ReadyNAS Board Restructure Complete

[kohdee]

ReadyNAS Community - RR4312X

Note - These changes were complete on Nov/29/2018 - Please let us know if you find any inconsistencies. 

Hello ReadyNAS Community,

I’m pleased to announce some upcoming changes to the ReadyNAS Community. Your excitement and dedication to fellow NAS Storage users and to our products is what helps make the community experience great. We strive to do better by helping more users discover ReadyNAS products and your excellent discussions about ReadyNAS.

To improve discovery and site-flow, we are considering the following changes:

1. Moving the entire ReadyNAS Category and boards to under Business Solutions category.
2. Removing the requirement for every post to have a Label
3. Adding description text to each board
4. Reducing the total number of boards to the following*:

Board: New to ReadyNAS

Board: ReadyNAS NAS Storage for Business Forum

Board: ReadyNAS Beta

Board: Announcements & Stories

Idea Exchange: ReadyNAS Ideas

Category: ReadyNAS Storage Apps

Board: ReadyNAS Storage Apps/Current ReadyNAS Apps

Board: ReadyNAS Storage Apps/Old ReadyNAS Apps

*Exact board and category names subject to change based on your feedback!

Older related content will be moved into the remaining boards, if applicable; this means that if someone links to any old content you’ve posted, they’ll automatically redirect to the new board. We expect these changes to the ReadyNAS forums to spark new conversations and help more people post in the right places. This will continue to improve the ReadyNAS storage community platform. The changes are expected before the end of September 2018. Please let us know your feedback.

Thanks!

[StephenB]

I like the idea of trimming the number of boards.  The labels often aren't very informing, and requiring people to pick a label that doesn't quite fit is annoying.  So removing that requirement is also a good thing.

Can the plethora of models be streamlined?  There are several hundred now, and it is not realistic to ask someone to navigate a pulldown menu that large.  And we really don't need to know if a Duo v1 was an RND2000v1, RND2110v1, RND2120v1, RND2150v1, RND2175v1, RND2210v1, or a RND2220v1.  Similarly for all the other models.  If it can't be cleaned up, we'd be better off without it (since now we generally have to confirm it in the thread conversation anyway).

Also, the idea exchange is a mess - partly because it can't be searched effectively.

[Sandshark]

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@StephenB wrote:

Also, the idea exchange is a mess - partly because it can't be searched effectively.

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Absolutely nothing on this board can be searched effectively within the board itself.  You're better off with Google!  Instead of re-structuring, they should first be looking for a better piece of software to host it.

One problem with re-structuring is that you don't want links within posts that point to other postings broken unless you are making a radical improvement (like new software).  If necessary, lock the old in place and move forward with the new. 

As for the structure, there really does need to be separation between NAS OS families.  RAIDiator 4.1.x and 4.2.x are similar enough that maybe they can be combined.  But 5.x and 6.x have little in common with any of the others. The model in the header isn't enough -- many don't use it.  I'm sure plenty of users get confused wondering if a thread is applicable to their NAS or not.  Answers for one family are rarely valid for another.

[StephenB]

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@Sandshark wrote:
I'm sure plenty of users get confused wondering if a thread is applicable to their NAS or not.  Answers for one family are rarely valid for another.

 That's certainly true, and the the difficulty of identifying OS 5 and OS 4.1 doesn't help.

I agree there should be separation (at least OS 6 and legacy).  

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Absolutely nothing on this board can be searched effectively within the board itself.  You're better off with Google! 

Very true.  Though I think this creates more issues with the idea exchange than it does with the other forum areas.

[BretD]

Great ideas, keep the feedback coming!

We're hoping on creating a new way of adding products to your post in the future, but this is probably several months away still. 

-Bret

[rjwerth28]

I have a great idea:  stop loosing the link between the forums and my netgear account.  I literally have had to create 3 logins for the forums because the link keeps getting screwed up and there is no way to get support to fix it.

My original login was rjwerth.

Is there a plan to have a section for ReadyCloud and all the associated clients?

[StephenB]

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@rjwerth28 wrote:

 Is there a plan to have a section for ReadyCloud and all the associated clients?

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ReadyCloud is messy, because it also reaches to Nighthawk routers.

It probably does need it's own forum area, and should include Nighthawk, ReadyNAS, the web portal and apps.

[Tom_de_Hoop]

I adore my new ReadyNAS server, even though I still cannot connect it from my mobile phone!

Can you please send me a link to be able to access all data also by mobile-phone!?!

[plusterkopp]

I like the idea of having a forum that provides answers instead of just deleting my questions. Just now I posted the 3rd repost of my question. Leaving the page open in my browser, when I hit reload a day or so later, the URL is no longer valid.
Posts are still in my subscription list, but they never show up in the board where I sent them.

[StephenB]

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@plusterkopp wrote:

Posts are still in my subscription list, but they never show up in the board where I sent them. 

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That is frustrating. The cause is that the automated spam filter is triggering.  Mods generally check the quarantine periodically, but if there is a flood of spam that isn't practical.

[BretD]

Thank you for all your feedback. We plan to start making these updates next week.

Thanks,

-Bret

[Blanker-2]

It would be nice if the model selection was optional.  And, yes there is definitely somthing wrong since a lot fo my posts don't make it to the forum, perhaps a spam thing.

Maybe active spell check? 

[TeknoJnky]

Hello, instead of putting readynas under business solutions (they are not just business solutions?), why don't you simply put it under a storage section.

connected home, business solutions, and smart home security, are not very good main sections.

You should get rid of the primary home/business divider and only utlize that where there are actually separate home and business products.

netgear community

-- smart home/security/camera/arlo

- networking infrastructure > home > routers/wifi/switches/cablemodems/etc

- networking infrastructure > business > enterprise switches/wifi/firewalls/security, insight, surveillance, etc

- storage > streamlined readynas forums

The arlo people might not like being re-organized, but neither did the original readynas forums.

[StephenB]

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@TeknoJnky wrote:

The arlo people might not like being re-organized.

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Arlo is becoming it's own company, and it's forum has already been rehosted on community.arlo.com.

[JeffTivo]

How about a ReadyNAS bug or defect board?

[StephenB]

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@JeffTivo wrote:

How about a ReadyNAS bug or defect board?

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I'd love to have a way to report bugs, but don't think a board is the best approach, as Netgear developers and QA aren't participating here.

Also, it would be great to have a better way to submit logs for analysis (and get notifications when the logs are reviewed).

[x219c]

While I agree that it would be nice to have a new/old app section... How do you move things between them? Things become depreciated and it's difficult to dissern sometimes. In my ideal world I would see an Apps section, and under that, a board for each app. Then you can have topics or posts for each app under just that apps board. When someone wants to research an app, they just go to the apps board and it's easy to see what's been going on lately with an app... A way to mark something as activly supported or legacy from inside the board would be also be great. You'd see the active development boards (or apps) at the top, then the legacy underneith. Ideally, this would be a field in the board for the app that could be changed, or as a much easier stopgap, just something in the app name. Then a sticky at the top of each board highlighting what the app can be used for, the major features and FAQ... Maybe a download link, etc.

so for a visual example... ReadyNAS forums / ReadyNAS Apps / RN OS6 Apps / Plex (Active/Legacy) / Board with posts (stickies at top)...

Since I'm just spitballing here, I'll point out the flaws I see in the hopes someone can improve on my idea...

Where do you put the Apps section? Under the OS version (RN OS6, etc.) to indicate compatibility? What if there's an update to OS7 and the app makes the leap? Start a new board for the app and lose potentially useful info in the jump (though it would still be under the old OS/Apps area)... Probably other problems I'm not seeing yet.

[StephenB]

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@x219c wrote:

Since I'm just spitballing here, I'll point out the flaws I see in the hopes someone can improve on my idea...

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One problem here is that the apps are coming from third parties.  Some are distributed by Netgear, some are distributed by others (for instance, rnxtras.com), some are directly shared (for instance, poussin's dropbox), some are manually installed (for instance, crashplan).

Also, in some cases there is duplication (different OS-6 packages for the same application).  

I don't see Netgear manually creating a new forum area for each app (though it would be useful).

[tominwi]

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@Sandshark wrote:

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One problem with re-structuring is that you don't want links within posts that point to other postings broken unless you are making a radical improvement (like new software).  If necessary, lock the old in place and move forward with the new.

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Way too late to this party, but I have to chime-in that PLEASE NO NOT AGAIN!!! I remember following religiously the old readynas.com forums, and then my ID got messed-up somehow and today all that good info is mostly lost forever. What posts CAN BE found usually refer to other posts that can not.

But Netgear will do what it's gotta do and we are all slaves to it. At least, my damned ReadyNAS NV+ just runs and runs (and runs) and probably will last forever given it turns on for only two hours each day.