Main Support Week - Do Your Part

[chessnerd]

Today, I realized that I hardly ever visit the "other" part of the Ubuntu Forums. You know, that part where people can make threads about problems they are having and members can try to help them with their problems? (If you don't know what I'm talking about, that's okay, I almost forgot that it existed. )

I went into the Main Support Categories with the intention of helping as many people as I could a few hours ago for the first time in a long time. I must say, it feels good to help other people.

So, while I have very little standing on these forums, I am going to hereby decree that this coming week, from Monday, July 12 to Friday, July 16 to be the unofficial Main Support Week!

This is a week where we, the Cafe junkies, go out into the Forum's Main Support Categories and provide our services! Obviously, you can still post in the Cafe and Cafe Games, but the idea is that you frequently are monitoring and helping in the Main Support Categories. Have a tab or two devoted to a favorite category of yours and look at it every 10 minutes or so to see if you can help.

Summer means vacation time for students and we all know how students love to experiment with Linux during their summer holidays... (I sure do! ) And, since 10.04 came out just a mere 6 weeks ago, we still have plenty of newbies who have decided to give Ubuntu a try. So, we are in peak support time.

If you like this idea, express your support in a post so that this can remain bumped as a constant reminder. Then get out there and help some people!






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Main Support Week Q&A:

Q: The Cafe is so nice and cozy! Do I have to do this?
A: I can't force you to do this, but those who need help in the Main Support Categories would appreciate it. *Feel the guilt*

Q: So, at the end of the week, can I go back to being a Cafe junky?
A: *Sigh* Yes, I suppose you can. (I probably will to.) But maybe, just maybe, we'll consider going back into the Main Support Forums a bit more often.

Q: Fine, you guilted me into helping. Where do I start?
A: Here. Take a look at all the categories. If you see one that you think you are more knowledgeable in, go to it. If you don't feel particularly well versed in any of them, General Help is a fine place to set up camp.
If you see a thread that looks to be your speed, go there and take a look. If you come in in the middle of someone being helped, read all the posts so that you know what has been tried and suggested already. Also, seek out those with 0 replies to their posts, as they haven't been helped yet.

Q: But I suck at helping...
A: While not technically a question, let me say this: there are always those you can help. There are some regularly repeated questions, typically asked in General Help, that any Linux user of a couple of months should be able to answer. It may not seem like much, but somebody has to answer those questions.
If you are up for it, go outside your comfort zone and answer some questions that you might not totally know the answer to. This is a free support forum, so it's not like you can get fired for giving substandard help, and you might just end up helping someone.

[tgalati4]

You learn quite a bit by helping others as well. I always try commands myself in the terminal to make sure they work before suggesting them. I also make it a habit to only answer questions with direct experience about an issue.

For "Help Me" posts that don't have a lot of detail, try to get the user to post some details that would be helpful. lspci, lsusb, hwinfo, dmesg, et cetera, so that others reading the post will have more info to work with.

[witeshark17]

Agreed; everyone should scan through looking to see if some input can be added...

[WinterRain]

If you are up for it, go outside your comfort zone and answer some questions that you might not totally know the answer to. This is a free support forum, so it's not like you can get fired for giving substandard help, and you might just end up helping someone.

It seems that some people are not good at googling, so even providing a link for someone can start them in the right direction even when you don't know the answer.

[chessnerd]

It seems that some people are not good at googling, so even providing a link for someone can start them in the right direction even when you don't know the answer.

Yep, Googling someone's problem and providing links related to it is a fine way to help.

Not that I would know anything about that... http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1529253

[Khakilang]

I am too comfortable here to scan other section I am interested in certain software. But its good to contribute some help to new user. That way more new user will embrace Ubuntu.

[SmittyJensen]

i gotta be honest, i really should help more often in these forums, but it seems every time i go in there all the questions are already answered and the ones that have no replies are out of my league.

[chessnerd]

i gotta be honest, i really should help more often in these forums, but it seems every time i go in there all the questions are already answered and the ones that have no replies are out of my league.

I know the feeling. That is exactly how I have felt until recently. Last night, however, I responded to 10 threads yesterday and here were the results:

4 did not respond to my reply
4 are in the process of working out their issues
- Of those, 3 seem to be pursuing my solution
2 were helped and thanked me for my assistance

You could say I'm 2 for 10, but that was only 10-16 hours ago. I might still get a reply to those 4 threads and those 3 working on my solutions might just have their problems solved.

Just check a category every so often and look for the unreplied threads. If you check frequently enough, you can catch threads that have just opened and then you have a fair chance of being able to assist them.

Plus, if we work to quickly respond to threads it will really impress people who come to these forums but expect it to take hours to get a reply.