Quick education for vBulletin.org users....
 

If you use/download/install/etc a modification from any of the coders here, and it won't install or suddenly stops working or you can't get it to work after installing, don't just post "it doesn't work for vB X.Y.Z"!

As an example, I'm going to show 2 posts that were made in one of my modifications threads earlier (both in the same day, today)

Now ask yourself "what does this tell the coder the problem is?"

Can't answer it can you? How do I/we know what's wrong with a modification if you don't tell us the problem(s) you're having?!

Just telling me/us "it doesn't work", tells us absolutely nothing. A better example of explaining an issue would be this....

THAT at least tells us SOMETHING.

Also, the same applies with database errors. If you post just saying "I'm getting a database error in vB 4.1.0! HELP!" ......you might as well not even post. We NEED to know what the error is in order for us to help you. A few ways to find this is via the email you should be getting with the database error in it (check your includes/config.php file to ensure your email address is entered correctly), your error logs if you have them set (AdminCP > Settings > Options > Error Handling & Logging > Log Database Errors to a File) or, while you're on the database error page, right click > view source and you should be able to see the database error you're getting.

I hope this helps a good bit of you and most of all, you actually read this! lol

/rant

AT least you got the version number of vBulletin, often I don't even get that.

"This doesn't work. Can you help me?"

It would be nice if directly under each top mod post there was a dismissable notice with a couple of quick suggestions like:

"If you have a problem with this mod please post your version number and any error messages you might receive when attempting to use or install the product. Please be as specific as possible. Do not PM the author unless they have requested you do so."

Well, half the time I don't even get a version number either lol. Apparently we're supposed to be psychic :rolleyes:

Edit: for example, look at the 3rd post I quoted lol. No version number

This is great. So often people do not provide enough data. Maybe when releasing the new mods/add-ons you can include that in the first post (and readme.txt file) so that they can expect not to get assistance unless they follow the 'rules' of the release. :up:

Also, another pet peeve is when someone has an error and then posts about it looking for help. Then, when they find the fix themselves, they don't post how they fixed it. This is generally in 'unsupported' mods/add-ons, but is something that isn't a "community" type of thing to do.

I call it sifting for info or SIFT for short ;) - I just couldn't fit the T i.e. Thanks into my sig :p.

Search - Some often wonder why many do not reply to their posts... has the same question been answered before?
- Use the search feature.
Information - Posting for help or asking a question?
- Include screenshots, copied/pasted code or errors, url.
Fixed - Please return to your thread/post and disclose how you resolved the issue!
- Helpful for those with a similar issue in the future i.e. possibly a solution!
Thanks - The rest of us here would like to thank you for your participation on the org!

I actually like that lol, but I may do something similar to this....
;)

Some people can't follow basic instructions. If support for modifications here becomes a problem, I'd just prepare a pastable "ticket" format that users need to fill out.

Summary: Example Summary
Affected Version: 4.0.5
Steps to Reproduce: blah blah blahb lahb lah

Then, if people can't be bothered to paste that and change a few words around, it's easy to ignore (due to the dead-obvious formatting that is easy to see and jump to).

Thanks

lol being a newbie here this helps, it should be put up as notice somewhere and this should be implemented

but saying that just to let you know the search button does work and most of my issues were able to fixed off reading the posts after the mod

The thing is that most users don't bother at all to read through the description or use the search button.

Which, when you think about it, it's really pretty sad. Especially since they (or most of them) run a forum themselves. :eek: And to make it even better, they probably have some sort of rule in place to search before posting otherwise the poster would get warned/banned or the thread would get locked.

Indeed. I have seen that several times btw.

Me too, and I rarely visit a couple of those sites anymore, which is why I brought it up lol

I think you hit the nail on the head. If you make it too easy for people to get answers by asking stupid questions, that's the least path of resistance and they will take it.

I've been a programmer for nearly 30 years. In all of that time I've met maybe 10 people who "get it" when it comes to helping a technician with troubleshooting a problem. It's no different for a mechanic. "Hey, my car stopped running."

vB.org needs a "Pay to Get Your Stupid Question Answered" button. :p

To me this is a big issue too, it seems few bother to read the threads. I read all before I even download a Mod, much less install. Many times it's very educational.

Agreed! Most of the time, you can find fixes and/or what version of vBulletin the modification(s) work correctly on...

Turning this around a little:

If you are a mod developer:

• Put a decent description of what your mod actually does, not some vague one sentence intro that tells us nothing.
• If there is a common question that comes up in threads edit your original submission with the answer to the question.

I agree with this as well. Thanks for posting :)

Even you, you're lucky as the user is polite and wrote "Can you"....

Some other examples from my experiance:

- This thing doesn't works.
....or....
- Doesn't works for me

The funny is that sometime they "bumb" the post, expecting to get a reply.

Chris

The words please and thank you are forgotten nowadays lol :D

The thing is that it is not only that some posts demanding support from mod authors or in the support forums are very rude but it is like they think they are owed that support, it is their right. Go and figure.

alot of the time the search never works... it always tell me that i need to enter 3 or more words.

Words? Or letters? It should be telling you to enter 3 or more letters. If you enter multiple words into the search, and 1 or more of those words are less than 3 letters, you will receive that error.