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SMF or QA

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yeehi:
Perhaps you have already seen the grand-daddy of all the Q&A websites, Stack Exchange:

http://stackexchange.com/ [nofollow]

It is software like a forum with a focus on people asking and answering questions.  There are free as in freedom software alternatives to this now, for example OSQA:

http://www.osqa.net/ [nofollow]

If you are unfamiliar with them, you are in for a treat. They take a bit of time to get used to, as they are quite complex, and functionality is crippled until you acquire some reputation, so perservere. The have very nice permissions system, and sophisticated tag functionality and you can really add value to data in your system by voting on it. askubuntu.com is a popular stack exchange implementation. The stack exchange philosophy is that it is best to have all the people working on providing answers to questions on a specific subject centralised.

I wonder what you think of these sorts of website. Do you think they will come to replace traditional forum software? What do you think forum software like SMF has to offer that these sorts of Q&A programs don't have?

K@:
We have an FAQ...

http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Category:FAQ

Arantor:
The structure in such places is very geared to Q&A, whereas SMF is not geared for any specific type of community. The upshot is that SMF is generic and suitable for all sorts of things, but not ideal for Q&A, though I'm sure you could add facilities that would make it suitable for Q&A primarily should you want to.

They won't replace traditional forum software because as intimated, not all forum-type communities are based around Q&A structures, they often serve other purposes too.

Could you imagine this forum as a Q&A? The main difference is that here, the responses all form discussions in their own right, not as in answers with comments attached.

Seems to me based on what you've said thus far SMF is not the right software for the need you have, but that something like Stack Exchange's software would be; because you're looking for a Q&A system, not a forum.

ChalkCat:
Are you absolutely sure you're not a spammer?  :P

From your other posts today I was under the impression that you had already installed SMF to find out for yourself whether it suits your purpose rather than asking for subjective third-party opinion - was I wrong?

As you appear to still be comparing what's available, I suppose the obvious question, which I don't think you have clarified anywhere as yet, is what are you hoping to achieve?  What do you want to create with your chosen software?

Arantor:
That's the thing: I'm getting the impression that it's about creating a Q&A setup, which is not what SMF is geared to, though it could be made to be.

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