[OnePlus 2 Original Android Development] knpk13:
A Request

Please... Let's keep the thank you and welcome back posts to a minimum, as well as create a QA thread and move all discussion there to avoid cluttering the thread like last time. If you guys remember, that was why [MENTION=4443334]Grarak[/MENTION] closed the thread and took a vacation from XDA. This thread has been open for just under 24 hours and most of the posts(8 pages!) are either thanks and welcome back/we missed you or steps to upgrade. This thread is not for that. Use the thanks button or use other social media for that. I understand this is an exciting moment, but please ensure that a repeat of last time's situation doesn't occur. Thank you. Ideally, this post itself should not be necessary(I consider this very post as clutter); this should be a given.

I'm hoping that XDA Labs and [MENTION=2637227]blk_jack[/MENTION] can solve this issue globally in a way that benefits BOTH developers and consumers and everyone in between. For more info, I highly recommend reading this short post by the XDA Labs Dev. http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=66898411&postcount=3507

MOD edit: Here is a quick link for your convenience.

Note:

Originally written by XDA Labs Dev

blk_jack

This stuff goes over & above what Labs is all about. At the end of the day the ultimate mission of Labs is to actually reduce the number of forum posts. As much as we all have these ideas for forum-related features, when it comes to XDA, the forums are more the means to an end rather than a place for well laid out discussion.

I know how insane that might sound at first but a massive amount of threads on XDA look like this:

Posts 1-3 (OP): Brief description of ROM/app/mod/etc. Screenshots. Download links. Changelog.

Posts 4+: Reviews/Ratings ("Great ROM!"). Bug reports ("X doesn't work!"). Feature suggestions ("Could the dev add X?").

Posts 1-3 is a Labs App/Mod details page and the rest can be organized as reviews, bugs and features.

If you were able to strip out a chunk of those posts in most threads the conversation would get much, much better. You would get rid of all the cruft we all skim through or begrudgingly respond to and ideally it would steer users to more useful, relevant discussion.

My point is that instead of focusing on what we can add to the forums to support the apps, we should reverse that thinking to consider that most people who visit XDA have a goal in mind. They want to root their device, they want to install an app/mod/etc. They want to DO something. That call to action or goal of most people is what we want to make easier through Labs.

XDA has an enormous amount of great community created content. We need to think of ways to help those devs get their content/products into the hands of users.

EDIT: My last hope for for a global fix of the current forum's state is an eventual overhaul of XDA using the concept of XDA Labs, effectively separating development discussions from consumer QA, support and spam, while still maintaining everyone's viewing rights of public dev discussions for enthusiasts, aspiring devs, and anyone else who is curious. Providing an effective way for consumers to get their job done quickly (via labs) will minimize issues for everyone. For now, I suppose all we can do is create a QA thread and move this crap there.