In the internet marketing business time is really Money
Ervin
]]>I have performed tech support for complicated software in as many as eight operating systems simultaneously and I’ve seen some Jim’s support posts during the four years that I’ve run a couple of phpBB forums
I must say, I could never equal Jim’s second language, English abilities in Swedish, French and we won’t even mention the others I mutilate.
I’ve never met Jim or even “talked” to him, though I’ve benefited from his help, occasionally. If I spoke “Dutch” as well as Jim writes English, I would be compelled to say: “my hat’s off to your English, Jim,” and your support for this board’s users. Thanks!
Jerry
Yes indeed. My native language isn’t English, as you maybe can see somewhere in the text as well.
Regarding the search. The point was not to tell people who ask support on your board “Search for it!”. True that there are some who haven’t done that before asking a question. However, linking to the topic where the information is in and telling your users how you found it would be a good idea. Then they might be able to solve their own problems in the future.
]]>Regarding Search, what I usually do is link to a thread already discussing a topic and tell them the search criteria I used to find that. Contrary to what Jim thinks, I’ve found that not everybody tries searching before they ask questions.
On a huge board like this, almost any given phrase will return many hits, and it can be frustrating for users to click on each one hoping they find the answer, so I can understand why they might not search.
Giving them the search criteria I used can help them understand how to form better queries. Linking to a thread already discussing the issue can prevent redundant explanations and provide more information that the questioner may be interested in (possibly preventing further questions).
]]>we learn things while giving out support, that’s what we gain
maybe some for job interview, proof and knwoledege, but learning is more than what i actually see