launchpad help|
Size: 5540
Comment:
|
Size: 9146
Comment:
|
| Deletions are marked like this. | Additions are marked like this. |
| Line 14: | Line 14: |
| Launchpad Answers helps solves these problems by: | Launchpad Answers helps to solve these problems by: |
| Line 18: | Line 18: |
| * building a searchable knowledge base of good answers. | * building a searchable knowledge base of good answers * allowing people to ask questions and offer support in different languages. |
| Line 22: | Line 23: |
| To ask for help, visit the Answers page for the relevant project or distribution. For example, if you want help with the exaile media player, you'd visit https://answers.launchpad.net/exaile | = Asking for help = Using Launchpad to find help is easy. First off, visit the Answers page for the project or distribution you're using. '''Example:''' if you want help with the exaile media player, you'd visit https://answers.launchpad.net/exaile Follow the ```Ask a question``` link and choose the language with which you're most comfortable. {i} '''Tip:''' to improve your chances of getting an answer, choose a language that is marked with an asterisk. These languages have support volunteers whom Launchpad will notify of your question. Next, type a summary the problem you're having. If you've ever reported a bug using Launchpad, you'll find the following steps quite familiar. Let's say you're having trouble getting Exaile to minimise to the system notifications area of your Gnome panel (the systray). You enter the question: ''How do I minimise Exaile to the systray?'' Launchpad will now search for existing questions that look similar. If it finds any, it will show you them. If Launchpad doesn't find any similar questions, or those it finds are unhelpful to you, you can write a more detailed description of your problem and submit your question. == What happens next? == Once you've added your new question, Launchpad emails anyone who's volunteered to be an answer contact for your language. They can then ask you for more information or offer an answer. Between you, you and the answer contacts should also change the question's reported status. == Question statuses == Each question can have one of six statuses: * '''Open:''' this question needs an answer, either because it is new or because a previous answer didn't completely solve the problem. * '''Needs information'''. * '''Answered:''' someone has answered the question but the original reporter hasn't yet said whether or not it solved their problem. * '''Solved:''' one of the answers to the question has solved the original reporter's problem. * '''Expired:''' Launchpad automatically expired this question because it stayed in the '''Open''' or '''Needs information''' state, without activity, for more than two weeks. * '''Invalid'''. == Actions that change a question's status == * '''Someone, other than the reporter, has asked for more information'''. When the question's status is ```Open```, this will change it to ''Needs information''. * '''The reporter provides more information on the problem'''. When the status of the question is ```Needs information``, this will change it back to ```Open```. * ....Someone answers a question'''. When the status of the question is ```Open``` or ```Needs information``, this will change it to ```Answered```. * '''The original reporter tells Launchpad they have found the solution'''. The status moves to ```Solved```. * '''The reporter confirms an answer given by another user'''. The status moves to ```Solved```. * '''After receiving an answer, the reporter replies that the problem still occurs'''. This reverts status to ```Open```. * '''Two weeks have passed without a change to the question'''. If the question is in the ```Open``` or ```Needs information``` state, Launchpad's robot - the Launchpad Janitor - will automatically mark the question as ```Expired```. * '''An answer contact or administrator rejects a question which contains spam or is a duplicate'''. This changes the status to ```Invalid```. |
| Line 49: | Line 95: |
| Once you're an answer contact, Launchpad will email you each time someone posts a new question to your chosen project or distribution. You can also see a list of questions awaiting an answer by using the ```Open``` filter towards the top of the page. == Email interface == |
|
| Line 53: | Line 104: |
| = Automatic question expiry = | |
| Line 54: | Line 106: |
| = Email interface = |
DRAFT: this page is a work in progress. Please seek further help or check the wiki index for a complete page on this topic.
Overview
Mailing lists, web forums and IRC are great places to find help with free software. Usually, you'll find someone who can answer your question or, at the very least, point you in the direction of a useful web page.
These methods of finding and giving help have a couple of shortcomings, though:
- there's no way to track the progress of a question
- knowledge about the software is spread across different places.
Launchpad Answers helps to solve these problems by:
- tracking user questions in a similar way to bug reports
- notifying volunteer support contacts of new questions
- building a searchable knowledge base of good answers
- allowing people to ask questions and offer support in different languages.
It also serves as a simple ticketing system for tracking admin requests.
Asking for help
Using Launchpad to find help is easy. First off, visit the Answers page for the project or distribution you're using.
Example: if you want help with the exaile media player, you'd visit https://answers.launchpad.net/exaile
Follow the Ask a question link and choose the language with which you're most comfortable.
Tip: to improve your chances of getting an answer, choose a language that is marked with an asterisk. These languages have support volunteers whom Launchpad will notify of your question.
Next, type a summary the problem you're having. If you've ever reported a bug using Launchpad, you'll find the following steps quite familiar.
Let's say you're having trouble getting Exaile to minimise to the system notifications area of your Gnome panel (the systray). You enter the question:
How do I minimise Exaile to the systray?
Launchpad will now search for existing questions that look similar. If it finds any, it will show you them.
If Launchpad doesn't find any similar questions, or those it finds are unhelpful to you, you can write a more detailed description of your problem and submit your question.
What happens next?
Once you've added your new question, Launchpad emails anyone who's volunteered to be an answer contact for your language. They can then ask you for more information or offer an answer. Between you, you and the answer contacts should also change the question's reported status.
Question statuses
Each question can have one of six statuses:
Open: this question needs an answer, either because it is new or because a previous answer didn't completely solve the
- problem.
Needs information.
Answered: someone has answered the question but the original reporter hasn't yet said whether or not it solved their problem.
Solved: one of the answers to the question has solved the original reporter's problem.
Expired: Launchpad automatically expired this question because it stayed in the Open or Needs information state, without activity, for more than two weeks.
Invalid.
Actions that change a question's status
Someone, other than the reporter, has asked for more information. When the question's status is Open, this will change it to Needs information.
The reporter provides more information on the problem. When the status of the question is Needs information, this will change it back to Open`.
....Someone answers a question. When the status of the question is Open or Needs information, this will change it to Answered`.
The original reporter tells Launchpad they have found the solution. The status moves to Solved.
The reporter confirms an answer given by another user. The status moves to Solved.
After receiving an answer, the reporter replies that the problem still occurs. This reverts status to Open.
Two weeks have passed without a change to the question. If the question is in the Open or Needs information state, Launchpad's robot - the Launchpad Janitor - will automatically mark the question as Expired.
An answer contact or administrator rejects a question which contains spam or is a duplicate. This changes the status to Invalid.
Launchpad Answers for your project
If you're a project owner, you can use Launchpad Answers to offer support to your software's users and to build a knowledge base about your software.
First off, tell the world that your project uses Answers by selecting People can ask questions in Launchpad Answers on its Change details page at https://launchpad.net/<your-project>/+edit.
The most important step, though, is to ensure that questions about your project are seen by people who can help. This is where project answer contacts come in: they receive an email to let them know each time someone asks a question about your project.
Answer contacts
As an answer contact, you have two main jobs:
- reviewing new questions
- creating stock answers to frequently asked questions.
You or anyone else can volunteer to become an answer contact for a project. All you have to do is click the Set answer contact link on a project or distro's Answers overview page. If you're the admin of a team, you can also set that team to be an answer contact.
Volunteering to be an answer contact is the easy bit. While Launchpad provides the mechanism to offer help to people, each project can choose for themselves how they deal with user support queries. To find out about any such conventions, you should get in touch with one or two of the other answer contacts. Visit any of the project's Answers pages and expand the answer contacts box, in the left-hand column, for a full list.
Once you're an answer contact, Launchpad will email you each time someone posts a new question to your chosen project or distribution. You can also see a list of questions awaiting an answer by using the Open filter towards the top of the page.
Usually, you can find help with free software by asking on mailing list, web forums or IRC. Launchpad Answers improves the way tha Launchpad Answers take the best ele That support is often offered through mailing lists, forums and IRC. Many projects use mailing lists, forums and IRC to Use the first two paragraphs to summarise all the important points about this article. Tell the reader if this is the information they need as soon as possible.
Where appropriate, use step by step instructions:
Describe the screen shot here Some screen shots will be better placed to the right of your text. As they're not placed directly below the text that they support, use a border and short description. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam sagittis. Aliquam eros dui, scelerisque id, consequat in, accumsan vitae, pede. Suspendisse neque ligula, scelerisque ac, mattis ut, aliquam quis, odio. Proin nunc nisi, fringilla ac, congue ac, luctus eu, lacus. Maecenas ac purus. Cras felis metus, ultricies non, euismod ac, accumsan eleifend, leo. Quisque imperdiet tempus tellus. Ut euismod, diam nec adipiscing interdum, tortor orci fringilla nisi, vel blandit erat magna at nisi. Fusce hendrerit odio non metus. Mauris nisl massa, dapibus id, feugiat quis, blandit a, quam. Integer tincidunt feugiat nunc. Curabitur iaculis egestas elit. Nam imperdiet suscipit odio. ![/!\](/moin_static198/lp20/img/alert.png "/!\"){kind=small}
Important: when you become an answer contact, you're asking Launchpad to send you an email each time someone asks a question about that project or distro. If you make one of your teams an answer contact, you're subscribing each member to also receive that email. You should gain each member's permission before you make the team an answer contact. Responding to new questions
Email interface
Automatic question expiry
Instructional text
Full screen shots
