dw_support_training | Entries tagged with weekly update

Hey guys!

Sorry that this is so short; I completely forgot about the update this week! Thankfully, it's a very short list of stuff that needs to go out now, so sit back and relax as Kat types as fast as she can!

First off, congratulations are in order for our very own chemicallace who got engaged this past week! YAY CHEMLA!!! WHOOOOOOO!
Second, congratulations are also in order for edgeraven, who got his first support points this week!
As denise mentioned in the News update on Monday, we have a new FAQ cat with a TON of useful FAQs! You can find it right here. Please read those FAQs and be familiar with them so that you can use them on reqs. Thank yous to liv, phoenix and ysobel for helping to write them up!
Things are starting to pick up a bit on the boards, so if you've been discouraged in the past because there's never anything there for you to answer, you may want to start looking a bit more often. :)

Take care, y'all, and I'll see you next week!

Love, ponies, bananas and ice cream,
Kat, the Triumvirate and the Pony

zarhooie

Hey guys, it's me again with your Weekly

dw_support_training Update! I am still your friendly neighborhood Support Admin

zarhooie and I'm here to answer your burning questions!

domtheknight and

ysobel are around also. Your other Admin,

chemicallace, is still in Europe. Don't be jealous, 'cause Dom, Ysa and I are all jealous enough for the entire userbase.

Bullet points, you can has them:

Things are still slow but that's a good thing! That means that things are going smoothly on the site. If you're looking for something to do, you may want to read back through the answered (yellow) requests and see what we approved. That'll help you keep your skillz polished until things pick up again!
If you see a request about something that seems like it could be solved by a FAQ or site copy update, let one of us (Me, Dom, Isa, Chemla) know so we can pass it along to the doc/FAQ team.
You can ALWAYS ask about privs if you feel you need them. Everyone should have the standard set of makeinternal and viewscreened, but if you feel like you need something more specific, please ask. As of right now, we are not planning on conducting LJ-style reviews and so it is up to you to let us know when you feel that you're ready to work up to the next level. We may not always grant the privs you ask for, but asking never hurts.
That being said, if you feel like you would benefit from an LJ-Style review, feel free to put one together and e-mail it to me at zarhooie@gmail.com. Put DW Support Review: $USERNAME in the subject line. Hopefully the feedback will help you improve your answers.*
We have new Issues FAQs! These FAQs are meant to supplement the Known Issues posted in the BBB.
- OpenID accounts not showing up on rlist (not really a bug): FAQ here
- UTF-8 characters in keywords importing strangely: FAQ here
- OpenID 2.0 and Yahoo ID not supported: FAQ here
- Previous/next links not working properly: FAQ here
- Deleted tags being imported: FAQ here
- Gmail not properly threading comments: FAQ here
- Can't customize or error after deleting layer: FAQ here
- RTE editing stupidity: FAQ here
Read 'em. Love 'em. Use 'em.
Thank you phoenix for helping me write up the above FAQs! If you, dear spr0tling, would like to help me write up the rest of the FAQs for the BBB, please drop me an email at zarhooie@gmail.com and I'll toss you a couple to write up.
Something that made some of the dorks in the IRC channel #dw_support smile today: Check out the screenshot on that request! There are arrows and stuff, and it's just really amusing and awesome. Dom resolved to always put arrows on her screenshots from now on, and I think I will too. Twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy screencaps with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one... Heeeeee!
Awesome Answer of the Week was provided by afuna who did an amazing bit of investigation into a 3rd party application. Good job, Fu!
No new point milestones this week, as it's been fairly quiet. There should be some more action after the next code push (which is soon)!

You all are doing a GREAT job! If you have any questions, ask here or make use of the contact info or IRC. Otherwise, we'll see you next Thursday for another thrilling installation of your Weekly Update!

Best,
The Hat, on behalf of The Boots, The Boa and The Pony

*This is not an official service of Dreamwidth Support. It's something that I am doing on my own private time, so if it takes a few days to get back to you, it's just because I'm busy. No privs will be assigned based solely on the review. You are not required to submit a review. If you don't want to submit one, then don't. If you do want to submit one, please do. If you want to approach me with individual requests instead of 5-7 lumped together, you can do that too.

zarhooie

Hello, my dearest spr0tlings! Tis I,

zarhooie with your weekly update. I know you have been waiting on pins and needles, pins and needles, for this update. I hope it does not disappoint.

As always,

domtheknight,

chemicallace and I are your favorite Support Triumvirate, and are available and willing to help. Contact info can be found here.

I've only got a few things to talk about this week, so no cut.

First, congratulations are in order for sarah on acheiving 200 Support points this week, as well as afuna on achieving 100 Support points! We had a few new answerers this week, but I lost my list from last week and am not sure who they are. If it was you, please let me know so I can shout out next week!
We have a new FAQ this week. It is a FAQ on why IE makes Dreamwidth fall over and die and why we are not doing anything about it. It can be found right here. You also may want to check out the FAQ on how to leave suggestions. Feel free to reference those as needed, and let us know if you feel another FAQ needs to be written.
If someone is asking a question about software that we don't officially support and you have the time/energy/inclination to help them develop a workaround, feel free to do so. Just make sure that the user knows that Dreamwidth does not offically support the software and that we are not responsible for anything that goes sideways. That being said, if you have a good work-around for a common problem with an unsupported piece of software, please let one of the Triumvirate know. (Addressed due to this post.)
denise, our benevolent leader, would like some ideas on how to make the Support boards easier to use. If there's something that isn't there that you wish was, or something that is there that you wish would go away, leave a comment there with your suggestions. Me, personally? I am in favor of 150% more blinking glitter text for the big issues. KIDDING! maybe.
Both denise and mark are out of town (Denise on business-ish things, Mark on his honeymoon with janinedog), so we haven't yet been able to grant the privs requested last week. I suspect it will probably be another week or so before we'll get around to that due to backlog stuff. We haven't forgotten though!
Dom makes the BEST s'mores bars EVER in the history of EVER. OMG you guys, you have no idea.

I think that's all I've got for this week. Stay tuned for next week's update, same

dw_support_training time, same

dw_support_training ~~channel~~ community.

Best,
Kat, on behalf of the Triumvirate

zarhooie

Hello everyone! This week's update is going to be short because I'm currently in the process of moving from the dorms in South Dakota to my summer lodging in Massachusetts. I am writing this missive from beautiful Cleveland, Ohio, having left the apartment of the generous and wonderful

domtheknight, also known as the other half of my brain and 1/3rd of the Support Triumvirate. The other 1/3 is, of course,

chemicallace, with

ysobel coming in as the Pony/advisor/4th third.

There are a lot of really spiffy things happening in the back room at Support right now, but only a few of them are ready-ish for prime time so far.

The Known Issues FAQ is something resembling live! We will eventually have FAQs on each known issue, but we're working on prioritizing right now. To this end, if there is something you keep writing out that is a known issue, let one of us know and we'll write up a FAQ for you to reference. If you have the time and/or inclination to do so, feel free to write up the FAQ yourself and send it to one of us. If you don't have the time/inclination, it's ok too. We just want to hear about it!
If you are new to support and don't have any privs (such as the ability to see screened comments/answers and to make internal comments [ICs]), please fill out the poll below. If you already have these privs, please do not check those buttons.
Also, if you have been working in styles and are reasonably knowledgeable about styles, please select that you'd like canview:styles. This will allow you to view the user's style stuff so you can help them more efficiently. I am not promising that you will get this priv if you ask for it, but I'd like an idea of who is interested.

Poll #386 Privs
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 19
I would like...
...viewscreened (see screened comments left by others)
6 (46.2%)
makeinternal (make internal comments)
6 (46.2%)
canview:styles (view style stuff of other users)
10 (76.9%)
THIS. IS.
RADIO BUTTON
16 (100.0%)

You can see what privs you currently have by going here: http://www.dreamwidth.org/admin/priv/index.bml?user=YOURUSERNAME .
I know that some people are upset about Support's use of IRC as a training tool. We are currently trying to figure out a good alternative. If you have any suggestions about this, please let me know! Until we figure out an alternative though, I will continue to hold the training sessions in IRC. If you are on but there's not a training session going on and you want one to be going on, PLEASE poke at me! I'd be happy to help.
There are useful links in the sidebar of dw_support_training. I strongly urge you to check 'em out.

Like I said earlier, there's some other stuff in the works that I don't want to talk about yet, but trust me, it's really spiffy stuff!

One more thing: Congratulations to wyntarvox on getting Support Help privs in Styles this week! Congrats also go out to chemicallace and ysobel for cracking 100 support points this week, as well as to domtheknight for cracking 200! I am pretty sure that yvi reached 50 this week too! Yay everyone! (I am abusing exclamation points!!11!!) You can see where you are by visiting the High Scores page. Remember, points are just numbers and are not necessarily representative of how awesome you are being by helping in Support.

As always, I can be contacted at zarhooie@gmail.com or via PM if you have any questions at all. Contact info for the rest of the Support Triumvirate can be found in previous updates. I don't want to bore you with it again. :)

See y'all next week!

Best,
Kat
Dreamwidth Support Admin

zarhooie

Hello dwenizens! It's time for another exciting installment of "Kat Talks Too Darn Much!" theater with me, Kat, with bonus Dom and Chemla. Together we are your handy DW Support Triumvirate, here to help you be the best you can be.

First I want to say hi to everyone who is reading this, and send an especially big shout-out to everyone who answered their first support request this week! Thank you so much for stopping by and helping out. We really appreciate your enthusiasm and stuff. :) I'd also like to send a shout out to our fabulous

denise, who broke 1000 support points this week! This surprised exactly no one, but it's still really cool.

Let's get right to the meat of this, shall we? Contained below: new procedure things, some interesting/important facts and what's coming up soon!

( Meat of what? I'm vegetarian! ) Three things for outside the cut:

Anti-LiveJournal icons will *not* be tolerated as your _support icon. We are not LiveJournal, but a lot of our members used to be very active members. More to the point, a not-small number of our volunteers, department heads, and others (including our Fearless Leaders denise and mark ) used to work at LiveJournal. Most of us still have friends who work at LiveJournal or are active volunteers on their support team or elsewhere. When answering request on the board, your icon represents Dreamwidth as a whole, and, as a whole, Dreamwidth is NOT anti-LJ. You can spew anti-LJ rhetoric all over your own journal if you'd like, but please keep it off of the support boards.
If you couldn't see Wyn's response here at handy support request theater, you do NOT have viewscreened and/or makeinternal, two privs which come in really handy. To get these privs, go to this handy post by Rah and leave a comment. If you still don't have them after a few days, ping one of the Triumvirate and we'll get 'em for ya.
All information contained in the previous weekly thingy and the one before that is still accurate for the most part. Read the comments for bonus material!

Thanks for reading, and see you next week! Feel free to contact one of us if something goes sideways. Contact info is in last week's update.

We remain
your humble & ob'd't srv'ts,
The Triumvirate + Pony
(

zarhooie,

domtheknight,

chemicallace +

ysobel)

zarhooie

Hello all! Time for the very first

dw_support_training Q&A session! If you pay attention here, the T&A session may come next. Just to clarify, I am not DW staff, and neither are Dom or Chemla. We are just support volunteers who do an awful lot of volunteering. Nothing more than that. :)

Q: I have questions for you! How can I get in touch with you to ask?
A: Me, in particular? zarhooie AT gmail.com. You can also grab me on Gchat, IRC (MissKat on #dw), or PM me on site. To get in touch with Dom, you can e-mail her at domtheknight AT gmail.com or catch her on IRC (domtheknight on #dw). You can grab Chemla on IRC as ChemicalLace, on AIM as ChemicalLace or via e-mail at allyson AT chemicallace.com. E-mail is preferred for everyone.

Q: Who are you crazy people, anyway?
A: Well, there's me (

zarhooie), Dom (

domtheknight) and Chemla (

chemicallace). Together we make up the Support Hivemind. We bug squash and help out with approving answers on Dreamwidth Support, all while finding time to fight crime! Or ToS violations, anyway.

afuna and

ysobel are our trusty advisors, among others. And, as always, we have the fabulous

denise and

mark as our Shining Beacons of Sanity and Hope. They made this thing and are generally awesome.

Q: What's with all the first person plural stuff? Why don't you just tell us what you are thinking?
A: The simple answer is that it's easier to speak for the Hivemind than it is for me to speak as an individual. The things I'm telling you have been run through the Kat Chemla Dom hivemind approval system (with occasional bonus Fu and Isa). Think of me as the Mouth of Sauron, except with better teeth and more eyes and an order of magnitude less evil.

Q: Are you going to answer any actual questions here, Kat?
A: Yeah, should probably get on that. Way hey and away we go!
( Lots of really spiffy stuff under here, including unofficial support guidelines and what the heck a chemla is! )

That's all I've got for now. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to clarify.

Best,
The Hivemind
(Kat, on behalf of Dom and Chemla)

zarhooie

Hi y'all! I just wanted to go over a few things.

Everyone who has submitted a request so far, and everyone who's looked at the support boards, is totally 100% made of Grade A certified awesome.

Tact. I can not stress enough how important tact is for those who are answering support requests. The quickest way to upset a user is to be tactless. If you can't think of a good, tactful way to say something, ask on #dw_support, leave an IC (internal comment) or just don't answer. When in doubt, ask. I'd much rather err on the side of overly polite than asshattery.

Tone. I can't stress this enough either. Kill them with kindness. Don't be snarky, rude, mean, crabby or any shade of unpleasant. This is one of the public faces of Dreamwidth, so act like it. Kill them with kindness.

Aside from tact and politeness, the most important thing is starting out "dear $user" or "hi $user" and then ending with "best, yourname" or something similar. It's ok to change your sign off according to the nature of the request, but try to keep it professional. Thus, "Best," "Thanks!" and "Thanks for using Dreamwidth!" are ok, while "PEACE OUT" and "I will make like a banana in the presence of ice cream, and SPLIT" are not.

If the user is being an asshat, let one of the admins know and we'll take care of it.

If you submit answers and they aren't approved, you can come ask one of the admins. One of us is generally on #dw at any given time, so ping us with questions. Really, there are no stupid questions as far as this is concerned.

On a related note, please ask one of us if you don't know why we approved another answer instead of yours. We'd be happy to explain it. :)

If someone has answered a query, but you think you could write a better worded and more correct answer, by all means, please do so! We will approve the first answer which has the correct information, formatting and tone.

If you can avoid referencing the wiki, that'd be spiffy. Instead, use the FAQs whenever possible. This is because information on the wiki can be edited by anyone (generally) and this could lead to misinformation. Also, the FAQ referencing is built in to the support system, which is handy.

You may have noticed some requests getting their [xx]'s replaced with other headers, like [com], [icons] and [Mark]. Those are to help us keep track of certain types of problems to assist the devs. More on that in a minute. What they mean: Com = comments (not importing or not showing up), icons = icons (acting strangely) and Mark = anything that isn't comments or icons that needs attention. It's an admin thing, so don't worry about it. :)

This one is important so it gets its own thingy:
The support admins have a system for letting Mark and Rah (and Janine and Sarah) about problems identified on the support board. We send them a digest daily with the most recent problems, identified by us and by you. This system helps to ensure that PMs are not lost or forgotten and that all issues are addressed in a timely manner. To this end, if you feel that Rah or Mark need to look at a query, please let one of your Friendly Neighborhood Admins know so that we can add it to the list. Chances are we'll see it before you poke at us, but we'd rather hear about the same issue 10 times than hear about 10 issues once. We are currently using the central collection method for contacting site copy and FAQ personnel as well, though this may change in the future. We'll let you know if it does. :)

If you need to get in touch with one of your Friendly Neighborhood Admins, you can PM us on IRC (MissKat, domtheknight, chemicallace) or e-mail us or PM us on the site. There are several admins, but the ones who are writing this are

zarhooie,

domtheknight and

chemicallace.

Thanks for reading, guys!

-Kat, Dom and Chemla