New Ask an Expert Coming This Fall
Ask an Expert is transitioning to a new platform this fall. In order to extend the life of Ask an Expert which is running on an updated technology platform, the tool is moving to an open source platform called osTicket and will be renamed Ask Extension.
It’s a Phased Transition
Groups and institutions have approximately three months to update their question answering workflow. The transition will begin with Phase 1 around August 1st and continue through around January 15th. You can find complete details in the Transition Timeline.
Be an Early Adopter and Help Pilot the Transition
The first phase involves working with individual groups and updating their widgets to receive questions in the new system. This approach allows us test the scaling of the new system and work out any interface and workflow issues experts might encounter. Sign up to get the new widget code for you site.
For additional background, read more about The Ask Extension Pilot Program on Connect eXtension.
The Transition Timeline
Below is a high level summary of the transition. View the full detailed timeline.
Phase 0
July
Initial communication
Phase 1
August 15 to September 15
Pilot groups answer widget questions in the Ask Extension (concurrently with Ask an Expert)
Phase 2
September 15 (this date and the following have shifted later)
All widget traffic is transitioned to Ask Extension
Phase 3
October 1
All traffic to transitioned to Ask Extension
Phase 4
November 15
Ask an Expert is shut down
Phase 5
December 15
Ask Extension domain is moved back to ask.extension.org
Phase 6
January 15
Ask Extension domain decommissioned