It is no secret that the migration from SCN to the SAP Community has brought certain changes, unfortunately these have also brought a changed behavior in the answers and perhaps also questions.
Our SAP Business One product community is one of the largest, unfortunately too many questions remain unanswered and not marked as closed.
We are all hopeful about the changes and improvements
planned for the SAP community, especially in the UI/technical platform. Together with other changes such as simplified guidelines, this will certainly lead to a revival of the community and a better, more collaborative, and more efficient interaction with each other.
I would also like to mention another piece of the puzzle, namely the quality and detailing of the questions that are asked here. A user expectation to drop a short-as-possible question and have a solution in minutes is understandable, it would be great if the world and our business were so simple. But everyone should also take the reader's perspective and act differently, provide basic information which is usually necessary to answer such technical questions. So why not mention and provide what could help and motivate the reader in his good intentions in assisting:
- That you really searched seriously for SAP notes, help documents, and existing discussions/threads?
Unfortunately, this basic and simplest self-help does not always seem to be used, although the notes search potentially brings you result in 20 seconds. If you have problems with this (search, help portal, PartnerEdge, etc.), do not hesitate to contact SAP or your partner to improve this! If you have really exhausted these simple possibilities you can rather expect the attention of others.
- Mention the version you're using. Old story, but this is extremely helpful! (this is not without reason the first question every supporter asks...) Most system errors and its corrections somehow depend on specific versions.
- Same for localization and scenario, what are you intending, which steps and configurations have you done in the system?
- Provide screenshots?
You may even have experienced or seen questions deleted due to such basic quality issues. Typically I personally do not delete questions, even if they have already been answered/discussed or sound very simple. But it can come to deletion, we moderators are currently still encouraged to do so if certain criteria aren’t met.
One more note: Some questions are unfortunately not formulated very politely. It may not come as a surprise that they may not be answered always, since all community members do this voluntarily - for fun in the subject, the product and helpfulness. That's also the way I feel, I don't have any KPI to be active here, I do it out of conviction of the benefit and the fun in dealing with you, our community.
So please check your expectations if you ask questions, put yourself in the perspective of another user/consultant, would you like to answer your own questions?
And furthermore, only those who help others can also expect help, nothing new.
Of course, things mentioned do not apply to all questions, I also see many very detailed and extremely friendly formulations. I hope we can optimize the culture between us users in the amazing area of SAP Business One further.
And, all these elements are certainly some building blocks to get a higher chance of an answer.
We have by far the largest community and the best knowledge united, I am convinced that we can again significantly boost the commitment of the participants to our benefit.
In this respect I would like to say a general thank you on behalf of everyone for the many good answers, thank you for your continued commitment!
The above expresses my opinion, based on many years of cooperation and observation here from the point of view of SAP Business One space.
Have fun and success,
Best regards, Peter
