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Feedback about open beta from a space editor's perspective for software logistics

BorisZarske
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos
250

Hi all!

As space editor for (for example, we cover topics like installation, system copy, migration to SAP HANA, transports, update, technical configuration), I also wanted to share my first impressions of the open beta:

  • First, great that we have this open beta, especially in this really open format with transparent feedback options and listing of improvements done in the last days - thanks a lot to all that are and were involved in making this happen! It is just great that we can finally try out the new environment (after having talked about it for months)!
  • Function-wise, it provides a very good impression, especially for a beta - this already gives me great confidence in the stability and usability of the new environment - great job by everyone involved in setting this up (and keeping it running)! For example, creating blogs works as desired (after some hickups in the first days).

Some constructive feedback:

  • In the search, I would like to see the tags offered as filters as well.
  • When I search for our primary tag "software logistics", I now get a list of ~600 results, with rather outdated content listed on top when sorted by relevance ("Categories of our SCN space" - which will become obsolete, "SL sessions at SAP TechEd 2013", ...) - I hope that space editors will be able to "moderate" the result list or provide some recommended links on top, as otherwise, it will be hard to find the right information.
  • Also, our archived documents do not show up in the search results yet. For example: if I would be a consultant or administrator and would like to learn about system copy and migration - if I perform a corresponding search, I would hope to get to this page, which does not show up in the search results (yet).
  • Even if the page would show up, I would be linked to an overview page in the archive (archive.sap.com), as the content steems from a document in former SCN, which are planned to get archived. But would I rely on information provided in an archive when planning a huge project over several months (such as a migration project to SAP HANA)? Most probably not. So, this might result in raising already answered questions again and if it should be urgent, the creation of incidents in the support system to get clarification about the validity of archived information.
  • Overall, for our topic (as software logistics is not a product and with this, will not get a product page), it is still hard to guess how a user can get an overview of our topic (and about latest news or new procedures). Hopefully, the community topic pages will help (if we should get one for our topic), as users might not know for what tag they should search.
  • With this, we arrive at the tags. Tag concept requires improvements from my point of view - if I get it right, I could now (at least in the beta) select a primary + additional tags from a flat list of products - for us, the only fitting entry would be "Software Logistics Toolset", which does not cover all our topics and which does not really help to find the right information in our wide area of different topics. In addition, I could provide further tags (as used in the former SCN), but here, I am missing tag governance, which would be crucial from my point of view, given the importance tags will get in the new environment to structure content. For example, as current space editor, would I have to look for content tagged with "installation", "SWPM", "software provisioning manager", "implement", "SAPinst", ... (+ all related misspellings) to moderate content provided for the topic of SAP system installation?

Overall, I like the look and feel of the new environment and again want to thank everyone involved in setting this up and migrating the first waves of content over! I hope this feedback is somewhat helpful and I am looking forward to work together in smoothing out the experience for the community, so that also our content will be accessible and provide an even better community experience for our users!

Thanks,

Boris

Hi Boris, thanks a lot for your detailed and good feedback. Meta data in the beta is still progressing. We added your feedback on the SCN beta feedback list for review. Please contact Brian Bernard (http://scn.sap.com/people/brianbernard) for further update details. Thanks, Ingvild     

Accepted Solutions (1)

Accepted Solutions (1)

brianbernard
Community Manager
Community Manager
0 Kudos

Hi Boris,


Thanks for the detailed response, and as always, the positive outlook.


As several of the first points relate to search, we really need the expertise of .

I will say a couple of things first though:

  1. The 'software logistics' topic tag has not been integrated into the community platforms yet, even though it is in the metadata management tool. It will be another two or so weeks before it manifests in community. Its absence affects the search experience.
  2. There will be a community topic page for Software Logistics. You will be getting an invite soon about this.

I can probably help fill in some more cracks once Jason has the opportunity to provide some perspective from the search side.

Best,

Brian

BorisZarske
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos

Hi Brian,

Thanks a lot, that is already very good news ! Looking forward to get further feedback from Jason!

Thanks again,

Boris

JasonLax
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
0 Kudos

Hello Boris,

Tags are still being worked into search so that they can be available as filters based on the available metadata (tags) embedded in the content. However, there will not be tags for archived content, only net new. The team is still in the process of incorporating all the new content into the search index.

We are working on a concept to boost the ranking of starting pages for topics/products. We may likely use Best Bets (promoted search results) until something automatic is available. This would rely on topic and product specialists to suggest the best target for common queries.

Thanks for your feedback.

Jason

Answers (0)