Did you know that Joomla! has one of the best forums of any Open Source project? I know, I am biased, but it is true. Occasionally, someone complains that the "support" stinks and that no one is answering their question. There are many men and women who devote many hours of their time to helping other Joomla! members. Some are moderators and others are community members who just want to give something back.

Let's take a look at some things that should help you get a better response rate.

Eric Steven Raymond has a great article called "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way". in which he outlines ways of asking question in a way that will help others help you. I will be pulling the general ideas of his article, however you should feel free to read the whole article is you wish.

Before You Post

• Search the Forum – This is often times the fastest way to find the answer you need. 95% of the questions have been asked and answered before.
• Stickies – Read the Stickies. They are there for a reason.
• Documents Site – Joomla! Official Documentation Wiki
• Dig Around – It is far more rewarding to spend a little time looking in the Administrator for a feature than asking someone else. I find that doing this opens your eyes up to other features that you were unaware of as well.

When You Post

• Post in the Appropriate Forum - Which Forum Should You Post In?
• Do Not Cross-Post – By Cross Posting (posting the same question twice), you only hurt yourself. Typically, a moderator, who may have had time to answer your question, is not spending that time deleting your posts in another forum. We moderators waste a lot of time cleaning up cross-posts which takes away from time that we could be supporting you and your fellow community members.
• Ask on the Forum – DO NOT PM PEOPLE FOR SUPPORT UNLESS ASKED TO DO SO! … enough said.
• First Impressions Count – Do not use a subject of "HELP!" or "URGENT HELP NEEDED". Use a good descriptive subject that explains what type of question is inside.
• The Language Barrier – Joomla! is a worldwide project. People speak many languages and not everyone's first language is English. If English is not your first language and someone is trying to read your post that does not make sense, you are likely not going to get a response from them. Try rewording a sentence to help reinforce what you were trying to say.
• Support your question details – Statements like, "It does not work" help no one. Try to give steps to replicate the issue you are having. Or if have tried a solution from another thread and it did not work, please note that. Giving the reader a clear understanding of your issue is key to getting a response. The point is this, if you kind of, sort of ask your question, you can kind of, sort of expect to get an answer.

After You Post

• Thank you! – Do not forget to thank the community member(s) that help you come to a solution. We are all volunteers, a little pat on the back is always good.

Forum Rules

• Yes, we have Rules! Please read them. By following the rules, the moderators are able to spend more time supporting and not cleaning up.

Other Thoughts

• When I first started using Mambo, then Joomla!, I came up with a pretty good system that served me well. My theory was that for every question I asked, I was going to answer two questions. I did just that. In the beginning, I was asking and answering a lot of questions, but it paid off. I learned A LOT by interacting in this way. If every community member did this, we would not have people claiming that we have bad support.
• For your viewing pleasure: Posting and You