Introduce thread-based help system

[Zabuzard]

Overview

Implements and closes #444 .

This provides a thread based help system, replacing our current channel based help system.

The system consists of two channels:

• the staging channel #ask_here, the go-to channel to ask questions:

• the overview channel #active_questions, the go-to channel for helpers:

How to ask

Ask command

The main way to ask questions is by using the /ask command in the staging channel. Users can select a title and a category:

The bot then creates a thread for the question, adds the asker and all helpers interested in the selected category. The user can now proceed and enter their details in the thread:

Implicit ask, fallback

Additionally, there is a fallback mechanism that catches everyone not using the /ask command but just posting directly into the channel:

The bot picks this message up, crafts a title by taking the first words of the text and creates a proper question thread for the user. The original message of the user will be deleted for cleanup and transferred to the thread instead:

How to help

Helpers can either drop in and out as they want, using the overview provided in the overview channel (#active_questions) or the full thread list provided in Discord:

Or they select categories they are interested in, via a dialog in the overview channel:

Helpers are then automatically added to threads about these topics. The role settings can be adjusted at any time, allowing helpers to opt in and out as they want.

Extras

Close

Once the question is resolved, it can be closed using the /close command. Otherwise, it will automatically be closed after 24h of inactivity:

Change category

If users selected the wrong category for their questions, the /change-help-category command can be used to adjust the category in hindsight:

Helpers for the new category are automatically added to the question thread.

Config

The config changed, we removed the old free-system:

"freeCommand": [
    {
        "inactiveChannelDuration": "PT2H",
        "messageRetrieveLimit": 10,
        "statusChannel": <put_a_channel_id_here>,
        "monitoredChannels": [
            <put_a_channel_id_here>
        ]
    }
]

and therefore added the new help system:

"helpSystem": {
   "stagingChannelPattern": "ask_here",
   "overviewChannelPattern": "active_questions",
   "categories": [
       "Java",
       "Frameworks",
       "JavaFX|Swing",
       "IDE",
       "Build Tools",
       "Database",
       "Minecraft",
       "Android",
       "C|C++",
       "Algorithms",
       "Math",
       "Architecture",
       "Code Review",
       "Together Java Bot",
       "Other"
   ],
   "categoryRoleSuffix": " - Helper"
}

For the system to work, you have to create the following channels (adjust based on your config):

• #ask_here
• active_questions

and the following roles:

• Java - Helper
• Frameworks - Helper
• JavaFX|Swing - Helper
• ... (for all categories in the config)

Checklist

• Create threads upon slash command
• Thread overview
• Thread overview has to be updated constantly
• Command to manually archive/close a thread after its done
• Top-Helper support
• Auto-archive inactive threads (use built-in functionality?)
• Selectable tags for questions
• Tags have to be adjustable after thread creation
• Auto-add everyone with a role corresponding to a tag
• Pickup free messages without slash command and convert them
• User cooldown to prevent thread creation spam on accidental multi-message send
• Attempt to invite via role ping instead of manual adding
• Cleanup bot messages in the staging area to keep it clean (after some time)
• Group active questions by tags
• Ensure (at least) author can reopen their channel for follow-ups (anyone can unarchive without extra perms)
• Fix bug with overview being too late for fresh channels
• Code polish (and FIXMEs)
• Javadoc
• UX/UI polish
• Wait for /role-select to be fixed (needed for category roles)

Beta 1

• bug with update overview if last message is not from bot
• DELETE_MESSAGE_AFTER -> change 5min to 2min
• bot crashes if /change-category in manually created thread
• add basic explanation on how to ask questions as header to all threads
• explore possibility to ping helpers after actual question has been posted (first message of author?), or maybe just after 1 minute. gives enough time to flesh out the question

[Zabuzard]

proof of concept:

[Zabuzard]

PoC for help overview:

[Zabuzard]

[Zabuzard]

[Zabuzard]

[Zabuzard]

[Zabuzard]

[Tais993]

Just quick comments while looking through the code

[Zabuzard]

Try: Ping role instead of adding everyone to the thread manually, but:
event.reply(....).allowedMentions(Collections.emptyList()); to not actually ping them.

[Zabuzard]

[Zabuzard]

Try: Ping role instead of adding everyone to the thread manually, but: event.reply(....).allowedMentions(Collections.emptyList()); to not actually ping them.

Did not work. Instead, try adding the ping via message edit in hindsight.

[Zabuzard]

[Zabuzard]

[Zabuzard]

Results of first beta test:

• bug with update overview if last message is not from bot
• DELETE_MESSAGE_AFTER -> change 5min to 2min
• bot crashes if /change-category in manually created thread
  RestAction queue returned failure: [ErrorResponseException] 50001: Missing Access
• add basic explanation on how to ask questions as header to all threads
• explore possibility to ping helpers after actual question has been posted (first message of author?),
  or maybe just after 1 minutes. gives enough time to flesh out the question

[sonarqubecloud]

Kudos, SonarCloud Quality Gate passed!   

0 Bugs
0 Vulnerabilities
0 Security Hotspots
0 Code Smells

0.0% Coverage
0.0% Duplication

[Zabuzard]

Merging after 7 days of inactivity