Comments in public P2´s

@jonburke, my public P2 is almost ready to be launched (in my planning, this would happen in March), so I would like to know if there has been any development in the issue we discussed here.

In summary: we note that anyone, or any WP.com user, can comment on public P2. This is very unsatisfactory. So, I launched the following proposal:

There should be two types of public websites: those where only members can comment and those that anyone (with a wordpress.com account) can (with approval or not for comments made by non members).

Thanks for the help!

#forum

Revisiting Categories

There was a suggestion to not have multiple categories for one post. Before I go too deep in building/expanding this particular P2 for Myself and My Business Partner I ask your feedback.

Referring to the pictures below. We have categories of Clients and Advisors. I’ve set the default category to General. Under Advisors I have two listed and Under Advisors just one listed for right now. If I were to mark a post with two categories (Woodcock + Spinakr) would this be a problem?

Have I provided enough information for you to give me feedback? Thank you!

#forum

More Onboarding Thoughts

I post here as I work through my onboarding challenges. Introducing anything new to a work team is a challenge and more of a challenge to a group of related people. I am currently onboarding a study group (8) and a golf course board of directors (15). P2 will make easier the communication and work flow for both groups but they all have to buy in for this to work because this will be the way we share information. This is a switch from E Mail which I hope to completely eliminate except for side bar conversations. Here are a few steps I am taking to help get team members up to speed and active users of the P2. Keep in mind I am not the Tech person. More of a design person. Here are some steps I am implementing.

1. Once a person accepts an invitation I ask them to make their first post so I know they can at least handle this simple task. It can just be a hello to the group. I will like and reply.
2. I ask all group members on the P2 and in an E Mail to adjust their account and notification settings. Get a picture up and also make sure they are receiving notifications in the way which works for them. If they choose to disable notifications then I tell them I hope they will check in every other day or at a frequency level appropriate for the group.
3. This next step is critical. For the Golf Board I need everyone to be comfortable with uploading files, reviewing files, responding to questions and posting questions. So I assign to group the task of doing each of these so they can see how easy it is and if a member gets hung up I walk them through the process. Keep in mind I am working with a wide range of skill levels. The P2 format is going to scale when average people embrace the tool.
4. Once I have everyone up to speed on the basics then I suggest they spend 10 minutes trying to do some other things. Post a picture, upload a video, use a format etc… Just so they can see.
5. Since each group meets once a month I can deal with other features in person or on our Zoom Meetings.

For those who are enthusiastic about the format I encourage them to create their own P2.

#forum

Who is P2 Made For?

P2 was originally developed for the tech savvy to collaborate with the tech savvy at Automattic. If you have not seen Matt’s blog post from over 10 years ago here is the link. https://ma.tt/2009/05/how-p2-changed-automattic/ – I suggest a quick look through the comments too.

So as I stated P2 was originally developed for geek to geek collaborations where work needed to get done and information needed to be retrieved. The users were not afraid of a little technology in the P2 format. Now we are looking to make a larger part of the population aware of this tool and to be willing users. There are four types of users.

1. Tech Inclined Creators/Team Leaders
2. Non Tech Inclined Creators/Team Leaders
3. Tech Inclined Users/Team Members/Collaborators
4. Non Tech Inclined Users/Team Members/Collaborators

If P2 is made for groups 1 & 3 you simply need to convince the group to use P2, agree to a few protocols and it is go time.

I am technically somewhere between 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 just to give you a perspective of where I am coming from personally and where I am in skill level.

The greatest growth of P2 will be when we solve the problem of making the interface easy for the #4 Group. Once they start to use P2 they will need some type of encouragement to continue to use it and participate in the discussions and the sharing of information.

If I ran the zoo I would be looking to add features to help the most novice of users get engaged. These features would have to be simple enough to implement for the #2 Group. Here is a list free float ideas off the top of my head.

• Have an “I Want to List” of buttons – I want to mention person/people in a post. I want to upload a file. I want to remind people of a meeting. I want to review my day’s work. I want to ask a question. I want to make a tag. I want to learn about something. I want to do a search. This could be an optional list if the entire group is tech savvy.
• Make the 3 “Reply” buttons – “Reply” “Comment” “Ask a Question” “I have an Idea” – Maybe even make them a touch larger. In effect they are the SAME button but an end user might not think you can ask a question with the “Reply” Button.
• The Help feature will need some simplification someday. We are turning readers into contributors and this is where they need a simpler help feature assuming no real tech experience.

These are just a few rambling thoughts as I think about the rain coming in this afternoon to Seattle. I want to use this tool with our Golf Board, With Family, With my business partner (tech frustrated), with Study Groups and with clients when appropriate. What ideas do other people have out there to make things easier to get wider user engagement? #forum

The new P2 reduced my prejudices against the block editor

Although I still consider that it was, at the beginning, a major failure of the Gutenberg project to ignore the needs of users who write long posts (the paragraph block does not meet them), my prejudices against the possibilities of the block editor have diminished a lot with the use of the new P2. Here, for a reason I don’t know, everything seems more accessible and less intimidating (perhaps, the simplicity help). Although, on my traditional sites, I will continue to use the classic editor or the classic block preferably, I am now open to some inovations.

This ease of use that P2 presents must be considered by the responsible team. What I mean is that a secondary use of it, as a small forum, can make many people fall in love with WordPress (and I remember that for this to be effective, in my view, we only need two more resources: a widget with topics that received the latest comments and more control over uploads).

Thanks, P2 team!

#forum #WordPress #blocks