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We are linked from the Synergy support pages ( http://synergy-foss.org/support ) as the first port of call for support requests about Synergy. They currently link to https://superuser.com/questions/tagged/synergy

Quite often people who visit us through that link don't realise that this is a generic site for all super-user style subjects, and not something specific to Synergy. (See https://superuser.com/questions/264977/cant-get-round-robin-effect-to-work-like-i-use-to-have )

I think it would be very nice if we could have a Synergy specific entry page that tells the user that they are entering the Super User community and that it's not affiliated with Synergy and that they should specify that the question they are asking should mention the fact that they are using Synergy.

Either that or we should request that the Synergy people make it clearer on their site that we are not anything to do with them etc. At the moment they just say "read the super user faq" and that's it.

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  • 2
    well that explains recent spurt in synergy questions
    – Sathyajith Bhat Mod
    Commented Mar 31, 2011 at 18:47
  • They do say "Important: Please read the Super User FAQ before asking questions!" ;)
    – ChrisF
    Commented Mar 31, 2011 at 21:33
  • @ChrisF Yes, but that's not much, is it?
    – Majenko
    Commented Mar 31, 2011 at 22:29
  • Not nearly enough.
    – ChrisF
    Commented Mar 31, 2011 at 22:30
  • At least, the [synergy] tag summary could be tweaked to explain the situation and direct them to the FAQ.
    – Mormegil
    Commented Apr 1, 2011 at 15:50

2 Answers 2

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As Jeff mentioned, I contacted the Synergy team about this.

Synergy Team,

My name is Rebecca Chernoff and I'm a Community Manager with Stack Exchange, the company behind Super User. It has come to our attention that there is some confusion with Synergy users on the Super User website.

Based on the Syngery support page, users are asking questions on Super User, unaware that the site is not specifically geared towards Synergy. One example of this is at https://superuser.com/questions/264977/cant-get-round-robin-effect-to-work-like-i-use-to-have.

The support page lists us as the primary means of support for your users, but does not make it clear that Super User is not a dedicated, official means of support. Using a Stack Exchange site as an official supprt forum for a product or project is backwards in our eyes. It doesn't allow the community to organically evolve on our site. We would much prefer to be equally listed with several other options.

In addition to clarifying the role of Super User, might I kindly suggest removing the bits about "first option", "last option" and simply listing us amongst your mailing list, irc channel, and support ticket system options? I believe this will result in a better experience for users on both sites.

Thanks,

Rebecca Chernoff
Community Manager
Stack Exchange

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    While I agree they should be clear as to what we are, I wouldn't mind as much if they had developers also providing answers. Because one of the main reasons we don't want all their questions is because they would end up not getting answered.
    – Ivo Flipse Mod
    Commented Apr 20, 2011 at 20:40
  • Thanks for sending this in, Rebecca. Please do let us know of their response (:
    – nhinkle Mod
    Commented Apr 21, 2011 at 5:23
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    Thanks for raising this - I didn't know it was an issue until yesterday. We've created a new site for our primary support channel (synergy-foss.org/osqa) but still refer users to Super User as an alternative.
    – Nick Bolton
    Commented Apr 22, 2011 at 12:24
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See my answer at

Is it okay to use Stack Overflow as the support forum for a product or project?

One way is as you saw with Subsonic -- where they simply provide a single link to Stack Overflow among other links of places people can go to discuss Subsonic. I think that's an OK nudge and if you want to seed it with questions yourself, that's fine too.

So I think the community team will be pinging the Synergy folks to ensure they have multiple links of places people can go for support.

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    Has there been any further action on this? We're still getting synergy support questions pretty frequently, and it's getting a bit tiresome. Their support page still isn't very clear, and I can see why confused users end up here thinking it's a Synergy support site of some sort.
    – nhinkle Mod
    Commented Apr 18, 2011 at 23:39
  • @nhinkle I am giving it to Rebecca for followup.
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Apr 19, 2011 at 17:00
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    OK, thanks for the update @JeffAtwood.
    – nhinkle Mod
    Commented Apr 20, 2011 at 1:57
  • They seem to have updated things now. See synergy-foss.org/osqa but note Super User is still mentioned on synergy-foss.org/support as an alternative.
    – Pricey
    Commented Apr 21, 2011 at 10:15
  • @price yes, see rebecca's answer, above
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Apr 21, 2011 at 20:18
  • Yep, I just wanted to make clear on this page that something had been done, meh perhaps I should've put it on the other question, ah well :-)
    – Pricey
    Commented Apr 21, 2011 at 23:16

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