How do I delete hardware choices when asking a question when it applies to all or is about the support community itself?

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Level 1

95 points

How do I delete hardware choices when asking a question when it applies to all or is about the support community itself?

I have difficulty posting some questions here. I may be forced to select hardware It keeps defaulting to the wrong hardware. Can I easily delete them? How do I delete the defaults?

I also have trouble finding things. I may only have a choice of several items. Sometimes "other" appears and sometimes it does not.

And are there defaults I set? Solutions that are several years old are rarely helpful,

These questions are about ASC. The defaults below show my SamSung TV, my Amason FireTV Stick, and my iPad. The topics are preset to my Ap[ple ID, Using iPhone and MacOS High Sierra. Selecting is always an effort, and I often need to give up.

I've changed for this after hitting more several times. I still have to select a piece of hardware and had to search through tall sorts of topics before finding support communities. I'd love to have none for the device and search. I'd also like things to default to one of two devices (maybe 3) and be fsorted by date.

Is this possible

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.0

Posted on Dec 1, 2020 4:44 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Allan Jones

Level 9

72,440 points

Dec 2, 2020 8:15 AM in response to Jarmaracark

Hello jamaracark

I have NO idea why it would show a Samsung product! But that forum function is basically underperforming (and I am being kind with that choice of words!!

That equipment system has been woefully inadequate since a major forum software overhaul in Dec 2018. Technically it is supposed to see devices registered to the Apple ID that you use to log in here. Two problems:

1) Some people have multiple Apple IDs and any devices on a different ID used for forum login will not show up.

2) The system only works as intended less than half the time regardless of what the user does. The "bad" behavior shows only randomly-select products you probably do not own.

I have only one Apple ID and this is what shows when the system works:

I have those and, if i click "choose a different device," I see the rest of what I have on my Apple ID

BUT it works properly less than half the time.

As babowa says, you do not need to select the equipment from that list to post, but you get faster answers if you can work around a bug about to enter the "Terrible Twos."

To make sure responders know adequate details about my gear, I made my own equipment lines based on the format used by the pre-Dec 2018 forum software. I save them as images and can easily insert one into a post:

As we are not Apple and cannot fix what's broken, I encourage you to take advantage of this feedback link to let Apple know that something in the forums has a loose wheel. Be sure to include "Apple Support Communities" in the text block:

Feedback - Apple.com Website - Apple

Use the first option in the pull-down.

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Answer 2

babowa

Level 9

78,435 points

Dec 1, 2020 6:25 PM in response to Jarmaracark

FWIW, there are no "defaults below" showing in your post; it shows your MBA and the OS version, that is all. We do not need your third party devices (TV, etc) unless there is a problem trying to use an Apple device with the third party TV for instance.

You can certainly use the feedback mechanism and tell Apple your ideas.

www.apple.com/feedback

This is what shows up for me automatically - not everything is there, but you have the option of clicking on "choose a different device or topic" , so you can choose something other than what is on the list. It will pop up with a whole list of options.

If you don't like doing that, you can simply include the important details within your post, for instance: using a 2017 iMac 21.5" running 10.13.6. That gives us the info we need.

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Answer 3

Jarmaracark Author

Level 1

95 points

Dec 1, 2020 7:44 PM in response to babowa

I may have used the wrong terminology want to be clearer.

I used the word "default" to refer to the things that pop up automatically. I will certainly offer feedback, but want to know if I am doing something wrong first, or if I am expecting something it is not supposed to do.

In my case, a Samsung device pops up along with two others. How can I change what automatically pops up to the equipment I might be referring to?

Secondly, sometimes the question does not apply to a specific device, or one I can find. Does this system require the selection of a device? If not, how can I remove the device before posting?

And third, sometimes when I click on change topic, I see 5 or 7 topics without any option to select others. And other times, I may have to hit "more" to scroll through many topics, some of which are not likely to be chosen by many. What might I be doing wrong?

Thanks. I may not have been clear enough. If some of these are due to ASC limitations, I'll be happy to use the feedback form. Appreciate your time.

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Answer 4

Jarmaracark Author

Level 1

95 points

Dec 1, 2020 7:55 PM in response to Jarmaracark

One last thing. I am trying to make sure my questions have the right device/topic. Were you suggesting that it's not as important as I thought? I can be a bit rigid. If I see what I understand to be a binary question, I will try to answer it clearly. Sometimes they aren't important and unless I know that, I will get stuck. I want to make sure my questions don't clutter up the wrong sections and are seen by those able to help, considering the vast areas of knowledge covered here. There are times I abandon the question as I cannot find the correct choices.

Other people are far more comfortable with ambiguity.

Thanks for your time.

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Answer 5

babowa

Level 9

78,435 points

Dec 1, 2020 9:43 PM in response to Jarmaracark

in my case, a Samsung device pops up along with two others

Well, I’m not sure how a Samsung device would pop up in an Apple forum. Can you post a screenshot of this pop up please.

And just because the device can be selected, it does not need to be removed. Unless you select it, it won’t show.

And no, you do not need to select a device, but we need the info to be able to help you. Apple device info is important.

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Answer 6

Jarmaracark Author

Level 1

95 points

Dec 8, 2020 3:34 AM in response to Allan Jones

My first assumption when something doesn't work is that it is MY problem. Just knowing,. "you can't do that" is helpful.

I know the community is not Apple, and I'm probably going to use the wrong words here, but this has been designed by Apple to help users get answers.

(I would love to meet the person who convinced the world that once they buy a product they should ask other users instead of support by the company. The person has done one of the best marketing jobs since Harold Hill in the Music Man or Charles Ponzi. Excuse me while I remove this animal fiber from my eyes.

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Answer 7

Allan Jones

Level 9

72,440 points

Dec 8, 2020 6:34 AM in response to Jarmaracark

...and I'm probably going to use the wrong words here, but this has been designed by Apple to help users get answers.

I could not agree more. But in spite of foibles like this, ASC and its prior incarnation, Apple Discussions, have helped a lot of people. Apple employees are limited to giving answers in Apple's playbook and support articles. We have somewhat more latitude and can answer based on based on experience. So, in the long run, it works for a lot of people.

The person has done one of the best marketing jobs since Harold Hill in the Music Man or Charles Ponzi.

Love it! Especially since "Music Man" was the first show I ever did in community theater.

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Answer 8

deggie

Level 10

167,333 points

Dec 8, 2020 9:08 AM in response to Jarmaracark

User forums operated by computer companies long predate Apple and the World Wide Web. And the idea was not put in place by marketers.

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How do I delete hardware choices when asking a question when it applies to all or is about the support community itself?

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