Urgent, It dont work - fix it!

You've probably been to the forums because you're encountering a problem. 

Just remember, when you post there, that we are trying to help you.  Don't get angry, frustrated or rude, just tell us what's wrong and we'll help you work out the problem. You should also have at least read the beginners guide to joomla.

When asking for advice, the most important aspect to consider is asking in such a way that will allow the community to quickly know what you want and give all the information they need to help you.

In general, you want to be clear, concise, complete, and polite.

When you ask for support, please understand that depending on the number of questions the community see, other commitments, social life etc, they may not be able to answer or even acknowledge your question. Also understand that if you’re asking for free help, you need to be respectful of the time they’ve dedicated free and of the additional time you’re asking them to spend with you. Supply them with as much information as possible.

  •  Refrain from spamming or bumping, posting for points. If you make a post and don’t receive a reply within 5 minutes, that doesn’t mean you should post again. This will likely move you down or off the good attention list. People dont live on the forum waitng for your post.
  •  Unless otherwise told, do not contact/PM/Skype the forum leaders or more experienced people. This will not only make you unpopular and probably be classed as a bully. Some people actually make a comment in their signature lines stating they will ignore, delete and ban people who do. Others may also state that if you PM them, you will accept their personal support charges. They may also make a public posting in the topic you want help on stating you are a demanding, impolite user and everyone will ignore you.
  •  If you see an error message, copy the entire error message and include that in your initial post. These error messages help to narrow down the problem making for quicker resolution times
  •  Is there a forum for your language? It may be better to post in the wrong forum where someone can undertand you than post in Babel English where people will have no idea what your on about!

We know just as well as anyone else that everyone makes mistakes.  If the problem was caused by something you accidentally did, we may be able to help.  We don't expect you to be an expert at using our Joomla.
Even Microsoft states
"When posting questions to a professional forum or newsgroup it is vital to format the question and it's content in a proper way in order to greatly increase the possibility for quickly receiving a good answer, and thus saving you time and frustration. "

Dont grovel it is not a substitute for your lack of searching.
“I know I'm just a pathetic newbie loser, but”. Is unhelpful and when it's coupled with vagueness is really useless. Don't waste your time or ours. Present the background facts and your question as clearly as you can.

Don't mark it as “Urgent - Help”, even if it is for you.
Thats not really our problem. Claiming urgency is very likely to result in the opposite. If its that urgent, then youll probably end up paying for it. Your concept of "needed now" is probably differents from ours.  Your save the "lesser spotted Onepchew's"  website can possibly wait a day or two.

Did I read the forum?
I am not on about searching, but actually read  the stickies "what forums should i post in", "how to ask for help", " Use the post tool".
Whats a post tool? It was something that was designed and programmed to enable all newbies to easily gather information for their support request into one easily postable format by RussW.
Where is it? - At the top of every forum, under the Absolute Beginner's Guide to Joomla! <-- please read before posting. http://docs.joomla.org bit.
Easily spotted Forum Post Assistant - If you are serious about wanting help, you should use this tool to help you post. http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=428&t=272481

What should a post look like?

Poor posts - nothing to work with!

"Hi,
When i want to edit article I only get a couple of buttons.
On my other site, I got the same template and I got buttons like: insert table,Columns,...
How i can fix it?"
----------------------------
"I have a bit of a peculiar issue and wondering if someone could diagnose the problem.
My site looks like this:
Thanks"
-------------------------------
"No back end visiable front end ok what could be the problem?"
----------------------------

Reasonable post - at least here there is something.
"I have uploaded all the joomla website with all necessary steps, usually I am doing this but now I get this error.
Fatal error: Call to undefined function: stderror() in /hsphere/local/home/desertwe/desertpalmresort.com/components/com_banners/models/banner.php on line 115"
-----------------------------------
"hey plz help me
i m unable to add pics to my site:
steps used are firstly i upload pics to the site then m inserting the image
as m inserting pics in backend it gets added but after saving it .
it gets crashed and the pics in neither available in backend nor in frontend.."
--------------------------------------

So what now?
To sum up;
Your post should have an informative subject: try to make the topic's title as detailed and clear as possible.

  •  Using one word like help! or please! will get you no where, and won't help people who search the forum before demanding/ asking for help.
  •  Try to give as much specification as possible, like your version, PHP version, modules/addons affected etc.
  •  Link: giving a link will probably give the community a better understanding of the problem and may result in fast help. Or provide a screenshot of your site if its on localhost.
  •  Problem: a detailed description of the problem you are having and the error message you get will help.



If you want more on this subject, then please read http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html.

Oh and whats the most common question asked?  
Personaly i think it is "How do i change the Welcome to the Front Page



Edit added Do not ask here for support - ask on the forums

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
142 Votes

14 Comments

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  1. I think you are right on the ball with all of that. The first step to getting the right answer is asking the right question ;)

    A couple of things I might add to your Summing Up:

    • Always retain respect for those that are helping you, even if you are getting tense and frustrated, getting angry with those that are trying to help you won't get your site fixed any faster and will probably have the opposite effect
    • Lastly, remember to let the discussion thread know when the problem is resolved and make sure to thank those who helped you along the way.
    :-D
  2. ooo ... ooo ... I know how to change that! :-) LOL!

    110% SPOT ON !!!

    A most excellent post and hopefully, unlike the "poor orphan" Absolute Beginners Guide, some will actually read this before posting.

    I really do enjoy helping out as much as I can on the forum as it makes me ever more conversant with Joomla!, a lot of the time having to do some research myself to find the solution to something I have not yet come across. My biggest reward is a quick reply that the solution I provided was able to get the poster out of the particular pickle they were in.

    Thank you ever so much for this very thoughtful and worthwhile post!

    Cheers!
    Lyle
    @2ninerniner2
  3. When I update my site with photos, everything gets knocked off to one side, or the text breaks the page....Please help me! Do I choose insert of photo, not left, and not right, but the 3rd choice?
  4. Christina,
    you should really be asking that question in the forum!
  5. Hi, I have just completed the set-up of my business web site,
    www.burnsidedental.com- I have a slight problem I can't rectify.
    My home page has two purple boxes on the RHS, 'free consultations' and 'Free denture repairs' These are part of the common template throughout the site,presently only the home page ones link to the correct sections of the site, the others which should do ther same- dont link .
    Can anyone tell me how to rectify that ?
    I recently added 'joomsef'- not sure if that has somehow changed part of the coding ?

    Thanks

    Peter
  6. Peter wrote:

    did you try here - http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=466&t=230003?

    This is a post about the forum, not the actual pace for support
  7. how wiLL

    how will i start?
  8. just upgraded from joomla 1.0 to 1.5 cannot get virtuemart working properly. images are jumbled and shopping cart doesnt work. i have a mirror of original site. can someone help? thanks so much, Peter
  9. Christina
    Peter
    Fatima

    I think you have just shown how apt this article is.
    Any one else putting requests for help here please re read it and then post your comments.
    This is an ARTICLE about the forum, not the actual place for support
  10. Hi
    when I try an add a weblink, I type in the address, highlight it, click the chain and type it in the box press insert and then save, as I was told to do but then wen I try to link through to the site it comes up with error 404
    what am I doing wrong.
    Shirley
  11. I have version 1.5.14 installed and the "toolbar" in the Extension manager is missing. How can I correct this?

    thanks!
  12. ESTA EXCELENTE><img src=" />;-)
  13. added Do not ask here for support - ask on the forums
  14. Nice article, Claire. But, I would like to make one comment .... Your article seems to strengthen the 'us and them' aspect that some less experiences members believe exists within community project forums, but really should not.

    In other words, being polite and all that, and making help as easy as possible is really only common sense. However, I think the really important bit is the misunderstanding that leads to this frustration.

    The sooner new members appreciate that this is a community where we help each other (not us and them), the better. Once that is understood, the reason for the type of posts highlighted in the article is gone.

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