WP8.1 developer preview Tips & Tricks thread

[a5cent]

Hey everybody

BigPaddy started a great thread here, which many of you have been periodically cleaning up:

http://forums.windowscentral.com/windows-phone-8-1-preview-developers/275061-wp8-1-tips-tricks.html

I'd like to suggest that BigPaddy collect/summarize/categorize the entire threads content in his first post. Eliminating duplicates and organizing tips & tricks by topic would make a great resource for when WP8.1 officially roles out. Noting that all the tips & tricks have been collected up to page X would make for a lost easier reading as well, as people could jump straight to the page/posts that havn't yet been summarized.

If BigPaddy doesn't want to do this I'd offer to do it myself, if you folks also think this is a good idea.

What say you?

 

[snowmutt]

Great idea. Normally, people won't scroll through several pages looking for the answers they need, they just will give up. Having most of the tips on the opening page will increase users coming to our site satisfaction, hopefully resulting in their coming back and increasing our traffic.

 

[Pete]

Excellent idea. I really hate having to trawl through reams of off-topic rantage to get to useful information.

It should be Paddy's ambassadorial duty to collate the most useful information at the start of the thread.

 

[a5cent]

It should be Paddy's ambassadorial duty to collate the most useful information at the start of the thread.

I'm not sure if it is fair to talk of duty. After all, we are all here on our free time, but there might already be some understanding in place. That is why I'm asking.

@Muessig or anyone else that knows

Can I send off a PM and ask him directly? Is that possibly something he should already be doing that I would be intruding on? I want to avoid giving Paddy any tasks, if that sort of thing should be going through Muessig.

 

[Muessig]

I've asked him to take a look at it but I know that he's having problems with his current workplace, so it might be a few days before he gets to it.

 

[a5cent]

I've asked him to take a look at it but I know that he's having problems with his current workplace, so it might be a few days before he gets to it.

Okay, in that case I'll expect him to take care of it. Let him know that I'm willing to do it if he want me to. Thanks.

 

[a5cent]

It's been a while, and it looks like nothing has happened. I sent two PMs to BigPaddy but got no response, and the official release of WP8.1 is drawing near.

Anyway, like I said, I'd volunteer to do this, but I want your opinion before I go in and start editing Bigpaddy's first post (I'd also transfer ownership of the original post to myself at that point). Editing other people's posts just doesn't feel right, but since BigPaddy isn't responding and because this thread could be a very valuable resource for the community, I think an exception is in order.

What say you?

 

[Guytronic]

BP is pretty inactive of late.
If you need help I can pitch in.

 

[a5cent]

BP is pretty inactive of late.
If you need help I can pitch in.

I sent the first PM over a month ago, and the second a week later.

If Laura gives the okay to modify PB's post, doing this together would be fun. Absolutely!

 

[Muessig]

I say go for it, he's having problems with his job at the moment so he's 'stepped down' as an ambassador for the time being.

 

[a5cent]

Okay, I've completed this task! :smile:

The first post now includes everything in the thread (except one tip that I didn't understand and one that I couldn't verify to be correct).

Next steps:

1. Feel free to make improvements. Just BE ABSOLUTELY SURE to uncheck "Automatically parse links in text" in the advanced editor, before saving your changes, otherwise it will screw up the entire post.
2. In some situations a video is worth a thousand words. Unfortunately, I found no way to link to a video without vbulletin replacing the link with a gigantic embedded HTML5 video player. That just won't work for this type of thing. So, I know it's possible to have just a normal URL to a video. Who knows how to do it?
3. I have extracted quite a list of Cortana Tips & Tricks that would be ideally suited for the Cortana Tips & Tricks thread. Talderon is the owner of that thread, and I plan to pass those on to him for inclusion there. Any objections?
4. I think it's time for the 'Windows Phone 8.1' forum to leave behind its sub-forum status (Lumia 635 has been out for a while now). The 'WP8.1 Tips & Tricks thread' should then be move into it. I'd offer to do this, but I don't think I can. So, who will?

@Guytronic
I wanted us to do this together, but after I started I quickly realized it just wouldn't work. :straight: The job requires that we each know which tips/tricks have already been mentioned, but neither of us can know that if we're both working with only half of the thread. So, I just did it myself. Still, thank you very much for the kind offer! I'm sure we'll get around to something more suitable for teamwork, so not all is lost. :grin: