Getting Involved: User Support

I can take this if it's okay. At present, I do not have editing rights to the page. Should i create a new page as a draft in the meantime? Or should someone with permission open this page to the docs team?

John

This could probably do with just a one page rundown on different ways to offer help (and why it is so darn good to do) that links off to other resources as well.

I agree. IMHO, we do not need subpages for this section. Thinking loudly, a paragraph on encouraging people to contribute to user support can be the introduction. Then ways, where and how to give support are explained.

If there are other links you guys feel that are needed to be added to the existing version at http://drupal.org/contribute/support, just say so, so I can incorporate them as well.

John

I'd be glad to pitch in on this page too.

Yeah we can't edit it, since it's not a handbook page- JohnNoc, maybe you should go ahead and add a child page to 'Getting Involved' since I don't think this node can be 'converted' into a handbook type anyway? (guessing here!)

okay... creating a child page now...

@heather
Any ideas for this page?

The page is: http://drupal.org/node/317293

Temporarily titled: User Support

Title suggestions are also very much welcome!

Heya JohnNoc... I think there needs to be something delicately talking about the emotional situations that arise.

Offering support to 'newbies' can be frustrating, as you're dealing with the same questions and issues over and over, and I see some people offering support and suffering from apparent burnout. I'm concerned that they are passing on a negative impression about the Drupal Community, and running into situations where they are 'defending Drupal' against misunderstanding- when this is really not the position the Drupal user community wants to be in.

To that end I offer this advice (included as code below for easy copying and pasting into the handbook page). Note the suggested links in last part are left as http:// full paths for copying and pasting by the reader.

User Support Advice:

• Assume Good Faith - people are writing in English as a second language, or they may be young, or they may be inexperienced with typing and they can can come off terse or rude. It's best to assume good faith, that people are asking for help, and want to avoid conflict.
• Model Desired Behavior - Be positive and thorough. If you are dealing with a new user your response will be their first impression of the community, and it will affect their own behavior in the future.
• You will likely run into users who are simply exasperated and frustrated and may use emotional language. Avoid expressing an emotional reaction. Remain positive! If they offer actual examples/issues/problems, focus on those practical things to work towards a solution. If they are only emotionally venting, it would be best to ignore it.
• Employ diminishing replies in heated situations. This can cool things off by ensuring your response is always shorter than that you're responding to.

Tips:

• Use links to commonly references resources to save yourself time typing the same answers over and over. This also reinforces the use of the Handbook.
• Copy and paste common responses you find yourself repeating into a text file for copying and pasting into forum responses.
• Select your favorite links and add them as 'bookmarks' in your browser's sidebar for easy access.

Here are some suggested common links:

• Advise people to use test sites, and follow Best practices http://drupal.org/best-practices
• Refer new users to the 'glossary' for Drupal at Terminology http://drupal.org/node/937
• Advise people on how to form good questions and use the forum http://drupal.org/forum-posting or Talk with the community http://drupal.org/node/314178
• Refer people for processes to isolate problems and troubleshoot prior to posting an issue in the Troubleshooting FAQ http://drupal.org/Troubleshooting-FAQ
• Report a problem http://drupal.org/node/314185

User Support Advice:
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?AssumeGoodFaith">Assume Good Faith</a> - people are writing in English as a second language, or they may be young, or they may be inexperienced with typing and they can can come off terse or rude. It's best to assume good faith, that people are asking for help, and want to avoid conflict.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?AssumeGoodFaith">Model Desired Behavior</a> - Be positive and thorough. If you are dealing with a new user your response will be their first impression of the community, and it will affect their own behavior in the future.</li> 
<li>You will likely run into users who are simply exasperated and frustrated and may use emotional language. Avoid expressing an emotional reaction. Remain positive! If they offer actual examples/issues/problems, focus on those practical things to work towards a solution. If they are only emotionally venting, it would be best to ignore it.</li>
<li>Employ <a href="http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?DiminishingReplies">diminishing replies</a> in heated situations. This can cool things off by ensuring your response is always shorter than that you're responding to. </li>
</ul>

Tips: 
<ul>
<li>Use links to commonly references resources to save yourself time typing the same answers over and over. This also reinforces the use of the Handbook. </li>
<li>Copy and paste common responses you find yourself repeating into a text file for copying and pasting into forum responses. </li>
<li>Select your favorite links and add them as 'bookmarks' in your browser's sidebar for easy access. </li>
</ul>

Here are some suggested common links: 
<ul>
<li>Advise people to use test sites, and follow Best practices http://drupal.org/best-practices</li>
<li>Refer new users to the 'glossary' for Drupal at Terminology http://drupal.org/node/937</li>
<li>Advise people on how to form good questions and use the forum http://drupal.org/forum-posting or Talk with the community http://drupal.org/node/314178</li>
<li>Refer people for processes to isolate problems and troubleshoot prior to posting an issue in the Troubleshooting FAQ http://drupal.org/Troubleshooting-FAQ</li>
<li>Report a problem http://drupal.org/node/314185</li>
</ul>

- This page 'user support' should be placed under the Talk with the community section: http://drupal.org/node/314178

- Maybe re-title page to "Giving Effective Support"

Whoa! Great!!! Feel free to incorporate these to the page itself. We can just edit the page as we go along :-)

IMHO, This page should be in level with the others. This is one of the most important aspects of "Getting Involved" and should not be hidden under other pages.

I actually would want to create an issue regarding consistency of titling the pages on this handbook. I think we should use action verbs in present tense and simple form (give, help, translate, report, etc)

Anyway, going to the gym for a while. Be back in a bit.

Oh didn't see add1sun's comment before posting mine....

I'd like the page to remain top-level in the handbook, not as a child to Talk. This is a main getting involved task that people can help out with.

+1

Ah cool!

I incorporated the changes I write of above and amended some after seeing it in-situ

http://drupal.org/node/317293

The page is more than good enough and is almost finished (if not already finished). The changes I think after the present version will be minor edits or probably some moving of elements and little additions. I'll change the status of the page to "No known problems" already. IMHO, it is ok to point the url alias http://drupal.org/contribute/support to the new page at http://drupal.org/node/317293 already.

I think it is also safe to change this issue's status to "fixed". Just open it up again if you feel like it :-)

woot!

/me tries to high five _JohnNoc_ and trips over her laces and falls flat on her face.

heh!

/me ran to the medicine cabinet and got some bandages for heather.