Forum:Replacing the help desk

I would like to propose that we close the help desk forum and instead create a new help desk page that functions similarly to a standard wiki talk page, or a page like the admin's noticeboard. I am proposing this because it seems that new editors have a hard time knowing how to start threads using our wiki's wiki-style forums, and requests for help are often put into the wrong place, formatted incorrectly, or are simply missed. The types of posts made on the help desk wouldn't change - it would still be intended for primarily new editors to ask editing questions, and could also continue to be a "one-stop shop" for users with game problems; the only change would be the venue itself.

Thoughts? --  LostInRiverview talk · blog  ·  contribs 03:45, December 15, 2018 (UTC)


 * I'm supportive of this change given our discussion on Discord. For those who are not on Discord, the gist is that I pointed out that Wikipedia doesn't use the wiki-style forums and instead uses talkpage-like pages for their primary newcomer help pages. See, for example, the Wikipedia Help Desk and their Teahouse, both of which are frequented by new users asking questions about Wikipedia. They seem to generally be able to use those pages effectively enough. It would definitely seem to be less confusing than the wiki-style forums, which causes grief even for me as an experienced editor. — k6ka  🍁 ( Talk ·  Contributions ) 03:50, December 15, 2018 (UTC)

Seeing as this got literally no objection half a year ago, I've gone ahead and made The Sims Wiki:Help desk. My next question is, what shall be done with Forum:Help desk and its threads? Obviously archival is the best strategy, but how would we accomplish this? --  LostInRiverview talk · blog  ·  contribs 16:42, June 13, 2019 (UTC)


 * Remove the inputbox so users won't be able to make new threads using that method. For existing threads, a bot could be used to quickly tag them with a template informing users that the old Help desk forum has been archived, directing them to the new Help desk instead for any future queries. AFAIK the DPLForum extension doesn't provide any means to completely close a forum aside from deleting all relevant forum pages and categories. — k6ka  🍁 ( Talk ·  Contributions ) 16:51, June 13, 2019 (UTC)