For quite some time now, there has been too many poorly articulated, and poorly constructed, support topics. To clarify, I've been seeing a lot of the following:
Topics with "HELP PLZ!" as their topic title
Posts that consist of "I have this mod and it dun work!"
Or worse yet.. a snapshot of some random forum, followed by something like: "tell me how do this".
Let me preface the rest of this by saying that there has also been a handful of posts made in broken Engrish (yes, I intended to spell it that way).. which leaves users wishing to offer support, completely baffled by what is being asked. Please use English only, or at the very least, save us some time and use a free online translator such as Bing Translator.
Back on point -- most support topics offer little to no information, which ultimately results in threads disintegrating into redundant, basic support questions that should have been answered in the original post. More often than not, these type of threads go unanswered, and the OP resorts to bumping their topic which in turn, results in warnings/suspensions. So in an effort to clean up our support forums, and help the average user obtain faster, quality support.. I want to offer a few common sense guidelines to adhere to.
Start with the basics!
Don't just post a link to the app/hook you're using. Offer details such as:
Your current forum version
The app/hook version number
Is the app/hook compatible with your forum version?
Post a copy of any errors being displayed
Elaborate Instead of expecting viewers to read your mind, try offering more detailed information, such as:
Offering a clear and concise description of the problem you are experiencing.
How can we replicate the issue?
What steps have you already taken to resolve the problem?
What guides / tutorials have you attempted to utilize?
Provide other relevant links / snapshots / etc.
Don't forget to include additional details, such as:
Forum Software Version you are using.
Screenshot, Text, Logs, etc of the error/problem.
Location of where the error/problem is occurring.
When the error/problem started occurring.
If applicable, the latest plugins you installed to the forum.
Anything that may help us solve the error/problem.
Don't hinder support!
I've noticed quite a few users pretending to "know" what they're doing when offered a resolution, and only make the issue worse. Be sure to tell us that you're confused or need further explanation!