You don't have to be an expert to participate. Even if you don't know the answer, you may be able to get closer to the solution. Sometimes it's just about knowing where to look and point people in the right direction.
How to Be a First Responder
If you join the #discourse-moderation channel on TYPO3 Slack, all new TYPO3 questions from talk.typo3.org will appear there. Mark the post with an :eyes: reaction to let everyone know you're looking at it.
Always remember to ask the person to post a reply after trying your suggestion. Continue to help if you can, or see if others in the community may be able to shed light on the issue.
When the problem is resolved, make sure the solution is posted in the thread on talk.typo3.org. Go back to the #discourse-moderation channel on TYPO3 Slack and ping @channel with a link to the solution. The talk.typo3.org admins will mark the post as the solution and the thread as solved.
Why do we recommend talk.typo3.org, and not Slack? Because talk.typo3.org is indexed by search engines, so once a problem has been solved, the solution will be available to everyone looking for it.
Tips for First Responders
Here are some tips for TYPO3 first responders to new post on talk.typo3.org:
- Is the author new to TYPO3 or talk.typo3.org? Say hi and give the person a warm welcome to our community and the forums.
- If the question is lacking information, like the TYPO3 or PHP version, make a friendly request for more information.
- Is the solution to the problem in the documentation? Post a link to the place at docs.typo3.org where the solution can be found.
- If the documentation is missing, are you able to contribute the necessary text? Then do so and link to your documentation pull-request.
- If the error message is unknown to you, search for it in the TYPO3 Core. Maybe you can help by telling what triggers the error?
- Even searching the web may be helpful. Compared to a beginner, you may use better search words that lead to solutions you can link to in your answer.
- If you can't find a good description of an exception in the Exception Reference, check where in the code the exception is thrown and suggest a reason for why it may have been triggered. If possible, update the entry at exceptions.typo3.org too.
Don’t wait! Join the #discourse-moderation channel now!