MyBB Community Forums

Look around the site and half of the Support Team have it in their signatures 'Support PMs Will Be Ignored' . . . at first glance this might seem a little bewildering, but let me explain why sending private messages asking specific questions is not only rude, but also counter-productive to the ideals of this community.

• Have you ever considered that someone else may be wondering about the same question you are asking?
  
  In fact, many times someone else has already asked the exact question before-- maybe ten seconds before you sent your PM.
  
  The bottom line is that if you don't get an answer from reading the forums and searching then it is fair game to create a support thread at that point.
  
  When you ask a question in the forum you are saving time-- for yourself, the member(s) providing support and other members of the forum who might have the same question at that time or in the future.
   
  
• Time spent answering emails could have been used to develop/improve the software
  
  In the case of these forums there is a team to handle support and a separate team to develop-- with plugin developers this is not often the case.
  
  I am no developer by trade. I build houses for a living so I generally only have 2-3 hours per evening and all day Sunday to code. When much of that time is spent answering specific emails and PMs about plugins then not only does the plugin suffer, but also my personal life takes a punch in the throat :p
   
  
• You will usually get an answer more quickly when posting on the forums
  
  When you PM an individual you have to wait for them to check in and care enough to read your mail and care enough to answer and you are assuming that they even know the answer.
  
  When you post on the forum you have hundreds of people that are exposed to at least the title of your thread (which is why it is so important to be descriptive with the title) and more chances that someone will a) know b) care and c) respond.
   
  
• If you are not invited to PM someone then you probably shouldn't.
  
  Reasons to send private messages can include sending sensitive or private information, giving access to your board for testing/trouble-shooting or even just because some members don't like their forum's URL splashed everywhere. This is all fine and good if you were invited to PM that member. If not, perhaps you should ask in the support thread or create a thread/post detailing as much of the problem as you feel comfortable posting in public and ask about private correspondence.

I'll be honest, it doesn't irritate me when I get PMs asking questions about my plugins because I am not really a developer-- just a country boy who is learning a lot and loving every minute of it But I'm sure that feeling will fade after another 1,000 of these:

n00b Wrote:HOW TO MAKE LOGO BIGGER???!!!!???

THX >:X

Just my opinion.

Yeah, well, not just team members. Last nights example...

Some impatient dweboid Wrote:Pls help to solve these problems..

Reply to thread--

<insert link>

<insert link>

I didn't actually have this in my signature until recently when the number of PMs I received for basic support became overwhelming. It does become severely annoying.

Totally agree Wildcard. My sig does not say I will ignore the PMs because when I first started on support I was all idealistic and noble and wanting to help folks...

...fast forward two weeks on support team - I was tempted to change to a blunt "Support Pms will be ignored" but sacrified my fish logo to put an explanation into my sig as to WHY users should post in the forums.

* Leefish misses her dancing fish.

Sorry but I ain't even giving up my sig for it. I just decided to universally ignore unsolicited PMs and I felt that I should at least explain why.

I don't know why I receive PMs for support here, I've never released a plugin in my life. But yes, I agree with all of these points.

In fact, everything I know is from searching Google, which is easier and faster than sending a PM asking for support.

(2013-01-22, 01:35 AM)Tecca Wrote: [ -> ]I don't know why I receive PMs for support here, I've never released a plugin in my life. But yes, I agree with all of these points.

You're online. Hence they PM you for "maximum exposure"

Members who constantly PM me for support end up on my ignore list. Apparently actually ignoring their PMs isn't enough.

Thats good friends but in emergency cases...??
I recommanded that make a emergency support forum in it any user can request help onlyone time in 24 hr.

(2013-01-22, 02:51 AM)Rockstar4m Wrote: [ -> ]Thats good friends but in emergency cases...??

Like everyone else, you wait.

(2013-01-22, 02:51 AM)Rockstar4m Wrote: [ -> ]I recommanded that make a emergency support forum in it any user can request help onlyone time in 24 hr.

There is already one of these - MyBB 1.6 General Support. You're not going to get "Priority Support" - For that matter, you're not going to get any support at all. You're denied support so why does it matter to you?