What has happened to Tiny Portal...?

[PnP]

I have used search, read documentation, searched MANY other websites and tried to fix my problem ON MY OWN. It took me 4 days of trying to find a solution elsewhere before I posted here... for exactly the reason that the first poster of this topic mentioned. Most of the more recent answers are rude and assume that we are illiterate idiots because we dared ask for help.

EDIT:: It should be noted that not all of the nasty responses were from staff - and not all staff answers were rude. I also haven't read every single answer on every single board... this is just from what I have read over the last few days.

I know what it is like to post the same answers over and over again. I know what it is like to have people request help using so much chat speak that the normal English speaking person feels the need to hire an interpreter. I know how frustrating it can be day after day after day.

But I have to agree with what was said in this thread before... if you can't at least answer a message politely - even if it is to tell the person that if they use the Search form that they will find the answer themselves - then you need to step down. Support is no good when people are scared to ask for it because they don't want the sarcasm that comes with the answer.

However, (speaking from experience here) I would rather have a sarcastic answer than none at all.

[Xarcell]

FYI: I personally don't mind some constructive criticism, as long as if doesn't attack a specific person, or cause anyone to get all defensive.

All I ask is to always try and offer solution along with the problem. If people just start talking and complaining about problems, without offering a solution, then it can result in disciplinary action or locking of a topic.

I am not saying anyone here is doing this. I am just stating where I draw the line, and hope it isn't crossed. I would rather continue working on a solution...

[Xarcell]

@ Michelle

Ok, more professional approach at answering questions then? Even if it is the same answer over an over and over?

[IchBin]

Your suggestion to move topics and stuff is way over the top. We have limited staff, with limited time, and limited resources. But I'll tell you what I've proposed we do. Instead of telling people to use the search for questions we know have been answered, or having to ask the same questions that would have been answered if people followed the guidelines, we simply will not reply... at all. People will start to wonder why they don't get support. This will save us from taking our frustration out on the user, and will probably make the user think about why they aren't getting any response. I'll be making a post about this over the next week or so and make a sticky in the support boards where everyone can read. Then when people start to bump their posts or ask why they aren't getting a response, then perhaps they will know what is expected of them when we post a link to the said sticky I'm talking about. This way, we don't waste our time answering the answered, and we stop with the "sarcasm" as you put it. And the people that actually do follow the guidelines get priority support.

To answer your original question in the topic title "what has happend to TP?"... Its grown, and exponentially at that. This is a well known fact in communities, that when you start out its all nice and friendly, and feels like a very personal experience. But when you go from 300 users to 30,000 users it most certainly will not have the same feel as everyone struggles to keep up. Especially when people don't follow the guidelines, and never use the search. Hence, the recent changes we'll be making in the way support is done here. But of course, after making these changes instead of hearing about how sarcastic you think we are, you'll be saying "what happened to the support at TP that used to be so fast?".... We will never win with everyone. While there are a few that are complaining about the things you have stated, there are far more praising than not.

And of course, X's idea will help when those Docs are released.

But I have to agree with what was said in this thread before... if you can't at least answer a message politely - even if it is to tell the person that if they use the Search form that they will find the answer themselves - then you need to step down. Support is no good when people are scared to ask for it because they don't want the sarcasm that comes with the answer.

And of course, I will throw this back at you on the flip side. If you come to get help on a product, you should follow the rules and guidelines of a site or not post at all.

[PnP]

@ Michelle

Ok, more professional approach at answering questions then? Even if it is the same answer over an over and over?

All it takes is a simple ' Please use the Search form and if you can't find what you need let us know and we will do what we can to help you. ' I write that several times a day in my own forum. It's not painful for me and tends to get a better response than something along the lines of ' Well why are you posting here if you haven't looked for the answer yourself? ' You know... more flies with honey and all that.

But I'll tell you what I've proposed we do. Instead of telling people to use the search for questions we know have been answered, or having to ask the same questions that would have been answered if people followed the guidelines, we simply will not reply... at all.

I'm assuming that this is why my topic has been ignored... But I'll tell ya, I have used Search with all the key words I can think of and am not finding the answer, so I really must be stupid and illiterate and deserving of being ignored. Ahh well... Free is free and in most cases you get what you pay for, so I am not out anything except the many hours I have already put into trying to solve the problem myself and the (more than likely) many more I will spend trying to find help somewhere else.

[Xarcell]

I didn't want to be the first to say it, but we will be following Ichbin's guideline to see how it works out. If a poster can't follow the posting guidelines, then no support will be given.

If we see a topic that says "Need Help!", and inside it says "Tinyportal will not install!".

Then from there we will not say "what version, what were your errors, etc etc"(as we did in the beginning) - to - "please use the search" (what we do now) - to - not answering at all.

As G6 says, our time and staff is limited.

AS IchBin says, giving people that actually do follow the guidelines get priority support.

Ich hit the nail on the head when he talked about the growth of this site. It's hard to keep that "personal" feeling with each other. That's just the way it is.

I can only hope to only leave enough signposts to lead those without help in the right direction.

[IchBin]

I'm assuming that this is why my topic has been ignored... But I'll tell ya, I have used Search with all the key words I can think of and am not finding the answer, so I really must be stupid and illiterate and deserving of being ignored. Ahh well... Free is free and in most cases you get what you pay for, so I am not out anything except the many hours I have already put into trying to solve the problem myself and the (more than likely) many more I will spend trying to find help somewhere else.

You won't find a place that gives better support than here. You just posted your question today. For code questions you often have to wait for the coders. I personally don't know anything about the time function in PHP. The fact that your thinking that your topic is being ignored in such a short amount of time is kind of disturbing though.

As for the "use the search" comment, I can show you more instances where we have asked nicely, than not.

[Xarcell]

As for the "use the search" comment, I can show you more instances where we have asked nicely, than not.

Good point...

[Smoky]

very true, ICH and the other thing is, looking back on some of the posts, it makes one wonder if the rules and the tos of the site are even being read..like everyone keeps saying, they want their stuff fixed/working.. these things didnt happen over night, Bloc didnt sprinkle miracle grow on the forum so many people would have issues, it is word of mouth, and apparently if it is being talked about, and people want it, and want it working, there must be something to this.. if anyone thinks im wrong, go to xoops and try getting support to answer a post within a few minuets, or sometimes, days and weeks. i know. 

to everyone here, that is part of staff: thank you. for trying to help and lend time out of your day to make sure that the sites we are building are working or building.

[omapie]

Completely agreed, Smoky! I've never gotten this sort of support, guidance, assistance, etc. from any other technical support forum. NEVER. Not even for money! LOL

While I can see the impatience sometimes displayed, I can also understand it. It's not easy to answer the same questions (or variations of the same questions) over & over again with any measure of patience. And compared to how much effort they put out, I think the staff here -- AND the users too for that matter -- overall are just phenomenal and incredibly patient. Yeah. They have rough days or moments (who doesn't) where they may be less patient than other days or moments. But it's allowed -- they're human. They have a tough job here.

People (that's US! you & me!) are hard to deal with! We don't think before we act or "speak"; we make lots of stupid/silly or "whatever-other-word-you-prefer" mistakes. We get frustrated and impatient when things don't just fall into place or we've spent too much time on something and our brains are no longer really functioning! It's a hard job for them to deal with us! That we EVER come up with answers to our problems is the real miracle here! LOL

IMHO, you can't ask for better. And it's a free product -- what more could you possibly WANT or reasonably expect?

I repeat Smoky's mantra to the staff: thank you!

Lori