Movable Type undiscussion
The Movable Type support forums, which used to be the nexus of activity in the heyday of Movable Type, has slowed to a dying crawl. Over the past few months, I’ve posted several topics. One topic received a handful of replies, but two others received absolutely none. A year ago the same topics would have generated at least twice the number of replies and probably even more.
I realize that the popularity of Movable Type has relatively decreased since the backlash over pricing in MT 3.0, but surely the dropoff couldn’t have been so bad as to render the support forum lifeless.
I was surprised how a once buzzing forum could go so quiet so quickly, but after I made a quick journey through the Movable Type site, it became easier to understand.
First, the prominent homepage link “Support,” which used to point directly to the discussion forums, now points to a support overview page listing different support options. Six Apart has significantly updated the Movable Type service offerings since MT 3.0, so it seems natural for this to happen. However, the support forums have been dramatically deemphasized on the page. One must scroll half way down the page to find the link and even then, it’s very easy to miss.
As a company that most know the value of community, I find it difficult to understand this sudden change in emphasis. I suggest Six Apart take some notes from the pages of Apple, and make it clear that community discussion is an important part of their support service.
- 24 Dec 04
- community, movable type, software
Comments
Personally, I haven’t needed the forums for two reasons:
1. The license I purchased for Movable Type gives me access to a support ticket system. In fact, I think several of the people who posted most of the answers in the support forums are now employees of Six Apart.
2. So many people now use Movable Type, that even if I don’t feel like submitting a support ticket or have a question about something that Six Apart doesn’t necessarily support, I can almost always find a blog post that addresses my question.
Good observation though…the support forums were key in the early days of Movable Type. Six Apart should find a way to rekindle that magic.
Brad Lauster on 26 Dec 04
I had the same issue. I noticed the “Delete Weblogs” issue back in early October and no one responded at all for 2 weeks, and then it was just someone who had the same issue. Googling problems has become a much more successful technique.
Brian Behrend on 27 Dec 04