change /help-ping to post message requesting help in dedicated channel

[danthe1st]

Currently, the /help-ping command pings the help-ping role.
However, that won't do much as pinging the role doesn't seem to add its members to the thread.

OLD/OUTDATED version:

This PR changes that command so that it adds a random member with the help-ping role to the post.
Aside from that, it makes sure that the command isn't used immediately after post creation.

I am not sure whether this is the best possible solution but it is the best I could come up with.

EDIT:
When users use /help ping, a message is sent to a specific channel. This message can be acknowledged (and unacknowledged) by users.

[liquiddevelopmentnet]

I am against this. I know that this is the best solution we know, but i still wouldn't go for it.

Since many people that do not actively help also have the help ping role, the command would fail its purpose maybe 75% of the time.

Also, OPs would often then directly address those users added, requesting help from specifically them (since they are kinda "assigned" to that post now), and creating a unnecessary uncomfortable situation for the pinged members.

One approach that came in my mind just now (which maybe isn't a good solution either) would be a channel that pings the help ping role linking the thread where it's requested?

[danthe1st]

Yeah, that's also one possibility. Although I'm unsure whether a ping would even be necessary in that case.

Of course, it would also be possible to completely remove that command.

[danthe1st]

Yet another possibility would be to add two helpers instead of one and adapt the text shown to the OP to display something like

Successfully added a random user with the help-ping role to the channel. Please note that everyone helping here is doing so voluntarily and they might not be specifically knowledgable in the subject you are having problems with and please respect it if they cannot or do not want to help.

[liquiddevelopmentnet]

Yet another possibility would be to add two helpers instead of one and adapt the text shown to the OP to display something like

Successfully added a random user with the help-ping role to the channel. Please note that everyone helping here is doing so voluntarily and they might not be specifically knowledgable in the subject you are having problems with and please respect it if they cannot or do not want to help.

That would be better, but I think still does not solve the problem. I would go for the solution i mentioned, if we can't think of anything else

[danthe1st]

We might want to change the subcommand name.

[danthe1st]

Note that this requires to set the config helpConfig.helpNotificationChannelId.

[jasonlessenich]

lgtm, maybe turn the tags into a separate embed field tho (and omit it if there are no tags)

[liquiddevelopmentnet]

How about creating a self role which allows people to opt into notifications when someone requests help? (Similar to the @help-ping role). Also, whats the mark as resolved button for? Shouldn't it automatically get resolved when the post gets closed?

[danthe1st]

I don't think we should implement pinging yet. After all, there are a lot of users with the help-ping role.
However, I plan to do the following:

• Make sure the channel is visible by default for existing users with the help-ping role (this works by role-restricting the channel at the beginning and then lifting that restriction due to how onboarding works)
• Let the channel be read-only
• Change the self-role in onboarding to a channel selection
• Remove the legacy help-ping self-role from the roles channel
• See how that works out (we can add pinging later)

Marking it as resolved means "I will take care of this" so that other people don't need to check. I would for now allow all people to do that and maybe restrict it to helper roles if necessary. The embed keeps a history of the last 5 people who changed that.

However, we might rename resolved to something else in this context. Do you have any suggestions?

[liquiddevelopmentnet]

I don't think we should implement pinging yet. After all, there are a lot of users with the help-ping role. However, I plan to do the following:

• Make sure the channel is visible by default for existing users with the help-ping role (this works by role-restricting the channel at the beginning and then lifting that restriction due to how onboarding works)
• Let the channel be read-only
• Change the self-role in onboarding to a channel selection
• Remove the legacy help-ping self-role from the roles channel
• See how that works out (we can add pinging later)

Marking it as resolved means "I will take care of this" so that other people don't need to check. I would for now allow all people to do that and maybe restrict it to helper roles if necessary. The embed keeps a history of the last 5 people who changed that.

However, we might rename resolved to something else in this context. Do you have any suggestions?

Alright, implementing pinging later and first seing if it works sounds fine. Though I dont like the help channel claiming, because:

• It can be easily abused
• It looks bulky (especially if a few people resolve and unresolve the channel) and makes the channel look confusing
• It can easily contain wrong information if someone doesnt manage to find a solution and therefore leave threads unanswered because people think it has been taken care of.
• People will hesitate to use it because it sets an indirect responsibility for the specific thread

I think that the system without the claiming system would work, look and feel better.

But if we still decide to keep it, i think "Claim" would work better as button name.

[danthe1st]

I didn't mean help channels to be "claimed". This is exactly what it is supposed to not do.
I want to allow acknowledging the notification in a way that's visible for others.
Regarding abuse, this is why I implemented the history showing the last few changes in that.
Maybe acknowledge is a better name but what would we use for undoing that action? Unacknowledge sounds weird so maybe Retract acknowledgement or similar?

[liquiddevelopmentnet]

I didn't mean help channels to be "claimed". This is exactly what it is supposed to not do. I want to allow acknowledging the notification in a way that's visible for others. Regarding abuse, this is why I implemented the history showing the last few changes in that. Maybe acknowledge is a better name but what would we use for undoing that action? Unacknowledge sounds weird so maybe Retract acknowledgement or similar?

If its just that, i wouldn't go for it. Doesn't seem like its really needed.

[danthe1st]

I don't want many such requests where nobody knows whether someone has looked at them or not. I want to make it as easy as possible for helpers to identify posts in need of help.

I also thought about removing the history and posting them somewhere else but that would be a weird solution.
After all, it would be useful for that information to be public as any helper (or user viewing the channel) could see abuse and report it by reportibg the message.

[liquiddevelopmentnet]

I guess we can give it a try and see what people think of it

[danthe1st]

Should I still change it to acknowledge or similar?

[liquiddevelopmentnet]

Should I still change it to acknowledge or similar?

Sure

[liquiddevelopmentnet]

IMPORTANT BEFORE MERGING:

Note that this requires to set the config helpConfig.helpNotificationChannelId.