will be fixed or should we go ahead and remove the TOC from any article that uses {for} in ''<'' h1> headings?

    Modified by AliceWyman on

  8. John99
    John99 3665 posts
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    update, bug filed Bug 1167449 - Return only search results that contain all keywords in the user's search query

    Joni said

    ... If you have any recommended user stories, please share them on this thread: Updated on April 10, 2:46 PM PST with correct links

    SEARCH My own comment and worthy of a user story. Why OR each keyword. Users are used to Google ANDing keywords. Changing that on default searches is probably the single best improvement we could make to the Sumo search experience.

    STORY
    As a user looking for support I know the more words I add to a Google Search the better the quality of the results; with fewer hits, as I add keywords. With Sumo the more words the worse the results. It's hardly worth attempting searches with more than one or two keywords in Sumo. Nearly all multiple word searches max out and get worse the more words are included. Change default Sumo searches to AND keywords.

    This suggestion relates mainly to forum search. We need to highlight the keywords that are found and link directly to the correct post. I can give examples where search hits give links to the top of a thread with anything from tens to hundreds of posts to scroll through.

    STORY
    I should never get results where I have to scroll through many even tensor hundreds of pages from the sumo search result hit until I actually get to the keywords. Keywords should be visible on the search results abstract so they I see them in context. The result link should take me direct to the correct page.

    Comments on the existing stories.

    As a contributor, I want the titles and tags to be given more consideration over the rest of the content. (link)
    1. I have previously suggested that the advanced search should include an option to search by title.
    2. I would also suggest the advanced search should be made more visible. I would be in favour of that in itself being added as a story for both users and contributors.
    3. Search the KB
      It is worth remembering other than breaking issues all common problems normally have a solution documented in the KB. Advanced search enables KB only searches. Advanced search should be made more prominent. Many users would also take advantage of the phrase searching option then available.
    Add a small survey snippet to search results page to find out if users are finding what they're looking for. (link)

    Great idea.
    Unfortunately I think many users will register as being disappointed; unless we make drastic improvements, but at least we get some feedback.

    update, bug filed '''''[https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1167449 Bug 1167449 - Return only search results that contain all keywords in the user's search query ]''''' -------- ''Joni [[#post-64835|said]]'' <blockquote> ... If you have any recommended user stories, please share them on this thread: *[https://trello.com/b/hPu9j7fy/article-page-redesign Article page experience] *[https://trello.com/b/ldoBuL0J/mobile-product-page-redesign Mobile page experience] *[https://trello.com/b/3TyzEOvn/search-quality-draft Search quality] ''Updated on April 10, 2:46 PM PST with correct links'' </blockquote> SEARCH <u>My own comment and worthy of a user story. </u> Why OR each keyword. Users are used to Google ANDing keywords. Changing that on default searches is probably the single best improvement we could make to the Sumo search experience. <blockquote>STORY <br />As a user looking for support I know the more words I add to a Google Search the better the quality of the results; with fewer hits, as I add keywords. With Sumo the more words the worse the results. It's hardly worth attempting searches with more than one or two keywords in Sumo. Nearly all multiple word searches max out and get worse the more words are included. '''Change default Sumo searches to AND keywords'''.</blockquote> This suggestion relates mainly to forum search. We need to highlight the keywords that are found and link directly to the correct post. I can give examples where search hits give links to the top of a thread with anything from tens to hundreds of posts to scroll through. <blockquote>STORY<br />I should never get results where I have to scroll through many even tensor hundreds of pages from the sumo search result hit until I actually get to the keywords. '''Keywords should be visible on the search results''' abstract so they I see them in context. The''' result link should take me direct to the correct page'''.</blockquote> <u>Comments on the existing stories. </u> <blockquote>As a contributor, I want the titles and tags to be given more consideration over the rest of the content. [https://trello.com/c/oTS0xbGD/4-as-a-contributor-i-want-the-titles-and-tags-to-be-given-more-consideration-over-the-rest-of-the-content (link)] </blockquote> # I have previously suggested that the advanced search should include an option to search by title. # I would also suggest the''' advanced search should be made more visible. ''' I would be in favour of that in itself being added as a story for both users and contributors. #Search the KB <br />It is worth remembering other than breaking issues all common problems normally have a solution documented in the KB. Advanced search enables KB only searches. Advanced search should be made more prominent. Many users would also take advantage of the phrase searching option then available. <blockquote> Add a small survey snippet to search results page to find out if users are finding what they're looking for. [https://trello.com/c/n4Tti5qR/1-add-a-small-survey-snippet-to-search-results-pages-to-find-out-if-users-are-finding-what-they-re-looking-for (link)]</blockquote> Great idea. <br />Unfortunately I think many users will register as being disappointed; unless we make drastic improvements, but at least we get some feedback.

    Modified by John99 on

  9. AliceWyman
    AliceWyman 6408 posts
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    AliceWyman said

    Any idea when bug 1142285 will be fixed or should we go ahead and remove the TOC from any article that uses {for} in < h1> headings?

    Another article affected by this bug: Restore the Menu bar in Firefox

    I'll remove the TOC.

    ''AliceWyman [[#post-65075|said]]'' <blockquote> Any idea when [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1142285 bug 1142285] will be fixed or should we go ahead and remove the TOC from any article that uses {for} in ''<'' h1> headings? </blockquote> Another article affected by this bug: [[What happened to the File, Edit, and View menus?]] I'll remove the TOC.
  10. Joni
    Joni 361 posts
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    AliceWyman said

    Any idea when bug 1142285 will be fixed or should we go ahead and remove the TOC from any article that uses {for} in < h1> headings?

    Bug 1142285 is going into tomorrow's sprint. I think we can go ahead and remove the TOCs from popular or critical affected articles. In the long run, we want to have articles that are short enough not to have a TOC anyway (for the most part).

    Thank you all for being patient as we transition towards this goal.

    ''AliceWyman [[#post-65075|said]]'' <blockquote> Any idea when [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1142285 bug 1142285] will be fixed or should we go ahead and remove the TOC from any article that uses {for} in ''<'' h1> headings? </blockquote> [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1142285 Bug 1142285] is going into tomorrow's sprint. I think we can go ahead and remove the TOCs from popular or critical affected articles. In the long run, we want to have articles that are short enough not to have a TOC anyway (for the most part). Thank you all for being patient as we transition towards this goal.
  11. Joni
    Joni 361 posts
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    John99 said

    STORY
    As a user looking for support I know the more words I add to a Google Search the better the quality of the results; with fewer hits, as I add keywords. With Sumo the more words the worse the results. It's hardly worth attempting searches with more than one or two keywords in Sumo. Nearly all multiple word searches max out and get worse the more words are included. Change default Sumo searches to AND keywords.

    John99, I think this is a great idea. Lengthier ("long-tail") searches indicate that the user is looking for very specific results. Adding more words should help refine the results, not expand them. I'll add this user story to the Trello board.

    This suggestion relates mainly to forum search. We need to highlight the keywords that are found and link directly to the correct post. I can give examples where search hits give links to the top of a thread with anything from tens to hundreds of posts to scroll through.
    STORY
    I should never get results where I have to scroll through many even tensor hundreds of pages from the sumo search result hit until I actually get to the keywords. Keywords should be visible on the search results abstract so they I see them in context. The result link should take me direct to the correct page.

    I'd like to add this user story too, but I want to make sure that I completely understand it. I thought the original post/question is what's displayed in search results. Are you seeing individual posts showing up in search results, and when you click on them, you're dropped off at the top of the thread instead of directly on that post?

    I agree with making the keywords visible in the snippet, although I'd like to clean them up first (at least for the top searches) to make sure they're helpful to the user. Is that what you also mean by highlighting them?

    1. I have previously suggested that the advanced search should include an option to search by title.
    2. I would also suggest the advanced search should be made more visible. I would be in favour of that in itself being added as a story for both users and contributors.
    3. Search the KB
      It is worth remembering other than breaking issues all common problems normally have a solution documented in the KB. Advanced search enables KB only searches. Advanced search should be made more prominent. Many users would also take advantage of the phrase searching option then available.

    I think making the advanced search more prominent and adding the option to search by title is a good move. We do have a temporary blocker: advanced search currently has a lot of topics appearing as checkboxes. Many of those topics are linked to the AAQ flow, so I couldn't delete them immediately. We're working on cleaning that up this week.

    Search survey:

    My intent in surveying users is to identify any other problems that our community couldn't foresee, and also to help us establish a baseline for our metrics. We can run the survey before AND after the search implementations, so we can compare user satisfaction before and after.

    Thanks for the feedback, John. I think these will really help us improve search.

    ''John99 [[#post-65102|said]]'' <blockquote>STORY <br />As a user looking for support I know the more words I add to a Google Search the better the quality of the results; with fewer hits, as I add keywords. With Sumo the more words the worse the results. It's hardly worth attempting searches with more than one or two keywords in Sumo. Nearly all multiple word searches max out and get worse the more words are included. '''Change default Sumo searches to AND keywords'''.</blockquote> John99, I think this is a great idea. Lengthier ("long-tail") searches indicate that the user is looking for very specific results. Adding more words should help refine the results, not expand them. I'll add this user story to the Trello board. <blockquote> This suggestion relates mainly to forum search. We need to highlight the keywords that are found and link directly to the correct post. I can give examples where search hits give links to the top of a thread with anything from tens to hundreds of posts to scroll through. <blockquote>STORY<br />I should never get results where I have to scroll through many even tensor hundreds of pages from the sumo search result hit until I actually get to the keywords. '''Keywords should be visible on the search results''' abstract so they I see them in context. The''' result link should take me direct to the correct page'''.</blockquote> </blockquote> I'd like to add this user story too, but I want to make sure that I completely understand it. I thought the original post/question is what's displayed in search results. Are you seeing individual posts showing up in search results, and when you click on them, you're dropped off at the top of the thread instead of directly on that post? I agree with making the keywords visible in the snippet, although I'd like to clean them up first (at least for the top searches) to make sure they're helpful to the user. Is that what you also mean by highlighting them? <blockquote> #I have previously suggested that the advanced search should include an option to search by title. # I would also suggest the''' advanced search should be made more visible. ''' I would be in favour of that in itself being added as a story for both users and contributors. #Search the KB <br />It is worth remembering other than breaking issues all common problems normally have a solution documented in the KB. Advanced search enables KB only searches. Advanced search should be made more prominent. Many users would also take advantage of the phrase searching option then available. </blockquote> I think making the advanced search more prominent and adding the option to search by title is a good move. We do have a temporary blocker: advanced search currently has a lot of topics appearing as checkboxes. Many of those topics are linked to the AAQ flow, so I couldn't delete them immediately. We're working on cleaning that up this week. ''Search survey'': My intent in surveying users is to identify any other problems that our community couldn't foresee, and also to help us establish a baseline for our metrics. We can run the survey before AND after the search implementations, so we can compare user satisfaction before and after. Thanks for the feedback, John. I think these will really help us improve search.
  12. AliceWyman
    AliceWyman 6408 posts
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    AliceWyman said

    Another problem I just noticed appears in the Troubleshoot and diagnose Firefox problems article. No bug filed but I started this discussion thread: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-and-diagnose-firefox-problems/discuss/6072 Collapsed sections: Problem with displayed content - caused by template?

    Joni said

    I think we can go ahead and remove the TOCs from popular or critical affected articles.

    I removed the TOC from the Troubleshoot and diagnose Firefox problems article.

    ''AliceWyman [[#post-65075|said]]'' <blockquote> Another problem I just noticed appears in the [[Troubleshoot and diagnose Firefox problems]] article. No bug filed but I started this discussion thread: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-and-diagnose-firefox-problems/discuss/6072 Collapsed sections: Problem with displayed content - caused by template? </blockquote> ''Joni [[#post-65124|said]]'' <blockquote>I think we can go ahead and remove the TOCs from popular or critical affected articles. </blockquote> I removed the TOC from the [[Troubleshoot and diagnose Firefox problems]] article.
  13. John99
    John99 3665 posts
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    Thanks for the reply Joni.

    Joni said

    ... John99, I think this is a great idea. Lengthier ("long-tail") searches indicate that the user is looking for very specific results. Adding more words should help refine the results, not expand them. I'll add this user story to the Trello board.

    Great! I have been suggesting this for years. Glad we have found time to make progress.

    STORY
    ... The result link should take me direct to the correct page.
    I'd like to add this user story too, but I want to make sure that I completely understand it. I thought the original post/question is what's displayed in search results. Are you seeing individual posts showing up in search results, and when you click on them, you're dropped off at the top of the thread instead of directly on that post? I agree with making the keywords visible in the snippet, although I'd like to clean them up first (at least for the top searches) to make sure they're helpful to the user. Is that what you also mean by highlighting them?
    • It's probably a bug. IIRC at one time
      1. The keywords were shown in the snippet. By highlight I meant for example show in bold and in context.
        As happens in a Google search;
        Or as happens in the drop down results from the Firefox desktop location bar as you type in text.
      2. The snippet =Post link, and title =Thread link; were separate for forum posts.
        (They could be for KB Hits:
        1. Link to KB article
        2. Then link snippet to KB article section )
    • Here's a (deliberately rather extreme) example look for the word telugu in the discussion forum. Result: | actual |should be |bug explained |
      • Similar problems exist with searches of support forum posts. Some question threads will be many pages long. It should surely link to the thread question and then the snippet should link to the individual post. Ideally we should try to prevent most threads getting very long but that's another story.
    • I was going to file a bug for a change, but at the time it did not seem the idea was gaining traction.
    I think making the advanced search more prominent and adding the option to search by title is a good move.
    We do have a temporary blocker: advanced search currently has a lot of topics appearing as checkboxes. Many of those topics are linked to the AAQ flow, so I couldn't delete them immediately. We're working on cleaning that up this week.

    I think a lot have been redundant for a long while
    bug 1118375#c11, problems, rant
    Good to hear another step is being taken to sort out the topics & advanced search.

    Search survey:

    ... run the survey before AND after the search implementations, ....

    Better be quick with the survey if the advanced search work is taking place this week.

    Thanks for the reply Joni. ''Joni [[#post-65125|said]]'' <blockquote> ... John99, I think this is a great idea. Lengthier ("long-tail") searches indicate that the user is looking for very specific results. Adding more words should help refine the results, not expand them. I'll add this user story to the Trello board. </blockquote> Great! I have been suggesting this for years. Glad we have found time to make progress. <blockquote>STORY<br />... The''' result link should take me direct to the correct page'''. <blockquote> I'd like to add this user story too, but I want to make sure that I completely understand it. I thought the original post/question is what's displayed in search results. Are you seeing individual posts showing up in search results, and when you click on them, you're dropped off at the top of the thread instead of directly on that post? I agree with making the keywords visible in the snippet, although I'd like to clean them up first (at least for the top searches) to make sure they're helpful to the user. Is that what you also mean by highlighting them? </blockquote> </blockquote> * It's probably a bug. IIRC at one time *# The keywords were shown in the snippet. By highlight I meant for example show in bold and in context. <br />As happens in a Google search; <br ?>Or as happens in the drop down results from the Firefox desktop location bar as you type in text. *# The snippet =Post link, and title =Thread link; were separate for forum posts. <br /> (They could be for KB Hits: *##Link to KB article *##Then link snippet to KB article section ) * Here's a (deliberately rather extreme) example look for the word'' telugu'' in the discussion forum. Result: | [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/search/advanced?q=telugu&author=&created=0&created_date=&updated=0&updated_date=&sortby=0&forum=1&a=1&w=4 actual] |[https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/forums/contributors/708942?page=25#post-60841 should be] |[/forums/contributors/711110 bug explained] | **Similar problems exist with searches of support forum posts. Some question threads will be many pages long. It should surely link to the thread question and then the snippet should link to the individual post. Ideally we should try to prevent most threads getting very long but that's another story. * I was going to file a bug for a change, but at the time it did not seem the idea was gaining traction. <blockquote> I think making the advanced search more prominent and adding the option to search by title is a good move. </blockquote> *We also need to follow up on Alice's [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/forums/contributors/710977#post-63652 suggestion] linking kb article and advanced search [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1121625 bug 1121625] <blockquote>We do have a temporary blocker: advanced search currently has a lot of topics appearing as checkboxes. Many of those topics are linked to the AAQ flow, so I couldn't delete them immediately. We're working on cleaning that up this week. </blockquote> I think a lot have been redundant for a long while <br /> <sup> [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1118375#c11 bug 1118375#c11], [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/forums/contributors/710977#post-63899 problems], [/forums/contributors/709862 rant] </sup> <br />Good to hear another step is being taken to sort out the topics & advanced search. ''Search survey'': <blockquote>... run the survey before AND after the search implementations, .... </blockquote> Better be quick with the survey if the advanced search work is taking place this week.
  14. Matt
    Matt 172 posts
    more options

    I have my on thread over here and would like to thank Alice for pointing me to this thread.

    But to summarize I am deeply disappointed in the new look kb. Reminds me of just how underwhelmed I was with the Windows 8 user interface.

    Minimize the number of gestures required to get to articles (no more than 3 gestures). The last thing a frustrated user needs is a lot of hurdles.

    The articles now contain Zero relevant information without clicking on a random heading and waiting for the content to load. (reminds me of USENET when I had dialup.) So I think this is a fail on the desktop.

    Too much emphasis on small screens and touch without a dual or more interface optimized for the device that is connecting is what I see. My Blog gets about 4% from android and OSX. Does SUMO actually get more? This frustrated user has now officially given up on the knowledge base. It is to me useless.

    I support mail on the desktop. and two paragraphs is insufficient to explain anything and without a toc the text is to dense for any but the most ardent masochist to read.

    Increase our overall helpfulness to 90%. Our average is 72%.

    What was an article is now a collection of unrelated disjointed headings which do nothing to inform because they were designed as a hierarchical table of contents, now they are nothing.

    I will not be referring people to the KB any longer. I used to refer them to the relevant knowledge base information. But no l;longer. It is simply to hard to point them to the correct information. Either I give them instructions on what headings to click or I copy and paste the relevant information. Back to blogging for me.

    I have my on thread over [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/forums/contributors/711282 here ] and would like to thank Alice for pointing me to this thread. But to summarize I am deeply disappointed in the new look kb. Reminds me of just how underwhelmed I was with the Windows 8 user interface. <blockquote> Minimize the number of gestures required to get to articles (no more than 3 gestures). The last thing a frustrated user needs is a lot of hurdles.</blockquote> The articles now contain Zero relevant information without clicking on a random heading and waiting for the content to load. (reminds me of USENET when I had dialup.) So I think this is a fail on the desktop. Too much emphasis on small screens and touch without a dual or more interface optimized for the device that is connecting is what I see. My Blog gets about 4% from android and OSX. Does SUMO actually get more? This frustrated user has now officially given up on the knowledge base. It is to me useless. I support mail on the desktop. and two paragraphs is insufficient to explain anything and without a toc the text is to dense for any but the most ardent masochist to read. <blockquote>Increase our overall helpfulness to 90%. Our average is 72%. </blockquote> What was an article is now a collection of unrelated disjointed headings which do nothing to inform because they were designed as a hierarchical table of contents, now they are nothing. I will not be referring people to the KB any longer. I used to refer them to the relevant knowledge base information. But no l;longer. It is simply to hard to point them to the correct information. Either I give them instructions on what headings to click or I copy and paste the relevant information. Back to blogging for me.
  15. John99
    John99 3665 posts
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    I guess changes will still be made with these new features, and I would certainly be for re introducing the ToC especially for the longer articles. Why not take a leaf out or Wikipedia's book and have the ToC itself expansible or collapsible e.g. wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox note the option to hide or show the contents table.


    I also note Mike's comment
    ... I would like to add the ability to link to sections directly again, and have the linked-to section auto-expand. ...
    &
    Well, either way, I've decided this feature isn't ready, and am reverting it. The change to roll it back is in review right now.
    I guess changes will still be made with these new features, and I would certainly be for re introducing the ToC especially for the longer articles. Why not take a leaf out or Wikipedia's book and have the ToC itself expansible or collapsible e.g. wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox note the option to hide or show the contents table. I also note Mike's [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/forums/contributors/711282#post-65161 comment] <blockquote>... I would like to add the ability to link to sections directly again, and have the linked-to section auto-expand. ... </blockquote> [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/forums/contributors/711282#post-65163 &] <blockquote>Well, either way, I've decided this feature isn't ready, and am reverting it. The change to roll it back is in review right now.</blockquote>
  16. Scribe
    Scribe 60 posts
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    Hi guys, whilst not wishing to denigrate in any way the work that has obviously been put into it, I agree with Matt, in that I find the collapsible sections rather irritating. When one looks at an article, I feel it is preferable to see an overview of the whole contents in one go, rather than having to open it bit by bit.

    Hi guys, whilst not wishing to denigrate in any way the work that has obviously been put into it, I agree with Matt, in that I find the collapsible sections rather irritating. When one looks at an article, I feel it is preferable to see an overview of the whole contents in one go, rather than having to open it bit by bit.
  17. Roland Tanglao
    Roland Tanglao 372 posts
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    matt the collapsed heading change was rolled back. so please continue to link to the kb :-) !

    Matt said

    I have my on thread over here and would like to thank Alice for pointing me to this thread. But to summarize I am deeply disappointed in the new look kb. Reminds me of just how underwhelmed I was with the Windows 8 user interface.
    Minimize the number of gestures required to get to articles (no more than 3 gestures). The last thing a frustrated user needs is a lot of hurdles.

    The articles now contain Zero relevant information without clicking on a random heading and waiting for the content to load. (reminds me of USENET when I had dialup.) So I think this is a fail on the desktop.

    Too much emphasis on small screens and touch without a dual or more interface optimized for the device that is connecting is what I see. My Blog gets about 4% from android and OSX. Does SUMO actually get more? This frustrated user has now officially given up on the knowledge base. It is to me useless.

    I support mail on the desktop. and two paragraphs is insufficient to explain anything and without a toc the text is to dense for any but the most ardent masochist to read.

    Increase our overall helpfulness to 90%. Our average is 72%.

    What was an article is now a collection of unrelated disjointed headings which do nothing to inform because they were designed as a hierarchical table of contents, now they are nothing.

    I will not be referring people to the KB any longer. I used to refer them to the relevant knowledge base information. But no l;longer. It is simply to hard to point them to the correct information. Either I give them instructions on what headings to click or I copy and paste the relevant information. Back to blogging for me.

    matt the collapsed heading change was rolled back. so please continue to link to the kb :-) ! ''Matt [[#post-65157|said]]'' <blockquote> I have my on thread over [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/forums/contributors/711282 here ] and would like to thank Alice for pointing me to this thread. But to summarize I am deeply disappointed in the new look kb. Reminds me of just how underwhelmed I was with the Windows 8 user interface. <blockquote> Minimize the number of gestures required to get to articles (no more than 3 gestures). The last thing a frustrated user needs is a lot of hurdles.</blockquote> The articles now contain Zero relevant information without clicking on a random heading and waiting for the content to load. (reminds me of USENET when I had dialup.) So I think this is a fail on the desktop. Too much emphasis on small screens and touch without a dual or more interface optimized for the device that is connecting is what I see. My Blog gets about 4% from android and OSX. Does SUMO actually get more? This frustrated user has now officially given up on the knowledge base. It is to me useless. I support mail on the desktop. and two paragraphs is insufficient to explain anything and without a toc the text is to dense for any but the most ardent masochist to read. <blockquote>Increase our overall helpfulness to 90%. Our average is 72%. </blockquote> What was an article is now a collection of unrelated disjointed headings which do nothing to inform because they were designed as a hierarchical table of contents, now they are nothing. I will not be referring people to the KB any longer. I used to refer them to the relevant knowledge base information. But no l;longer. It is simply to hard to point them to the correct information. Either I give them instructions on what headings to click or I copy and paste the relevant information. Back to blogging for me. </blockquote>
  18. Joni
    Joni 361 posts
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    I'm sorry for jumping in late. Just catching up on all the discussions now.

    We did roll back the collapsed sections last week. I apologize for the headaches it caused, and thanks, all, for sharing your feedback. John99, thanks for suggesting the collapsed table of contents. We'll experiment with that in a prototype.

    If you don't agree with any of these features, please do share your concerns (nobody's going to take it personally). That's what this thread is supposed to do. However, if we don't receive feedback before the sprint begins, we do have to experiment with the options we have so far. Some work out, and some obviously don't. We just have to be flexible and learn from them.

    In related news, we've rolled out a See also (Related articles) feature. Leave your feedback in that new thread to help us keep track suggestions.

    John99, I'll start filing search bugs starting tomorrow. I'll cc you on the bugs.

    I'm sorry for jumping in late. Just catching up on all the discussions now. We did roll back the collapsed sections last week. I apologize for the headaches it caused, and thanks, all, for sharing your feedback. John99, thanks for suggesting the collapsed table of contents. We'll experiment with that in a prototype. If you don't agree with any of these features, please do share your concerns (nobody's going to take it personally). That's what this thread is supposed to do. However, if we don't receive feedback before the sprint begins, we do have to experiment with the options we have so far. Some work out, and some obviously don't. We just have to be flexible and learn from them. In related news, we've rolled out a [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/forums/knowledge-base-articles/711292?last=65228#post-65228 See also (Related articles)] feature. Leave your feedback in that new thread to help us keep track suggestions. John99, I'll start filing search bugs starting tomorrow. I'll cc you on the bugs.
  19. Matt
    Matt 172 posts
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    Joni said

    John99, I'll start filing search bugs starting tomorrow. I'll cc you on the bugs.

    Please include me in the CC list as well. I am one of the current search systems haters. So I have an interest in anything making it work for me.

    ''Joni [[#post-65229|said]]'' <blockquote> John99, I'll start filing search bugs starting tomorrow. I'll cc you on the bugs. </blockquote> Please include me in the CC list as well. I am one of the current search systems haters. So I have an interest in anything making it work for me.
  20. John99
    John99 3665 posts
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    Hi Joni

    Elastic Search. It may help all concerned if contributors understood more about Elastic Search and how it is used in Sumo. I mentioned that on the meeting etherpad in relation to dev talks https://etherpad.mozilla.org/sumo-2015-08-24

    Multiple Keywords I would agree at least partially with Will's comment #c3

    Also, "users" and "contributors" are two completely different groups with two completely different sets of needs. We shouldn't be mixing them.
    We have improved the advanced search for the contributors.

    However we must not treat users as all being completely naive. I am sure the majority realise in Google adding more words narrows a search.

    You did say #c4
    search phrases collectively outnumber individual terms

    I can not help thinking a lot of those searches may be giving bad results.

    That possibly is most marked with any breaking issue or even something slightly out of the normal. The support forum is there for the less common questions, because the common ones are covered by the KB, but is that where our search falls over ?

    Questions as searches (As a search phrase use the question title - as chosen & posted ) It may be worth analysing questions asked and the words used. Has anyone done that ? What happens if the title of the question asked is put into the search ? How successfully is that in finding a KB article solving the issue ?

    First Page Only If a contributor may find a solution using advanced search, then it would be good to open* that up to the users, instead of presuming they must be incapable of refining a search themselves.

    Help users yes, and maybe try to spoon feed what we think they need, but don't do it in such a way that it then prevents the more capable ones helping themselves. If a user may find an answer from a support question or KB article that is one less unnecessary question. We already have an issue with contributors struggling to make first replies and have a solved rate dropping from 30%. So it is unlikely someone asking a question will get a reply they agree & confirm solved the question.


    Do we collect feedback How happy are users after having tried a search ? Or after encountering a search as part of the question asking workflow ? Do we collect such data and what are the results ? 

     *

    The advanced search may be used by uses but

    • We do not even promote the fact that it even exists.
    • If someone stumbles upon it we do not promote the instructions for using it.
      • The support search is considered contributor facing and is low priority. it is pretty user unfriendly. (Just look at the multiple screen options)
      • What happened to sorting out the support forum topics|buckets now that they do not need to be shoe horned into the same ones as KB Articles
    Hi Joni '''Elastic Search.''' It may help all concerned if contributors understood more about Elastic Search and how it is used in Sumo. I mentioned that on the meeting etherpad in relation to dev talks https://etherpad.mozilla.org/sumo-2015-08-24 '''Multiple Keywords''' I would agree at least partially with Will's comment [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1167449#c3 #c3] <blockquote>Also, "users" and "contributors" are two completely different groups with two completely different sets of needs. We shouldn't be mixing them.</blockquote> We have improved the advanced search for the contributors. However we must not treat users as all being completely naive. I am sure the majority realise in Google adding more words narrows a search. You did say [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1167449#c4 #c4]<blockquote>search phrases collectively outnumber individual terms</blockquote> I can not help thinking a lot of those searches may be giving bad results. That possibly is most marked with any breaking issue or even something slightly out of the normal. The support forum is there for the less common questions, because the common ones are covered by the KB, but is that where our search falls over ? '''Questions as searches''' (As a search phrase use the question title - as chosen & posted ) It may be worth analysing questions asked and the words used. Has anyone done that ? What happens if the title of the question asked is put into the search ? How successfully is that in finding a KB article solving the issue ? '''First Page Only''' If a contributor may find a solution using advanced search, then it would be good to open* that up to the users, instead of presuming they must be incapable of refining a search themselves. Help users yes, and maybe try to spoon feed what we think they need, but don't do it in such a way that it then prevents the more capable ones helping themselves. If a user may find an answer from a support question or KB article that is one less unnecessary question. We already have an issue with contributors struggling to make first replies and have a solved rate dropping from 30%. So it is unlikely someone asking a question will get a reply they agree & confirm solved the question. '''Do we collect feedback''' How happy are users after having tried a search ? Or after encountering a search as part of the '''question asking workflow ?''' Do we collect such data and what are the results ? ----- * The advanced search may be used by uses but * We do not even promote the fact that it even exists. * If someone stumbles upon it we do not promote the instructions for using it. ** The support search is considered contributor facing and is low priority. it is pretty user unfriendly. (Just look at the multiple [/search/advanced#support screen] options) ** What happened to sorting out the support forum topics|buckets now that they do not need to be shoe horned into the same ones as KB Articles