Making it easier to get to Support

[aedifica]

Title:
Making it easier to get to Support

Area:
site navigation

Summary:
Make http://support.dreamwidth.org/ redirect to http://www.dreamwidth.org/support/ .

Description:
Currently if you go to http://support.dreamwidth.org/ you get a page telling you "There is no user support at Dreamwidth Studios." I think it'd be great if instead it automatically redirected to the Support page, http://www.dreamwidth.org/support/ .

(Besides, Dreamwidth has excellent user support, it's a lie to say there's none! *grin* )

Poll #5131 Making it easier to get to Support

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 82

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
72 (87.8%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
4 (4.9%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
3 (3.7%)

(I have no opinion)
2 (2.4%)

(Other: please comment)
1 (1.2%)

Comments

[alixtii]

I am amused by the diversity of responses.

[aedifica]

Indeed. :-)

[marahmarie]

I'm the first 'shouldn't be implemented' vote. Just replace the dead link with the functioning one. Plus I don't even want to get into what the subdomain use might entail (from a security standpoint, even with just a redirect in place and no actual content on the subdomain)...so I'm thinking Support ought to remain at the top-level domain, though I can't really articulate why, beyond security - just seems more...intuitive?

[aedifica]

Congratulations on bringing some diversity. :-)

The situation here isn't a dud link, it's someone typing "support.dreamwidth.org" into their browser because they think it'll get them to Support.

[marahmarie]

Well, in that case, I don't understand why someone would do that (and in my defense, the OP did not mention how he or she got to that URL, only that...they got to it...not by typing it in, or any other method).

Which, in my current half-asleep state, brings me images of this:

"Beam me up Scotty, to support.dreamwidth.org - Hey SCOTTY, where is it?"

I'm sure I just need sleep. :)

[aedifica]

The OP (that'd be me) got there by typing it in, because I couldn't remember if it was support.dreamwidth.org or dreamwidth.org/support... and so the one I tried first was the one that feels more natural to *me*. Apparently I have a different set of "what feels natural" than you and azurelunatic do. :-)

To clarify something in your earlier comment, I'm not suggesting that we change where Support is located! I'm suggesting that the other address redirect to the correct one, not that the correct one be changed.

Sleep well! :-)

[marahmarie]

And to clarify what I was saying, I already edited my first reply (my edit is in parentheses) to add that the reason using the subdomain might be no good is it could be a security risk. If DW redirects support.dreamwidth.org/ to dreamwidth.org/support, then so can anyone else. You just do not want this; I've seen too many examples of Blogspots being redirected to websites without the Blogspot owner's permission to ever want to see this suggestion implemented. All it takes is a simple change in the DNS/MIX records to pretty much do whatever the heck you want with a subdomain that is set up to allow such redirects. Your suggestion scares me, put bluntly (I was trying to avoid having this conversation, but since you sort of asked).

[aedifica]

Why were you trying to avoid it? *is curious*

[marahmarie]

Two reasons:

1) I didn't want to seem contentious, since I like it when anyone makes a suggestion to improve anything around here, even if the suggestion is one I happen to disagree with

and

2) My understanding of how the redirect might become a security risk is tenuous at best, based solely on my observation of Blogspot blogs over the years. So my understanding of how malicious off-site redirects could happen on DW subdomains is based on observation of a site other than LiveJournal or Dreamwidth.

LiveJournal implements exactly your suggestion (a redirect from support.livejournal.com to livejournal.com/support is currently in place), so there's also the fact that it can't be impossible to pull off this redirect without the security risks I've seen it open up on Blogspot; I'm just leery of the implementation on DW not being airtight enough to prevent such a thing from occurring.

[ninetydegrees]

I just want to point out that m.dreamwidth.org redirects to dreamwidth.org/mobile and shop.dreamwidth.org to dreamwidth.org/shop so it's not like the OP's suggesting something which isn't already implemented somehow; it's just one more variation on a theme. (Not to dimiss your concerns, just saying).

[azurelunatic]

There is a pretty strong convention that non-www subdomains here are user space. Moving anything official that is not a journal onto it's own subdomain would make it feel less official unless that general convention changed.

[marahmarie]

Exactly. It just feels wrong. Everything is sorted out in a way that makes perfect sense to me right now (subdomains 'r us, top level's DW's official playground).

[azurelunatic]

Though I think we part opinions after that point. I don't have any real investment in where the main page for Support is on the site. I wouldn't necessarily look for Support at http://support.dreamwidth.org/ myself, and users who intuitively understand the current site structure wouldn't look for it there either -- but since it would not be out of the question to have something like that there on another site, users who aren't used to DW are going to wind up there and wind up lost. Users who do know the site pretty well, and know that Support has the support@ email address might wind up there too. For the reason of those lost users, I am in favor of at least a link to the actual Support area.

[marahmarie]

You and I can part ways if you want. At least we agree (and that is a relief to me) that since we both intuitively understand how link structure and domain hierarchies work on LJ/DW, this suggestion would make little sense - at least, not for us. For others who don't have that internal sense of LJ's/DW's organization, yes, your mileage may indeed vary.

My ultimate point being, the suggestion, to my mind, at least, also opens up a security risk - the chance that someone with ill intent may use the subdomain location to redirect it to a website that has nothing to do with DW at all.

http://dw-suggestions.dreamwidth.org/485751.html?thread=2905463#cmt2905463

Make of it what you will... *shrugs*

[aedifica]

By the way, I realized the other day why *I* instinctively go to "support.dreamwidth.org" instead of "dreamwidth.org/support"--it's because I go to support.dell.com almost daily for work. :-)

[ex_mrs260625]

I was thinking that one way to do it would be for someone official to create a journal with that username, and have the profile and the one entry say something like "Looking for help with Dreamwidth? Dreamwidth Support is located at [link]!" with a short explanation that this journal is a placeholder. For me, it's the same idea as what you find at http://username.dreamwidth.org/

That way it doesn't break the "subdomains are journals" convention, but also doesn't leave people without clues when they're looking for help.

[marahmarie]

I like this suggestion. At least it's safer.

[twisted_times]

Me three - I like this. :)

[kyrielle]

I like this.

[silverflight8]

The other thing is wording: at the moment, it says "There is no user support at Dreamwidth Studios." When read quickly (and if you were unfamiliar with the way journal URLs are set up) the bolding doesn't signify much. Rewording it to say "There is no user named "support" at Dreamwidth Studios" would eliminate some of the confusion, although I also like mrs260's suggestion.

[ex_moondancer561]

How about adding a direct link to Support in either header or footer? Those are the first places I go when I'm trying to find something site-specific, then to the help links, which are also in the aforementioned locations.