New Features: Module Swaps and Improvements to the Resource type
Hello everyone!
Today we're releasing a new message type called a Module Swap, as well as an improvement to the Resource type that should make it more useful for everyone. These two message types now take advantage of a new capability that lets you choose the initial status of your posts, so that we can either route your message to other members for help, or just save your contribution for future reference.
If you're ever posting about whether or not a particular module can be swapped into a vehicle, or looking for a waveform or other resource, please read on to see how you should use these message types to accomplish your goals.
Module Swaps
Recently, long-time member Dmitriy Levchenkov discussed his idea to track the success/failure of swapping modules from donor vehicles. This immediately piqued our interest, as we've all seen the increased posting of messages from members asking if anyone knows whether a particular module can be swapped into the vehicle they're working on, and if so, what might be involved in making it work.
It also reminded us of our existing Resource message type, which was initially designed to let members contribute waveforms and other resources, without generating notifications to everyone on DN, or swamping the message stream if someone was nice enough to post several in a row.
Working in coordination with Dmitriy, we've developed a new message type that can be posted to DN, called a Module Swap.
Taking advantage of our existing platform that makes it easy to tag vehicles using a VIN or year/make/model/engine, this type also requests some additional metadata:
When posting a Module Swap, you are asked to specify the initial status of your post. This is how we decide whether to notify members of your post: if you need help, choose the Unknown status, or if you want to share your experience trying a module swap, choose the Failed or Succeeded status, and we'll store it for future reference.
Based on the feedback you receive, you can then close your post later by replying to it, choosing the Failure or Success, and providing details on what was done. You'll notice on Module Swaps that you can add metadata to your replies. This lets you easily supply the details that might help others in the future directly in your reply. If another member replies with their own experience and confirms that it will or won't work, you can upvote their reply, and tag it as Failure or Success, and that will also close out the discussion.
Resource/Wanted or Resource/Contributed
As with people asking for information about potential module swaps, we've also seen a lot of discussions started where members are asking for help locating a waveform or similar resource for a specific vehicle or situation.
Based on some of the new techniques we developed for Module Swaps, we've changed how the Resource message type works, so that it's flexible enough to be used in these situations: you will now be prompted to choose an initial status for Resources: Wanted or Contributed.
Unlike the previous behavior, which always hid Resources unless you were performing a search or viewing the Resources area directly, now Resources will generate notifications and appear in the message streams if they are started in the Wanted state, so that members can see them and provide help. If someone shares the resource you needed, just upvote their reply and tag it with “Contribution,” and the post will be closed out and that reply will be highlighted.
Notifications
By default, most members will not receive notifications about Module Swaps or Resources that are initially posted in one of the resolved states (i.e. Failed, Succeeded, or Contributed). This is to avoid inundating everyone with these messages in the event that someone decides to post several in a row. However, if you want to see them all, you can always adjust your message type subscriptions and select “Always” for Module Swaps and Resources. Or if you have no interest at all, you can choose the “Never" option, and they'll never show up in your subscriptions stream, or via email.
If you do see a Resource/Wanted or a Module Swap/Unknown that you're particularly interested in, just bookmark it, and once it's resolved, you'll receive a notification.
Thank you Dmitriy!
We want to thank Dmitriy for the work he's done and ideas he put forward to make the Module Swap feature possible. We also want to thank everyone that makes the effort to share their time and experience with everyone else here in our community.