"+ New Topic" fails to show "Default Questions"

+New topic works as expected if selections are made in top-down, left-right “order”:

  1. Title
  2. Select Category
  3. Post some content
  4. Create Topic

+New Topic fails to show “Default Questions” when "out-of-order"
Like when:
“Post some content"
before
"Select Category”

Maybe the “Post content section” could be disabled forcing “Select Category” before being enabled and ensuring the appropriate default questions are shown.

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Almost 5 years later...
And this still happens.

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It looks like this might be a feature we could turn on: Require category selection before writing topic - ux - Discourse Meta

@jsha do you know how to enable "require a category to be selected before they can begin entering body text" in our settings?

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I can't reply on Rudy's thread in Site Feedback for some reason (closed? too old?)

But, I already can't input text into the topic data until I select a Category.

In fact, when I change the category to/from Help it adds/removes the form questions accordingly. Maybe the new topic behaves differently for Leaders? Or dependent on browsers (I tried just on Windows 10 Edge).

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I've reopened the thread, have set a new timer on it and moved your posts into it :slight_smile:

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Yeah, looks like the Leader role grants the ability to bypass certain things -- both selecting a category and posting in a closed thread :slight_smile:

So the main takeaways here are:

  1. There are always some people who will delete the prompt; and
  2. Leaders need to be careful to only use our bonus powers for good, not accidentally use them or confuse them for how the site behaves for everyone.
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I think that feature is on by default if "allow uncategorized posts" is unchecked (as it is for us). And indeed, when I click "New topic", the input field is disabled until I choose a category (note the ⍉ cursor).

@rg305 what are your steps to reproduce?

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Color me lazy (not diligent enough)!
It seems to do the job now, but

So, I guess we'll have to mention that to those that come along "empty handed".

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We often do :slight_smile: When I reclass a post to the Help topic I note it in a reply so other volunteers know they never saw the form. That's still a gap.

Maybe the Help topic could be pre-selected and the empty form shown? Then someone would have to intentionally pick a different category. Might avoid some of the empty handed posts we see?

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I looked for a way to make a certain category the default and did not find it. If you know of a way, please let me know; that would be handy!

By the way, I have a strong preference that when someone does post empty-handed, rather than scold them for being empty-handed, we simply paste in the prompt verbatim. Conveniently, it already starts with "Please fill out the fields below so we can help you better." :smiley:

I can add a canned reply for that, but I'm not sure if you all can access canned replies. Do you see this in the settings menu while posting?

image

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As a TL3 I can see it (no idea about the lower TLs)

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I see two Canned Replies. One for Please Post Publicly and one for Domain Name. I don't know my TL level.

It would be nice to have the form in Canned Replies. I currently open a window, make a new Help topic and copy/paste the form to my welcome reply. I learned what to do from watching more experienced volunteers before I became active posting.

Sorry if my comment implied something else. I often see polite responses. Even jerks get attention. Not to mention we often go far beyond the scope of just LE certs in many cases.

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Great, I've added "Please fill out the fields below", with the contents of the help form.

And I did not mean to say that you would scold someone; but it's something I have seen in the past and it's something I have been tempted to do myself, so I figure it's worth being explicit about best practice.

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