Help Channel Guidelines (the best way to get the help you need)
Courtesy is a very important element in your quest for help on IRC.
The operators and helpers are unpaid volunteers who donate their time to
help users with their questions. If you are rude and impatient, you are
much less likely to be helped, than if you are kind and considerate and
treat the helpers with respect.
Try to follow these guidelines, and you'll find that you will,
more-often-than-not, get the help you need:
When you have a question:
1. Do not ask, "Can anybody help me?" or "Can I ask a question?".
Asking if you can ask is a waste of time and generally can annoy the
helpers. They don't know if they can help you until you actually ASK the
question.
2. Think about your question and word it clearly all at once. It is
easier to follow a question if it's not broken into pieces.
3. Do not repeat repeat repeat repeat. Helpers need time to think,
retrieve data, and type. Be patient. If no one has answered your question
in 5 or 10 minutes, you might try asking again. The helpers, however,
might be away from their keyboards, or busy with other users. You may even
need to come back later.
• Try to use the language being used in the channel. Whatever language
the topic is written in, will probably be the language most used in the
channel. Some channels kick for use of other languages, because the ops
can’t tell if what you’re saying is good or bad.
• Pay attention to other user’s text in the channel. If there is idle
chatter, you will know that chatting is ok in the channel. If there are
colors being used, you will know that it is ok to use colors and other
control codes. Follow the flow of the channel, to avoid being kicked.
• Try to avoid flooding a channel with parts and joins, nick changes,
too much text or any other behavior that might be considered annoying.
Keeping the same nick will also enable you to get help more quickly, since
the helpers will be better able to keep track of you.
• DO NOT USE ALL CAPS- Using all caps is considered yelling on
IRC
• Remember that the purpose of a help channel is to give help to
users, therefore you should not do things that will distract from the help
being given. Make sure your mp3 and wav notices don’t show in these
channels. Turn off any autogreets or other remotes that might show in the
channel. Don’t test your scripts in a help channel. And again, don’t chat
in a help channel. All of these things distract the users and the
ops.
• If you want ops- DON’T ASK! The very best way to ensure that you
will NOT get ops is to ask for ops. If you really do want ops, you need to
hang out in the channel for a very long time, letting the ops get to know
and trust you. If you are kind and helpful, they WILL notice you,
eventually. Access is not important. Helping is what is important and if
you really want to help, you can and will do that with or without
access.
• Some channels do not allow idling. You might want to find out ahead
of time, if idling is allowed, before you idle in a help channel.
• Avoid advertising in help channels. You will be kicked for
advertising.