I’m in the middle of considering how to handle question and answers on the forum I’m currently setting up.
I’ve gone into some detail replying to you because it is worth being clear about what we’re doing. I expect that you’ve seen many of the linked topics before but others may not have.
Looking at this topic critically as a Q&A topic.
FYI, I’m not looking to criticize you. This is how I look at Q&A topics.
I fell that your topic may discourage the answer you want. You’ve already presented ingenious solutions to your problem which partly close out the opportunity to discuss your broader issues.
I see four issues:
Not keeping our eye on the goal. In other words, if our objective is to improve users’ experience by answering all questions then why make the topic focus on one technology solution. That’s probably why there is such a specific and limited response as the first reply - and Jay’s normally really helpful:
Looking at this issue as it is a technology issue when it is as likely to be primarily behavioral. Jay Pfaffman also points out. By making it about narrow use of technology we are less likely to get useful responses.
Providing no evidence of research on how to improve users’ experience by answering all questions. The Q&A (question and answer) model and its specific implementation at Stack Overflow has been discussed so many times here that there must be enough information to form a general plan to resolve your issues.
Using terminology that confuses the issue and attempts to force Discourse into a different mould. A Q&A website has answers and comments but core Discourse only has replies.
For example, you can already comment without answering so a Q&A distinction between answer and comment doesn’t apply in a general-purpose discussion forum.like Discourse.
Managing the issue
I think that you are looking at this issue at too low a level. it is worth managing such issues as if it is a non-IT issue:
Who is responsible for this? Who are the stakeholders?
How important is this to you and them, and to the users?
What resources do we have to work with? Do you need more?
What do people think? It’s usually worth getting user views and feedback.
Here’s an example with people and no technology:
Allocate responsibility for making this work, i.e. make sure that someone has the job of making this work. Use the levers you already use - KPIs, objective, goals, tasks, whatever -
Organize staff to make sure it happens, e.g:
roster supervision of forum support
assign targets or quotas - there will be a rush to resolve easy questions which is what you want
motivate e.g. awards, prizes, etc.
Get more volunteers to help i.e. like this site.
Consider the following approaches outside of Discourse
Ask the experts
I like this site because they actively use Discourse too.
See what others are doing
Look at what others have done to manage different types of questions e.g:
How the Discourse team manage support
How to encourage users to post
Empower the community
Add volunteer moderators.
Add more moderators to educate and assist users.
Maybe Q&A is too dominant
Maybe focusing more on the concepts of help and support is what’s needed. The Q&A format does have its weaknesses, e.g.:
Create model answers such as FAQs
The more uniform the types of problems then the greater the benefit from standardizing solutions.
Consider using the following Discourse-related features
View unanswered topics
Topics without replies can be unearthed by sorting any topic list view with a column for the number of replies. Save the web browser shortcut then you have easy access : https://meta.discourse.org/latest?ascending=true&order=posts
Keywords
Create a home page
A home page can set the tone for users.
Use categories
You might benefit from creating lighter categories like “I was wondering …” or “Does this only happen to me?” to reduce barriers to participation.
Use tags
Assign tags for the status of a topic. These tags can be part of a tag group.
Solved plug-in
As a Discourse customer you get this in the base plug-ins but other sites have to add it:
Reduce the noise
Use core features to make the main questions and answers more obvious:
Close resolved topics.
Archive effective duplicates.
Assign plug-in
A plug-in on Discourse hosting. Assign a team member the responsibility for making sure that a topic is resolved:
Tickets plug-in
Assign tickets to users or staff. But not a Discourse hosting plug-in.
Q&A plug-in
Not an official plug-in but it isn’t indispensable to your goal given the other features:
Canned Replies plug-in
Save time repeating common responses to questions. This could also form the basis for some further automated responses:
Reply as Linked Topic feature
Split topics where the questions are different but related:
Combine this with the Solved plug-in to allow additional solutions to similar questions:
Linkify Words theme component
Creates hyperlinks for certain words. This could be used to link to FAQs, model answers, specific category, etc.
Abbrify Words theme component
Add the expanded terms to any abbrevation so users don’t have search online:
Restrict Replies plug-in
Restricts replies in a topic to specific groups e.g. the support team.
For reports and analysis that can’t be provided in the core interface:
Saved Searches plug-in
Notify when search items are found. It could help staff to find the topics they support.
Voting plug-in
Vote on topics in a category has quite a few potentially useful options. This could be used to vote for topics of most interest to users. It could be used on resolved topics to indicate best questions or best solutions. Or it could be used to rank FAQs and best model answers.
AMA (Ask me anything) format
For example, to have an expert answer broader questions of interest.
Add a group chat channel with Discourse Chat Integration plug-in
Some questions are better chatted about because chat removes much of the weightiness and formaility that may being deterring some users from participating.
Add custom buttons etc to automate actions
For example, one of several plug-ins and theme components that do this.