So you’re having a question, experiencing a problem or just would like to share something. And you’ve come to the forum to find that help. In order to help you find your answer as soon as possible, read this topic to learn how to effectively ask for help.
What to do when you have a question?
First of all, search for existing articles. Check the FAQ and search this forum. Maybe your question has been answered already! You can search them simultaneously too.
If you found a FAQ article, but it doesn’t work for you/isn’t clear…
Check the forum for additional topics about the subject. If those topics don’t answer your question, then create a new discussion.
If you found a forum post, but it doesn’t answer your question or doesn’t work for you…
- Check very carefully whether the issue is the same. Their “website didn’t work” a year ago and your website doesn’t work now, it’s not the same. Carefully check all the symptoms covered in the topic.
- If you’re 100% sure the symptoms are fully identical, add your reply to the topic.
- If you’re not 100% sure your issue is exactly the same, create a new topic.
How can I talk to your helpdesk?
InfinityFree does not have a helpdesk. It’s a free service, we don’t have the income to hire people to answer your questions. All support for InfinityFree is handled through this forum.
How to write a good message?
Lots of people are inclined to just write “XXX no work, halp pls”. However, with messages like that, you’re going to have to play Twenty Questions for the next two weeks just to allow others to figure out what the issue is. So you should include all relevant details.
Examples of relevant details include:
- What is the account username, domain name and URL of the issue. Lots of issues can be checked and verified within a minute if the subject is known.
- What exactly are you trying to achieve? It gives people a sense of what you’re trying to achieve an provides an opportunity to provide alternative solutions. Are you trying to upload a backup of your website? Are you trying to create a new sitebuilder site? Do you want to build a contact form with PHP?
- What steps do you perform? Which buttons do you click? What do you enter in a form? People can only fix the issues they can confirm exist, so explaining what you’re doing leading up to the issue step by step is very useful.
- Which software do you use? Browsers, operating systems, FTP clients, scripts, etc. could all influence a problem.
- What error messages do you see? An error message is a type of messages, and messages are things which convey information. Regardless of whether you can make sense of the error message, copy the entire error message exactly how it’s being displayed to you and include it in the message.
- Screenshots. A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say. Screenshots can help explain what you’re doing and what error you’re seeing.
Examples of things you should not post:
- Passwords. Never share your password with anyone. Staff can access your account without having to ask you for a password.
- Excessive begging, pleading, swearing, groveling. We’re here to help. Being friendly is always great, but stick to the point.