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Suggestions for effective use of #yii on Freenode

#yii etiquette

Don't ask to ask (DATA)

Go ahead and ask your question. The channel is meant to be used for asking questions. So asking to ask is superfluous.

Be elaborate

Include everything necessary to understand the question. Do you want to make it harder for people to answer you? If not, don't make them ask for the information.

"It doesn't work"

Please don't say this. Really, please. It just shows what an idiot you are, or disrespectful, maybe both. Either way it makes you look bad and is really annoying. Instead of making people ask "What doesn't work?", "In what way does it not work?" and "What was it supposed to do?", just be elaborate and make sure your request includes the answer to the following question: "What did you expect and what did you see instead?"

Be specific

IRC doesn't work well for general questions. So be as specific as you can when asking a question or describing a problem.

Don't paste code into IRC

For anything but the shortest code fragments, use a pastebin. https://gist.github.com/ is fine, as are many others.

Besides, pasting large chunks of code is obnoxious.

Prettify your code

Make your code as easy to read as possible. It improves your chance of getting help so it's just stupid not to. So format your code to absolute perfection (use PSR-2) for the pastebin.

Free PSR-2 code formatters are available—no excuses!

Ask the channel, not individuals

Unless you are already in conversation with an individual, or the question is personal, don't address questions at individuals.

There might be dozens of people who could answer your question. It's daft to limit your chances of getting an answer by excluding them.

Moreover, some people feel put upon or taken for granted when singled out for requests.

Get to know MrFisk

MrFisk is a tireless helper to everyone in #yii. Learn to his ways and habits.

Get to know Ray Gillette

Gillette is an expert in the Yii 2 API, able to provide reference and descriptions.

Don't be lazy

Don't ask questions you could easily answer for yourself with a little bit of effort. It doesn't go over well when you ask someone else to do you the favor of taking their time to help you when you could have found the answer yourself.

You should have tried:

Do your homework

Everyone has to learn. It takes time and effort to learn PHP, OOP, MVC, JavaScript, etc. Most people on #yii will expect you to have a basic level of skill in these. They will probably expect you to have at least tried to go through the standard learning paths for Yii Framework. MrFisk knows what those are, ask him !faq learn, !faq start. See also Getting Started.)

People are happy to help if you have questions or run into difficulties while learning. But #yii is not a place for basic tutoring. You can hire a tutor to work with you one-to-one if you need it.

Don't PM people without permission

If you don't already know someone well, don't PM the nick without finding out if it's OK with that individual. You can ask for permission in #yii.

Don't be impatient

What's up with those nitwits that join the channel, ask a question and leave within five minutes? What sense does that make? Do they imagine we have support technicians standing by at all times ready to answer their question?

Paste your question then wait and hope. Feel free to try again later if you don't get an answer but spamming the channel with repeats, or "Anyone?", or "Can someone answer my question?" is annoying.

We all understand what it's like to be under time pressure to finish something but that's no excuse for bad manners or laying your frustrations on someone else.

Don't be a sexist pig

Don't presume to know the sex of the person you are addressing or assume that everyone in the channel is male, even if you see others (I'm looking at you, Moe!) doing so.

@ccolorado
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ccolorado commented May 16, 2016

I feel this guide is a little bit aggressive, and I understand the frustrations behind it. I have been using IRC for close to two decades so I have seen those behaviors.
Ever since I found this post I have been referencing it whenever the subject of etiquette arises. (http://sol.gfxile.net/dontask.html). It Is very succinct and not at all aggressive at all in my opinion. Perhaps you can get something out of it.

@tom--
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tom-- commented Aug 6, 2016

@ccolorado is deliberately written in an unreasonably aggressive and condescending style. It was not intended to be used except when a LART stick is really needed.

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