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Waiting Time

Posted on 2005-10-17 19:10 By dcasimir (Maple Rating 3 289)
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This is more of a question than a suggestion.

My experiences with this site have all been positive, and I'm extremely grateful for the wonderful service provided by the staff members.

I understand that a lot of the questions posted sometimes require a good deal of time and effort to answer.

However I'd like to know why some "Newbie Questions" are answered only after hours, and some after a few days ?

Is there a system or is it just the luck of the draw ?

It also seems like there are a few staff members on this site to handle this heavy load.

My question / suggestion is whether or not there is some possible way to address this issue, and if this issue is actually being addressed currently ?

v/r

Keep up the good work,

‹ I need a print facility Messages ›

what staff...

Comment on 2005-10-17 22:02 from Joe Riel (Maple Rating 4 1248)

So far as I know, there isn't staff at Maplesoft assigned to answer these questions. Many, probably most, of the responses are from members of the Maple community. If the question is easy (say a usage or programming issue) it will probably be quickly interested. If the question is unclear (e.g. the one titled "scientific notation") it may not be answered at all. If the question involves some difficult mathematics, well then it depends if someone finds it interesting and has the time. The best way to get a question answered is to clearly formulate it, as simply as possible. Then give it an appropriate subject.

Misread

Comment on 2005-10-17 22:32 from dcasimir (Maple Rating 3 289)

Guess I assumed there was an "assigned" group of MapleSoft employees available to answer questions.

The reason for this assumption was the MapleSoft affiliation of industry section of the responders' personal account information. Thanks for the tips.

Participation

Comment on 2005-10-18 09:56 from pchin (Maple Rating 2 161)

Participation varies among Maplesoft employees so I'll just speak for myself here. I try to check MaplePrimes on a regular basis and follow those discussions relevant to my work (currently plotting and optimization). Unfortunately, my regular duties don't allow me the time to participate in MaplePrimes as much as I'd like. So I leave most questions for the Maple community to answer, and so far, the community has done an admirable job. I will reply if I can contribute extra information that is not generally known among users. As Will has mentioned, we do get notified of any technical question that has not been answered for a few days.

So in summary, I do read many of the posts here and appreciate any feedback that will help me improve the product, and you will see me wander into the discussion now and then.

Paulina Chin
Maplesoft

Will's picture

Close to correct

Comment on 2005-10-17 22:57 from Will (Maple Rating 4 823)

Joe got the current system down pretty well. The community has been great at answering simple or interesting questions very quickly.

For the harder questions that don't get answered, I usually wait a day or two for the community to answer the question. If they do not get answered, I send an e-mail out to a bunch of Maplesoft employees who will usually answer the question. Keep in mind that most Maplesoft employees will only be checking the site during the week. So any questions posed on the weekend, might have to wait a little longer.

Since Joe's last statement is so useful, I want to repeat it, "The best way to get a question answered is to clearly formulate it, as simply as possible. Then give it an appropriate subject."

The more people that use the site, the faster and better questions will be answered. So, over time the response time will get shorter and shorter.

____
William Spaetzel
Applications Developer, Maplesoft

alec's picture

I agree

Comment on 2005-10-18 13:32 from alec (Maple Rating 4 1470)

I agree with what Joe Riel said. For me, it is mostly a matter of time. If I can copy an example into Maple, I can easily correct the errors and post the answer. If I have to retype the example manually (because it was posted in 2d-notation, or with pictures with formulas), it takes longer time and I need some additional motivation for doing that. If there are no examples and I have to invent an example myself, it also takes longer time. Such questions, without examples, usually hard to understand - it is not clear what poster wants. Also, sometimes I don't post a reply because I want somebody else to reply - replies from Maplesoft employees are especially appreciated. In some cases, I didn't post a reply just because the poster emailed his question personally to my email address in addition to posting it here - I have enough junk mail in my mailbox without that.

maple posting format

Comment on 2005-10-18 14:54 from Joe Riel (Maple Rating 4 1248)

Let me exand on what Alec mentioned. If you post Maple code (a good idea if you have a particular question concerning it), the most useful format is that which allows us to easily copy and paste it. Please use the 1D Maple format.

When posting code I use the <pre> tag so that indentation is preserved. A caveat with the <pre> tag is that it does not handle the "<" character. To insert it a "<" character, use &lt; (the semicolon is required).

Will's picture

Worksheet Conversion

Comment on 2005-10-18 19:37 from Will (Maple Rating 4 823)

Another great way of posting Maple code is to use the Worksheet Converter which turns any .mw worksheet into HTML which you can then post in the forums, as a blog entry or as a reply.

The converter also uploads the worksheet to MaplePrimes and inserts a link to the .mw so that other people can download and try out your code quickly and easily.

____
William Spaetzel
Applications Developer, Maplesoft

Tom 4's picture

MaplePrimes goals

Comment on 2005-10-18 13:47 from Tom 4 (Maple Rating 4 468)

I think it's helpful to recall the goals of this site (About MaplePrimes). We've always had the romantic vision of this site blossoming into a wide range of content and information being generated by a broad cross-section of the user base. The forums and the "How to?" portions wer an important part of this vision, but a part nonetheless. So initially, we did not assign permanent Maplesoft staff to monitor and answer questions. Instead we counted on some well known characters (e.g. Alec, Joe, Steve, Thomas, Roman, to name a few ... and forgive me if I've omitted other active users in this list) to assist us. Ultimately, I think this is still the right answer as I think you'll get more expert information on some topics (believe it or not, we don't know everything about every application area here in Maplesoft land) and ironically, more timely information. Our corporate policy is nominal 24 hour response time, maximum 3 days. Depending on time of day and what time people sleep around the world, I've noticed that our performance on MaplePrimes either rivals or exceeds our own corporate performance.

Not entirely a bad thing as I believe even a working process like our corporate tech support process could use a competition :-)

I also look forward to the day when you become a prolific MaplePrimes advisor and offer your experiences to help more Newbies!

Tom 4.

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