Hello,
I would like to apply for a position on the Support Think Tank team. The reason I think I would be a good member, is because I strive to see things from a common member's viewpoint. It is far too easy for people to simply assume that everyone has the same knowledge/tolerance/common sense as they do. I underestimate the capabilities of the user, in the hope that things will end up being accessible to everyone.
For example, in regards to the support system at Invisionfree:
I don't think there is a problem with the quality of support given, or the number of questions answered. I think the problem lies in the fact that those questions need to be asked.
The information that the user's need is all on this forum somewhere, but the problem is connecting the users with the information. A lot of users have very little patience, and find that creating a new thread with their question, is far easier than actually looking for the information.
Ideally, a forum search would help to solve that, but Google search doesn't work too well in searching a whole forum, and a lot of IF users are getting used to not searching on an IF forum, so they won't try to search here either. If we could create a truly search-able index of problems, and highlight this search as the easiest method of support, we may have a lot more success.
We could of course expand the FAQ, but really, there is no need. We should work on one single thread. An index of questions. The thread would be no more than a huge, organised of course, list of links to threads in the FAQ, but also to questions in the General Support forum which were well answered. Users could search through the list simply by using ctrl+f.
In the current FAQ, users don't want to have to scroll through pages of threads in a forum, and the index thread itself isn't expansive enough. It functions well as a walk-through for setting up a forum, but it doesn't answer many of the other questions of members, eg. Will "x" get me banned? etc. (The standard threads we see in the support board all the time.)
Aside from that, perhaps we could work on encouraging the quality of answers? I know that there is no "Reputation" system in InvisionFree, but still, we could create a special member group for members who give out particularly good advice. They wouldn't have any special powers, but the people here are good people. They are trying to help other people, with no gain to themselves. They may try a little harder, if they could get recognition for their work (A nice shiny badge perhaps? grin.gif ).
Well, those are my ideas for now. I'm not sure if there is anything else to say. A little info on myself can't hurt I suppose. Ive been using Invisionfree for a few years now. I began with various failed forums, then had success for a while with a WWE one and now use Invisionfree as the forum for my website (www.fangathering.com). I love the software, and the support community, hence why Id like to take part in this team.
As for this forum, Ive been registered for about 2 years, and visit often (Usually to check for new announcements, details on ZetaBoards etc. and flick through a few of the more interesting threads in the Invisionfree Discussion board), but I haven't posted overly much. Only when I had something worth saying, to add to a topic. Id really like to say that I'm the best person ever etc. but that's probably a lie, and you can find out whatever you need about my personality from this PM, or my actions on my own forum (zap). happy.gif
Thanks for reading, and sorry if it was too boring! tongue.gif