Another function to help you

[Mike]

This is something that should likely go into the Announcements forum, but placed here I know more people will see it and will read it.

As you know, if you've been here more than two minutes , I like making this site easy for people to use. I also like adding features and functions that will appeal to our members. And I am happy to announce I have just nailed both those birds with one stone.

The sharp-eyed amongst you will have alredy noticed a new menu option in the NavBar - Support Center.

Clicking on that link won't get you anywhere for just the now, but here are some sneak peeks of what is shaping up in the background.

I have added a complete Support Center to the forums. And when I say complete, that is exactly what I mean. Once you are able to access the Support Center (have patience, I'm working as fast as I can do), you will then be able to submit trouble tickets, to report any questions you may have, or to report any problems you are experiencing. You will also be able to access any previous tickets you have submitted. And, last but certainly not least, you will be able to access our Knowledgebase, to read answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).

In short, you will be able to visit one link to find or to get answers to questions you have. Let's take a deeper look behind the scenes, so you can see how this will all work.

If you need to send a Trouble Ticket, you can click on the Submit ticket link and you will see a page like the one above. You will be able to select the area your question best fits, whether that might be a question about the forum, the photo gallery, the donation manager or just general, miscellaneous questions. You can then give your ticket a specific title, so the tech answering the question will know more specifics. You can then type out a full description of the problem or questions, providing full details, so the tech can narrow down what you need help with. As you can see, the tecketing system uses the same text entry as the forums, so you will be able to format your tickets the same as forum posts. And, since pictures can be worth a thousand words, you will also be able to display screenshot images inline, or as attachments.

And no more of my forgetting to check the Support forum for new posts , because when you submit your ticket, the system will fire off an e-mail to me, to let me know a new ticket has been submitted.

For faster answers, you will also be able to check the FAQs in our Knowledgebase. Clicking on that link will take you to a list of the Knowledgebase categories. As you can see above, I have only managed to get two categories configured, but both are already populated with some questions and answers, so there is some progress being made.

Clicking on the Forum Post FAQs will open up that category, where you can see some of the more frequently asked questions. And if you are needing help learning how to start a new thread on the forums, you can click on that question...

...and you will see an answer to the question.

In a slight play with words, let me just ask one question. Hoosier daddy?

No more hunting around the forums, trying to find answers to questions. As I get this system fleshed out, you will find all your answers, right in on place. And if you cannot find an answer in the Knowledgebase, then you will be able to submit a trouble ticket, from the very same place. Can it get any easier than this?

But here is where I have to insert a disclaimer. If you look in the upper-right corner of the Support Center, you will see the following module -

Please understand I am installing this system to provide each one of you with am more robust forum experience. That is what this is all about for me, trying to make things easier for you to use and trying to make this the T-Bucket site you spend the majority of your time on. But at the end of the day, I have to admit I do have a life. Well, somewhat of a life, anyway. I do have a job, but remember that requires me to work nights. So my daily schedule might not align with your own. On a typical morning, I arrive home from work at about 7:12 and I am usually jumping into my scratcher by 7:18. Some mornings, I may try to check at least some of my 19 e-mail Inboxes, to see if there are any fires to be put out. But I generally find sleep is a higher priority at that time of day. I admit I can be rather abrupt when dealing with others, but abrupt turns into outright cranky, when I am in need of sleep. Although the times are few and far between, my son and granddaughters do come over for an occasional visit. And I think you will all understand that forums are the last thing on my mind when my grandbabies are here. I try to get to Lodge at least once a month, so don't be surprised if I am not around on a Saturday evening.

If you submit a trouble ticket at 4:00 PM, chances are that it will get handled pretty quickly. If you submit a trouble ticket at 9:30 PM, it may not get handled until the following afternoon/evening. On 1 January, EX JUNK. 409T and myself all got 100% increases in our forum salaries, which means we are all still doing this as a labor of love, at zero pay. So don't get too put out, if you do not get an immediate answer to your trouble tickets. The day this site provides me with a living income, I promise you faster response times to your trouble tickets, aye? Rest assured I will address your problems as soon as humanly possible. Nothing would make me any happier than to keep average response times to trouble tickets below 20 minutes, but I am only one person.

I will be adding FAQs to the Knowledgebase and putting the final touches on the ticketing system. Moderators, you should be able to access the system, at this time, so flag me up if you cannot. Once I get the Support Center opened for business, I will let everyone know and I will then move the threads in the Support forum to the How Do I... forum, which I will close down to a read-only archive.

 

[AnotherTest]

I am really hoping it was not a premature move on my part, but the threads in the Support forum have been moved to the How Do I... forum. And the Support forum has now been closed down and removed.

The Support Center link in the NavBar has been edited to show as Help Desk. I think Help Desk will be easier for people to understand, particularly when it is help they are seeking.

There is a bit of a snag in the script driving the Help Desk that causes both the account seeking help and the tech account to see trouble ticket errors that really are not errors. And once a tech has replied to a trouble ticket, he can no longer see the ticket until the other party has replied back. I have done some careful tracking of the issues and have provided all the data to the script developer, who is looking for solutions to the problems.

I would like to be able to continue configuring the back end of the script, but until I see whether or not we can fix the issues, I am holding off on investing any more time with it.

If anyone has a question or a problem, please use the How Do I... forum, located in The Fine Print category. Assuming we can get the Help Desk issues sorted, I will let you know when it is open for you to use.

 

[Mike]

Oops, I posted from the wrong account, didn't I?

 

[T-Test]

I"m SO confused!! Who am I!! Just havin" fun with ya! Are You Wet yet? Lot"s o rain your way.

 

[Mike]

Wet?

Actually, things are getting better. The water was at 22.5 feet, last week, so it's down over 6 feet. It has been the worst flooding in over 40 years. And yes, we're forecast to get more rain, late in the week.

OK, everyone, I am going to start opening up the Help Desk. There are still some snags with ticket submissions (the script shows errors when there are really no errors), so I won't be allowing ticket submissions quite yet. But you will be able to get in and see what things look like for yourself. The Knowledgebase will be available to you, as well.

As soon as we knock down the ticket submission issues, there will be another function added to the Help Desk. How about live support? When I am online, there will be an option for you to open a live chat window with me, via the Help Desk, so you can get answers and support in real-time.

 

[Mike]

OK, the Help Desk trouble ticketing system is now live. If you need help with a forum issue, visit the Help Desk link in the NavBar and click to Submit Ticket. You will then be able to provide me with details of the problem you are having and send it to me.

With that system now up and running, the How Do I... forum has been closed to posting and is now a read-only archive. We're sorting some issues with the Live Chat feature, but that should be ready to go before too much longer.

 

[Mike]

And the Live Chat system is now spinning like a top. I'm away to grab some sleep, but will be back in a few hours with some more images to show everyone how easy this system is to use.

 

[Mike]

OK, here is a look at what the Help Desk can do, when you need help.

First of all, you will notice a new module on the forum home page -

The Live Support module will show you if there is someone manning the Help Desk Live Chat function.

As you can see in the above image, I have logged into the system.

I have the ability to independently log in and out of the Live Support function. There may be times when you see I am online, but Live Support is offline. That will simply be an indication that I am busy doing something else, or that I am not planning on being online for very long. Again, as much as I would like to, being here and available, 24 hours a day is just not possible.

In the original post, I told you to look for a link called Support Center. In an effort to make things easier for everyone to understand, I have renamed that link to read, Help Desk.

OK, here I have switched to a test account, in another browser, to show you what a regular user will see, whilst using the Help Desk.

There are a lot of options available to you. You can submit trouble tickets from two locations, you can check on previously-submitted tickets in two locations, you can check the Knowledgebase for frequently asked questions and you can even seek Live Support, via a chat window. Let's start out by submitting a new ticket.

After clicking on Submit Ticket, you will see the above text entry window. You can select an area that best describes your problem area, you then enter a subject title for your ticket, to better define the problem area, you can then enter your tech question (with as much detail as possible) and then you can tick to let me know what operating system and what browser you are using, when you experience the problem. Once all the data is entered to your satisfaction, click on the Save button.

So here, you can see I have filled in the fields with the question I want answered.

After clicking the Save button, you will then see your ticket is away.

OK, now let's switch back to my account, to see how things will look for me, when you submit a ticket. I see the problem area, the user who sent the ticket, the title of the ticket, the ticket status and when the ticket was submitted.

And here, I can see the ticket the test account submitted. I have entered a reply to the ticket, and since it was a simple question, I have opted to close the ticket after my reply.

Back to the test account. You can see there is an alert, to let me know a tech has replied to my ticket, so I can select one of two places to view my tickets.

Here is the view where my submitted tickets can be seen. And note, the tech has marked the ticket as Closed.

I clicked on the ticket, to view the tech's reply and can now read what he had to say. But if I am still not satisfied with the answer to the question, I can reply to the ticket, which will cause the ticket to be re-opened.

And here, back on my admin account, you can see the test account has re-opened the ticket, which now shows as being in progress.

Now, let's look at a quicker way to get support, via the Live Support chat function.

There are two places where you can click, to start the Live Support function, so click on one.

You will then see who is manning the Live Support, which in this case was myself. Click on the Online icon.

And you will be taken to a chat window. Here, you can see the status of the support chat and a text entry field, where you can pose your questions. Once you have asked the question, click on Send.

Back on the admin account, you can see I now have a notification appearing, to let me know someone is in Live Support, awaiting an answer.

I open up the Live Support window, and there is the question the test account asked.

Back on the test account, you can see where the tech has answered the question. As soon as you have a satisfactory answer, you can then click on Exit Chat, to leave Live Support.

And when you have logged out of Live Support, my own chat window will update to reflect that you are away.

I think you will agree, this system is going to be a great way to seek and provide support on this site. It localizes everything into one, easy-to-use location. It offers you a Knowledgebase, where you can check for answers to frequently-asked questions. It offers you the ability to submit trouble tickets, to get answers to unique problems. And it offers the ability to get live support, when someone is online and logged into the system.

As mentioned in an earlier post, the How Do I... forum is now closed to posting and is a read-only archive forum. So please, use the Help Desk for any questions you may have.

I would only ask you do not abuse the live, chat function. If you have a tech question, then by all means, log in and ask your questions. But if you are just wanting to ask about the weather, that is a question best asked in a forum post.

Enjoy!

 

[Mike]

I have just finished an upgrade of our Help Desk software. And there are some new additions you will want to kniow about.

I'm not making any promises on time to fully 'teach' it, but there is now a robot that can help with answeting simple tech questions. I have about this >< much time to be programming bots, so the function is going to be extremely limited for an indefinite period of time.

But you will now see there is a fourth option available to you - News. I will now have the ability to start moving posts into the Help Desk, so don't be surprised if you find a question you have asked on the forum is suddenly being answered in the Help Desk. And the same goes for posts that are considered newsworthy. I can add them into the News section of the Help Desk. So this will be something you will want to check, from time to time, in order to make sure you are not missing out on anything.

If you click on the newspaper icon, you will see a list of items published as News.

And by clicking on the title of news items, you will be able to see the information it contains. I have a registered feed set up to check the XenForo company forums Announcements forum, every 30 minutes. If a new post exists there, it is automagically posted to a closed forum on this site. If one of the robotic posts is newsworthy, I will copy it to the Help Desk News. In the example above, that would be a hint that the site would be closed at some future point, to run the upgrade. I'm not a betting man, but I will still wager we are running the final Beta release of XenForo 1.2. When last I looked, there were a grand total of three bugs awaiting fixes, so I reckon the next upgrade will be Release Candidate 1. If you see that news posted to the Help Desk News section, then you can fully expect the site to be closed down for the upgrade.

The Help Desk is really getting fleshed out with a lot of new features and all of them are only going to make forum support easier for everyone. So please, remember the system is there.