Just as an example…
If I think I have functionality that might address (or partially address) this need, my inclination is to respond to the person with the need. @lewisd562
I’d be responding with good intent but there is a risk that I’m perceived to be hijacking their thread. If there were a Tech Talk category, I could create a thread there for my functionality, but how do I inform the person with the need about the availability of the third party functionality that might address the need?
Instead of “Tech Talk”, you might also consider a “Solutions By” category. This would allow me to talk about multiple components in a single thread. The threads in “Solutions By” should not be limited to three posts in a row because there may be four separate needs in a row where I want to show how my functionality addresses each of those four needs. The person who opened the thread in “Solutions By” shouldn’t be limited to three posts in a row on their own “Solutions By” thread. I suppose to link the need to the solution, the owner of the “Solutions By” thread could simply @ the author of each specific need from each of the four specific solutions. But this might be perceived to be aggressive as well. It’d be better if there were a way to indicate on the need thread that there were solutions linked to it (but not require the author of the need to look at the custom solutions). Offered information they aren’t required to view.