There are few sources of information to we draw from:

• Top searches: The most common search terms in the SUMO Weekly metrics document.
• Weekly common issues: Our Weekly Common Issues page tracks the most common support issues each week.
• Article polls: At the bottom of each article, there are poll questions: “Did this article solve a problem you had with Firefox?“, “Was this article easy to understand?“, and “Please rate your experience with solving your problem on support.mozilla.com from 1 to 5” (For more precise data there’s the PageView Data.)
• And of course, Article comments: There is a text field on each article for users to provide feedback about the article. When logged in as a contributor, that feedback is displayed at the bottom of the article.

Here’s how that data is utilized to measure the quality of the knowledge base, and make it better:

The top search terms are tested to find out if the first search results contain the article the user is most likely searching for.
If they don’t:

• The correct article may need to be renamed to match the search term.
• The top article in search results may be mistaken for a different issue; so a link to the correct article is added in the intro of the first search result. If users are being redirected to the correct article, the poll data should improve.
• Keywords that match the search terms are added to the correct article.

For generic search terms the article comments for each result may clarify what users are asking about.

The weekly common issues page is checked for any items that need documentation in the knowledge base. If enough information is available to create documentation, the relevant articles are updated or a new article is created.

The comments in articles with the lowest understandability score are checked to get details on what is not understandable in the article, so we can assess what can be done to eliminate that confusion. Sometimes that means rewording or reformatting the article. In some cases it is a matter of adding screenshots. In other cases, it’s a matter of streamlining or purging the article to simplify it for users.

In the end, it’s about taking the data, analyzing why the data is what it is, and what we can do to improve each issue. As a result, the article poll scores should go up, and users will get answers to their questions about using Firefox. We’ve outlined these tests in a contributor page, so everyone as a community can be most affective in making the knowledge base better each week. You can post any suggestions for improvement in the Contributors forum.

If you’re a new knowledge base contributor, please read our new How we are different page, which lists the differences between SUMO and other wikis and gives an overview of why we are different. New knowledge base contributors will also be able to find a link to that page in our introduction to contributing to the knowledge base.

This is also part of our response to localizer feedback, which we have been continually gathering from active SUMO localizers. Remember that if you are a SUMO localizer and would like to meet with us, just contact us on this blog or post in the Contributors forum.

• Screenshoots should only be shown for the specific the operating system. If it’s a Windows screenshot, make sure it only shows for Windows users. The existence of Windows screenshots gives Mac users the wrong impression that the article content only applies to Windows. To make content only display for certain operating systems and versions of Firefox, the instructions are in the contributor page called Using SHOWFOR.
• Don’t let the total size of all screenshots in the article (including all operating systems) get above 200K. Crop or resize whenever possible; and if you resize the image, save it as a jpg file. If you need to remove previous images, remove in this order:
  1. Firefox 2.0/Mac
  2. Firefox 2.0/Linux (although there shouldn’t be any)
  3. Firefox 2.0/Windows
  4. Firefox 3.0/Mac
  5. Firefox 3.0/Linux (although there shouldn’t be any)
  6. Firefox 3.0/Windows
• After updating screenshots on an article, update the Firefox 3.5 article tracker page so we know which articles are done.

Of course, the rest of the guidelines on our Adding screenshots page always apply. For most articles, any screenshots of the Options window will need updating because the Privacy icon has changed; and screenshots of the tab bar will also need to be updated because the New Tab button has moved since Firefox 3.0. If you have any questions, just post them in the Firefox 3.5 knowledge base status update thread in the Contributors forum. Thanks a lot!

In short, if you are registered you are considered a contributor. The Approvers group are contributors who have reached the point where they can be trusted on the system. The locale leaders group are contributors who are in charge of the support localization effort for a specific locale.

As part of our response to localizer feedback, we want to make sure the differences are listed and available for everyone to see. If you have any questions or suggestions, please comment on this blog post or in the Contributors forum. Thanks!

Firefox 3.0.x users will be able to view screencasts in Flash format, but we also support the open video format called Ogg/Theora. Firefox 3.5 users will be able to view Ogg/Theora videos without the need for a plugin. For more information about open video, read In Support of Open Video.

What makes screencasts on SUMO especially great is that the SUMO knowledge base is a wiki. Adding a screencast to an article can be done by anyone! (That means you!) We have provided a tutorial on adding screencasts to the knowledge base, with a list of software you can use to create them. Adding of screencasts is fully integrated with the article editor; so if you know how to edit a knowledge base article, you know how to add a screencast. If you need any help adding screencasts, you can always ask in the Contributors forum. And the next time you’re having trouble explaining something about how to use Firefox, you’ll be able to show them.

At this event, we’ll be talking about Firefox 3.5, supporting the fastest Firefox ever and how Firefox support has grown along with the browser. There will be a preview of some of the new Firefox 3.5 features, with live demos and Q&A. We’ll also be going over the new screencasts feature in SUMO as well as some tips and resources for helping. At the end of the session, we’ll all get together and spend a couple hours answering questions on the support forums. If you’ve never done Firefox support before or are just curious to learn about how it works at Mozilla, this is a fun and interactive way to get involved.

You can get all the details and sign up for the event at the Support Firefox Day main page.

See you there!

We’ve already made great progress! support.mozilla.com has been updated and now supports marking knowledge base content specific to 3.5.  The Options window article and some other articles were then reorganized to make the transition easier.  As a community, we’ve been keeping track of changes to Firefox and many of the new features in Firefox 3.5 already have new articles.  Now, we have to just do to following to finalize the knowledge base:

1. The first thing to do is to through the items on our Updating articles for 3.5 page, and make sure each of those updates is done. If you see one that hasn’t been done, please help make the edit.
2. Thanks to support-conscious developers, relevant changes to Firefox 3.5, have been marked with the keyword “user-doc-needed”. We’d also like your help going through this list of user-doc-needed bugs, and making sure the knowledge base reflects these changes.  Once a change has been made, change the keyword to user-doc-complete and comment in the bug with a link to the documentation.
3. Lastly, we will do a full audit of the en-US knowledge base. It’s a great way to refresh your knowledge of Firefox and isn’t very time consuming. Essentially, it’s just going through each article and asking:
   • Does it apply to Firefox 3.5? If so, the “Firefox 3.5″ category should be check marked in the article editor.
   • Does it need to be updated/changed for Firefox 3.5? If so, update it accordingly, check mark the Firefox 3.5 category for the article, and check mark the “Alert translators” box.
   • Do the screenshots need to be updated for Firefox 3.5? If so, just post to our tracking page, but don’t update the screenshots yet. We will wait until there’s a release candidate and the interface is finalized before adding screenshots.

Once all of that is done, knowledge base localizers should have a solid en-US foundation of changes to translate in time for the Firefox 3.5 release, without having to worry about changes being translated prematurely.

On the whole, most changes revolve around privacy information, tabbed browsing, and small text changes. For user support contributors, now is the time to get acquainted with Firefox 3.5. When Firefox 3.5 is released, there is going to be a large volume of users asking questions about it. It’s the second most wonderful time of the year!

If you’re interested in support or SUMO and didn’t receive an e-mail, just let us know your e-mail address and we’ll be sure to have a survey sent out ASAP.

• Adding screencasts will work just like adding images, and go through the same review process as all article edits.
• Articles will not be limited to one screencast. If an article has different sets of instructions, there will be a separate screencast for each set of instructions.
• We will support both Flash and the open video format called Ogg/Theora, which the upcoming Firefox 3.5 will support natively (without the need of a plugin). For more information about open video, read In Support of Open Video.

We also have a pool of videos from the Screencast Contest, which we will be adding as well. Stay tuned for more information!

For example, our Pop-up Blocker article contains much more information than is needed. It tries to explain the difference between pop-ups and pop-unders, devotes an entire paragraph to telling you that Firefox has a pop-up blocker that is on by default, and includes notes about the pop-up blocker not being full-proof, even though there is a large section on pop-ups not being blocked at the bottom. As a result, the user can get lost in the details and miss the overall message.

Even short paragraphs and sections can be simplified. Here’s a recent example from an article about importing from Flock:

“It is possible to import settings and other user data (saved passwords, cookies, and history) from Flock into Firefox. This is an advanced operation, however, and it will replace Firefox’s data and settings with the settings from Flock. Only attempt the following instructions if you are comfortable with deleting your Firefox settings and data:”

• The user doesn’t need to be reminded that the instructions are for importing from Flock to Firefox — that’s what the article is about.
• The fact that it is Firefox data that is being replaced with Flock data is assumed.
• The last sentence is redundant with the previous statements.

That paragraph can be condensed to:

“To import settings and other user data (saved passwords, cookies, and history), this is an advanced operation and will replace existing Firefox data.”

It’s the same message, but clearer and more succinct.

We are continuously monitoring how well we are meeting our Firefox users’ expectations of their support experience. The Knowledge Base user satisfaction score is already pretty good at 87% — let’s see if we can push it above 90%!