[AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note I717] Jamesyboy:
Let me get this straight. Development doesn't happen in the open for the sole purpose of not offending our sacred values:don't ask for etas, and features.

What the heck is the point of the thread? Its a forum for users to discuss the ROMs functioning. We all know the real dev work happens on IRC, in PMs, in Skype...etc. It definitely doesn't happen in the public, on a thread for the public to use.

Secondly, why wouldn't a question about the ROM, and it's issues , or its bug reports, belong in a section for development? It certainly makes more sense than posting in a Q&A section meant for the device.

There's got to be a better way to do this than to go on for months discussing, and more importantly, sourcing our information from a single thread, when we kniw that later, the ragers will want to direct others to a new thread that doesn't contain a prior wealth of knowledge about the tiny issues people have had (why people so famously rage over a search bar). As the development cycle nears something more concrete, it'd be more appropriate, less harsh, and more efficient to extend the FAQ, or make a small wiki with common issues, topics, and questions, than posting a "post in q&a" for every 1-2 posts, which clogs the gears up even worse.

If we spent the time entering info, or case-profile scenarios and outcomes into a wiki, or categorized spreadsheet under topics--even a community-sourced Google .doc with correlating questions/answers and problems/solutions, instead of pointing the finger at users, we'd have something far more effective than the search tool that we've all had issues with, and could calm the ragers and their frustrations.

I point this out because this portal that we all love: XDA, is changing just like the world. As sections become more discrete for certain use cases, so should our use of them. The opposite is happening. Were redirecting people from what was for a long time a user's home, to a new home....which isn't the appropriate place. Its kind of like saving our left foot to shoot our selves in the right, in the name of keeping one thread clean -- "a clean thread of things to clean, just to make sure were always cleaning" is counterintuitive. People will naturally go where they should. It's our job to do the best we can from the start to ensure these problems don't arise, until the site can do it for us--we could start with placement. It's no longer clear what goes where. Don't be too frustrated--if its not clear to you, it's not to others. The diligence of the dev's isn't equal to that of the user. The user doesn't read, categorize in the mind, and then prioritize every post. Some come on to a thread late in development, others have issues with a search that's at times ineffective or worse, unfunctional, and others view from a mobile, from an app, or view the past 10-15 pages.

XDA's app is a prime example. If you have the app, I suggest setting it to start you off at the last page you were at last time you viewed the thread. But the search button is largely unusable for large threads, even more so in the app, when its not even clear what you're searching through. There are plenty of tips for efficiency we could give users....but contributors could also present to the dev's (if they don't want to do it--or if they want to take advantage of the enthusiasm) a truncated FAQ or document/wiki for use case scenarios, or issues on the first page.

Just saying. There's got to be a better way than to deprecate others, and jostle the dessert pie.

Much love, and always trying to promote harmony, and logic,

Jamesy