# Should narrative bot be conversational, or step by step instructional?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-narrative-bot-be-conversational-or-step-by-step-instructional/62546
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [11 Maio , 2017 15:40 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-narrative-bot-be-conversational-or-step-by-step-instructional/62546 "2017-05-11T15:40:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DeanMarkTaylor](https://meta.discourse.org/u/DeanMarkTaylor)
#### Post date: [11 Maio , 2017 15:40 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-narrative-bot-be-conversational-or-step-by-step-instructional/62546/1 "2017-05-11T15:40:32Z")
Consider making the instructions more step-by-step…
Some of the instructions can be difficult to parse as a non-Discourse user - making the instructions more step-by-step might also help non-native speakers follow along in addition to those who have trouble with instructions.
Some examples…
### Quoting Instructions
#### Before
> Select the text of whichever ↑ quote you prefer, and then press the **Quote** button that pops up over your selection – or the **Reply** button at the bottom of this post.
> Below the quote, type a word or two about why you picked that one, because I’m curious 🤔
#### After
> 1. Select the text of whichever ↑ quote you prefer
> 2. And then either:
>
> - Press the **Quote** button that pops up over your selection
> - Or the **Reply** button at the bottom of this post.
>
> 1. Below the quote, type a word or two about why you picked that one, because I’m curious 🤔
### Quoting Not Found
#### Before
> Hmm it looks like you didn’t quote me in your reply?
> Selecting any text in my post will bring up the **Quote** button. And pressing **Reply** with any text selected will work, too!
#### After
> Hmm it looks like you didn’t quote me in your reply?
> Either:
> - Select any text to bring up the **Quote** button
> - Or: Pressing **Reply** with any text selected
* * *
Note I changed “Press the **Quote** button” etc to match “will bring up the **Quote** button” style consistently.
I know it’s not to everyone taste - but we are trying to cover the basics here and ensuring they, the new user you want sticking around to follow.
---
### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [11 Maio , 2017 15:42 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-narrative-bot-be-conversational-or-step-by-step-instructional/62546/2 "2017-05-11T15:42:20Z")
This feels very .. speculative to me. If people are having trouble reading, I don’t think arbitrary rearrangement of text is going to help.
If something was _missing_ from the text, I could see that, for sure.
---
### Author:  [@DeanMarkTaylor](https://meta.discourse.org/u/DeanMarkTaylor)
#### Post date: [11 Maio , 2017 15:44 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-narrative-bot-be-conversational-or-step-by-step-instructional/62546/3 "2017-05-11T15:44:16Z")
> [@Discourse Narrative Bot Beta Feedback](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-narrative-bot-beta-feedback/58621/145):
>
> I don’t think arbitrary rearrangement of text is going to help.
Not arbitrary - bullets / numbers make it clear the number of steps involved and the options to choose from; this is unclear in the current text without reading the sentence multiple times to find out what you missed.
---
### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [11 Maio , 2017 15:44 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-narrative-bot-be-conversational-or-step-by-step-instructional/62546/4 "2017-05-11T15:44:39Z")
I simply do not agree in any way with your assessment here.
“Make everything a bulleted list” is terrible advice, across the board.
---
### Author:  [@DeanMarkTaylor](https://meta.discourse.org/u/DeanMarkTaylor)
#### Post date: [11 Maio , 2017 15:48 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-narrative-bot-be-conversational-or-step-by-step-instructional/62546/5 "2017-05-11T15:48:05Z")
Have you sat next to / hovered over a user or played silent on the phone whilst someone else follows the `@discobot` ?
These are issues I have experienced following / listening to without interference from myself.
> [@Discourse Narrative Bot Beta Feedback](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-narrative-bot-beta-feedback/58621/147):
>
> “Make everything a bulleted list”
Absolutely not what I said.[quote=“DeanMarkTaylor, post:144, topic:58621”]
Consider making the instructions more step-by-step
[/quote]
Whilst…
> [@Discourse Narrative Bot Beta Feedback](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-narrative-bot-beta-feedback/58621/146):
>
> bullets / numbers make it clear the number of steps involved
is not the only solution, carefully placed new lines might also be a solution.
---
### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [11 Maio , 2017 15:50 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-narrative-bot-be-conversational-or-step-by-step-instructional/62546/6 "2017-05-11T15:50:57Z")
The bot is meant to be _conversational_, not a rote collection of bulleted steps. If that is what you prefer, you’ll need to customize the text locally for your site.
---
### Author:  [@DeanMarkTaylor](https://meta.discourse.org/u/DeanMarkTaylor)
#### Post date: [11 Maio , 2017 15:53 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-narrative-bot-be-conversational-or-step-by-step-instructional/62546/7 "2017-05-11T15:53:34Z")
Clearly both _conversational_ is possible whilst being _instructional_
> [@Discourse Narrative Bot Beta Feedback](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-narrative-bot-beta-feedback/58621/144):
>
> we are trying to cover the basics here and ensuring they, the new user you want sticking around to follow.
_conversational_ is always possible with phrasing of sentences around the instructions.
---
### Author:  [@dax](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dax)
#### Post date: [11 Maio , 2017 16:18 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-narrative-bot-be-conversational-or-step-by-step-instructional/62546/8 "2017-05-11T16:18:10Z")
Imho the difference between discobot and the classic welcome message is exatly this one.
Welcome message is structured in lists and can be very usefull for technical forums for example (especially because you can add specific sections) . But honestly, for discussion sites, it is pretty boring if you have to read an endless list of things without doing anything only to learn how to use the forum.
Discobot is more friendly and teaches you only the basics steps to use Discourse properly, and especially requires an interaction with the user without being a boring teacher…
---
### Author:  [@tophee](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tophee)
#### Post date: [11 Maio , 2017 20:20 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/should-narrative-bot-be-conversational-or-step-by-step-instructional/62546/9 "2017-05-11T20:20:48Z")
My impression is that the challenge is to get users to actually start the track, i.e. to read and respond to the first message. Once they do that, my impression is that the existing narrative works fine.