Getting support in Launchpad

When you're having a problem with a distribution or product hosted in Launchpad, you can use the support tracker to request help from the community.

To post a new support request, you first have to navigate to the product or distribution you'd like support with. From any pages related to that product or distribution, you access the Support Tracker by clicking the Support link.

This will display a listing of existing support requests posted on that product or distribution (and you could search or browse that listing to find your problem). You can open a new request by using the Request Support link.

Filing a new ticket, part 1: searching for similar requests

The first step is to enter a brief summary of your problem. A short sentence containing 3 or 4 keywords describing the issue will work best. This will be used to find a list of existing support requests. Don't worry about entering common words like 'the', 'and', or 'in': all common words are ignored for purposes of the search.

Take the time to look at the similar support requests presented to you to see if your question hasn't been answered before. Pay special attention to requests marked Answered or Solved, since if it's a similar request, they may contain an answer to your problem.

Tip: The beginning of the complete support request description will appear in a small pop-up if you leave your mouse over the requests' title.

Filing a new ticket, part 2: posting your request

If you don't find a matching problem in the list, then just enter a detailed description of your problem in the text box. Enter as much contextual information as you can: steps that you have taken to resolve your problem, version of the programs you were using, etc.. This will make it easier for somebody to answer your problem. If you don't provide enough information, users will have to request that information from you.

Once you're satisfied with the content of your request, just click on the Add button... and wait for your answers to show up!

Following-up on replies

You'll be notified by email when somebody replies to your request. The person will either ask you to provide more information or offer an answer to your problem.

Replying to a request for more information

If the reply is a request for more information, you can just hit your email client 'Reply' button and enter the requested information in the email. Or you can visit the support request page (the link is included in the notification email) and provide the information using the web form at the bottom of the page. In that case, enter the information in the text box and click on the Provide more information button.

When the answer didn't work

If the reply contains an answer, it would be appreciated if you provide feedback on its quality. If the answer doesn't solve your problem, you'll want to reopen your request: once an answer is given, its status is changed so that the people doing support know that an answer was already provided on your request. You can reopen your ticket by replying to the email, explaining what worked and what didn't work with the answer. You can also use the web form by visiting the support request's page. There. you enter the feedback in the text box at the bottom of the page and then click the I'm still having this problem button.

When the answer worked

If the answer solved your problem, you should use the confirmation link included in the email. (You can't currently confirm that the problem is solved by email... yet.) On the displayed web form, you can enter a thank you note if you like. You click on the 'This solved my problem' button to confirm that the answer solved your problem. That will credit the answerer as having solved your problem, and as an added bonus, it helps Launchpad build a database of good answers.

But I forgot to track what I need to reply to!

It is common for your INBOX to be a busy place these days. So, if you've lost soome notification emails, don't worry. You can always find the requests on which your input is needed by visiting the Needs attention report. This report is available in the support area of a product or distribution, or in the support area of your home page on Launchpad. In the latter, it will display all the requests waiting for your input in all contexts, and in the former, the report will lists only the requests needing your reply in that particular product or distribution.

You can provide the needed feedback by using the web form that you'll find on each of these requests' pages.

If you find the answer yourself

Sometimes it happens that we find the solution to our problem just after hitting the Add button on the web form describing our problem. In these cases, please consider coming back to add the solution to your request. This may help others who'll come after you and have a similar problem.

To do this, go to the page of your support request. (Tip: if you can't remember where you posted it, use the Created link in the support area of your home page. It will list all the support requests you made.) Enter the solution to the problem in the text box at the bottom of the page and click the I have solved my problem button. This will mark the request as solved, and you'll be credited with the answer.

When nothing happens with your request

It can happen sometimes that you don't receive an answer to your request. This might happen for several reasons: nobody knows the answers to the question, it is not clear from the request what is the problem, or some other reason. There is an unwritten law that as the support request gets older, the less chance there is that it will be noticed and that it will get answered.

So instead of letting old requests accumulates lint in the Open listing, Launchpad automatically expires non-answered requests after two weeks of inactivity. (Inactivity here means: no replies or new information has been provided for the last two weeks.) When this happens, you'll get an email notification about the fact that your request was expired.

If you're still affected by the problem and you'd still like to get it answered, you may reopen the request so that it reappears on the non-answered listings. To do so, you may reply to the notification email, or you can use the web form by visiting the support request page (the link will appear in the email). There, just enter your message in the text box at the bottom of the page and click on the I'm still having this problem button.

If you want to improve your chances in getting an answer this time, you might want to provide additional information on your problem, adding steps you have tried to solve it, or trying to rephrase it so it is easier to understand.