Robot responses on the forum

[boston2029]

This is something I’ve held in for so long.

Why does everyone have bot responses?

All. of. this.

Why? People are so automated. Any time I ask someone to follow that guide, I at least write something different every time:

It’s not just people wanting to be first to reply either. Some people have multiple of their replies marked as Solution with the same. copied. response. Like dude, if we needed robots to reply on the forum, we would have built them already. It’s just people fishing for those yummy Solutions. You know, I was looking for anyone who replies with a traditional “the reason traditional custom domain linking…” thing, and it’s literally Sallad’s latest solution!!!

Also with some others:

The same. copy pasted response!! Like what is this a hivemind? Who even writes these? Everyone is just like “ooh, nice canned response, person A! i’m now going to take that and use it to maximize my internet likes!”

Oh goodness no…I discovered the main members of the hivemind. The main 6…and they’re recruiting more. Seriously what is this? It’s just a group of TL3+ who are desperate to get to TL4 or whatever comes next. And it somehow works, and that confuzzles me.

“The reason that traditional. . .”

And guys, I’m not really trying to be mean, I just don’t get why it comes down to each topic being a race for who can reply with canned response #4 first.

Do y’all got a database of ~~well-~ decently-written auto-responses somewhere or something?

I’m sorry, it’s just so annoying that it comes down to this.

If you’re gonna be “helpful”, at least be a tad creative with it instead of acting like a robot. The point of humans helping other humans is so that we don’t need robots.

As a TL2, I know TL4 looks intriguing, but at least get it the intended way.

[not-ethan]

Its not robots. They are called templates (previously canned replies). And when we do TL4 and mod promotions I personally dont look at the number of replies, likes etc. (not going to say exactly what I look for)

Discourse Templates

---

We do have a lot of them, many are not really needed any more (like eagercraft as its not a common thing anymore). If you or anybody else wants the contents of some feel free to message me and I can send you the raw.

[Firepup650]

Hey @boston2029

Yes, we have a set of solutions to common problems that we paste, but that just lets us help the users on the other end faster.

Usually, we don’t end up with duplicate cans in one topic, though I’ve seen some of us reply a tad too quickly and end up with the same can a few times.

Ultimately, we just use them because it makes it a lot easier for us to respond to common problems.

[RedCoder]

Once you have achieved TL3, you will be able to use templates. It is not that we are lazy, we are just simply making it faster. No reason to change the response if it gives the same affect, anyways.

[QwertyQwerty88]

The thing is, a lot of these canned replies are for people with the same ol’ question which they could have found the answer to if they simply searched for it. There’s no point changing it. They have likely never looked at/searched this forum before.

As said by others here, at the end of the day, it’s just to help the user faster. We all volunteer our time. Perhaps we’re in a rush, then it’s easy to use a couple clicks and paste the canned reply.

[NuclearPasta0]

I personally rarely use canned replies because, one, I let others do it instead (I’m lazy), and two, I always spend at least some time typing out a new post (I guess I’m not lazy).

Also, sometimes I see a canned reply that isn’t really the best response to the OP’s question.

Here’s the oldest and one of the most common canned replies:

@not-ethan

Hey, @%{original_poster_username} welcome to the forums!

Can you please provide a link to the repl? This way it is easier for staff and members of the community to help you!

Also see this guide on how to share your code:

To share your code with others, you can simply link to your repl or paste and format the code into your post! Linking to a repl The easiest way to share your code is by linking to your repl. You can find the link by clicking on your repl title, clicking the three dots, selecting “Cover page,” and copying the cover page URL. NOTE: only share repl join links or use the invite button with people you trust! [Kapture 2022-06-23 at 16.51.07] Sharing short code samples Share a snippet of your cod…

[boston2029]

@NuclearPasta0

Also, sometimes I see a canned reply that isn’t really the best response to the OP’s question.

Exactly, sometimes I see people use the “link your repl” one even though OP did it in their first post, and they’ll even say it after someone else has already replied and begun discussing the issue and looking into it

[boston2029]

@QwertyQwerty88

The thing is, a lot of these canned replies are for people with the same ol’ question which they could have found the answer to if they simply searched for it.

Then do what you did below:

AI tool to take pdf as input

[KAlexK]

No one said that using ready-made answers was ideal.

[boston2029]

What do you mean by that?

[KAlexK]

I mean, any easy solution (in this case, using templates) has its own seemingly obvious drawbacks.

[QwertyQwerty88]

But why would I go searching, if I can get the canned reply in 3 clicks? It’s just a lot more convenient using the canned reply.

@KAlexK

No one said that using ready-made answers was ideal.

@Firepup650

that just lets us help the users on the other end faster.

@Firepup650

Ultimately, we just use them because it makes it a lot easier for us to respond to common problems.

@RedCoder

we are just simply making it faster.

@QwertyQwerty88

As said by others here, at the end of the day, it’s just to help the user faster. We all volunteer our time. Perhaps we’re in a rush, then it’s easy to use a couple clicks and paste the canned reply.

3 people did. It is ideal, even if it has drawbacks (which I don’t see)

[SalladShooter]

@boston2029

going to take that and use it to maximize my internet likes!”

We’re not doing it to get TL4 and other things, like others said it’s to save time since there are a lot of people that need help. The canned replies aren’t robots they are made by community members to speed common problems up that are easy to find online. I don’t do it to “grind”/game solutions I do it to help others quicker.

[boston2029]

Then why don’t you guys just make an auto-response robot? As I said:

@boston2029

The point of humans helping other humans is so that we don’t need robots.

Having multiple people who just click the same ol’ button every time defeats the point.

[not-ethan]

Because than the margin of error for replying with the wrong reply or even when its not needed is a lot higher.

In fact about a year and a half ago iirc Ian looked into making a bot (@ReplAskBot) that would auto reply to topics that didnt have a reply after some time but he ultimately decided against it.

[boston2029]

@not-ethan

the margin of error for replying with the wrong reply or even when its not needed is a lot higher.

Even people on here do this often, and that’s also why they feel like robots

[boston2029]

It’s also not very hard to say

if (!postContents.contains("replit.com/@")) {
  post.reply("Please share your Repl link!")
}

[SalladShooter]

@boston2029

It’s also not very hard to say

if (!postContents.contains("replit.com/@")) {
  post.reply("Please share your Repl link!")
}

With the canned reply it also has a guide, since some people don’t know how. It’s harder to add a quote and it takes a lot longer than a finding the right canned reply.

[not-ethan]

True but I think that the margin of error is smaller. And that code wont work because some people include the code directly instead of a link so we dont need to view their repl.

[boston2029]

@SalladShooter

With the canned reply it also has a guide, since some people don’t know how

I mean reply with the guide. Not exactly how I typed it