New Support System

[Zoop 8,384]

In the interest of improving communication with the members here, and making it easier to get proper support for technical and similar issues, we've decided to try an experiment of sorts; rather than having support requests get shoved into the Feedback & Support board, we've decided to try moving to a ticket based support system, and repurposing Feedback & Support into a solely feedback oriented board.

 

To to get started with the new support system, first click your account name in the upper right-hand side of the forum.

 

Once you've brought the resulting menu up, head over to the client area, as highlighted in the image above; from there, click the support tab to be taken to the support request page, where any existing support requests you've made will appear, along with the option to submit a new support request.

 

When making a new request, you'll be asked to select from one of several different categories - General Site Questions, Moderation Disputes, Roleplay World, and Technical Issues/Bug Reports. The category that you select dictates which staff members are able to view and handle the submitted ticket; moderation disputes, for example, go to Swoop and I to deal with.

 

Support tickets work in a manner that is somewhat similar to a private message, in that they allow easy back and forth communication with the appropriate staff members until an issue is resolved. If you find yourself particularly satisfied or dissatisfied with a particular response, you're able to give the response in question a 1-5 star rating, visible only to the administration.

 

Since pictures are fun, here's what everything looks like:

 

Request list:

 

 

 

 

Creating a new request:

 

 

 

 

Completed request:

 

 

 

 

We realize that the support system is a bit buried at the moment, and have plans in store to bring it to a much more visible location in the very near future.

 

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns!

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

I'm actually happy that this was implemented. Something quite similar to this is used with a massive gaming company Nexon, and it works out well. Hope this turns out well too. Might I add (if this isn't already in there) that you guys put in a, "Frequently Asked Questions," section so you might not have to answer the same questions/get the same reports repeatedly.

Edited August 20, 2012 by Scootabloom

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

Well I can honestly say I support this new support system (heheh). I hope this is taken well. I do like this.

[Retro*Derpy 3,186]

Wow i really like this, and as stated above, no longer should you have to worry about Tech Problems all over the forums.(Though i haven't seen too many)

Edited August 20, 2012 by bobthecableman

[PegasisterTaco 318]

Hmm.. This seems like a great idea for the forum. This way, things might get noticed a bit more by the admins. Hopefully, some "Feedback and Support Board" threads won't go unnoticed. I hope this new update turns out great.

Edited August 20, 2012 by PegasisterTaco

[Solar Wind 595]

I do say get this fine gentleman a spot of tea! He has revolutionized the site in a way I thought not possible!

Also I did indeed Lol at the topic considering chat wont be brought back...

[NavelColt 22,881]

Certainly will help keep this forum a bit more tidy, and allow people a more personal approach to getting answers for their issues. Sounds intriguing :3

[Batbrony 16,055]

Glad to see that the forum continues to get more and more professional in every way. Always nice to see forum moderators, especially moderators running a forum purely out of love for a show, and not actually employed by any company, running and organizing a forum in such a professional manner. Keep up the great work guys!

[MrL0LZ 866]

Thank god this was implemented. I've been needing a feature for reporting bugs/technical issues like this forever.

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

I'm actually happy that this was implemented. Something quite similar to this is used with a massive gaming company Nexon, and it works out well. Hope this turns out well too. Might I add (if this isn't already in there) that you guys put in a, "Frequently Asked Questions," section so you might not have to answer the same questions/get the same reports repeatedly.

 

We've been working on implementing something like this for quite some time. I can't really say when it will come out, but it is in the works.

 

Glad to see this finally announced, by the way.

[Nenni 27]

This is a really good idea and I am glad that it has been implemented!

 

I really hope it makes theses process easier and helps out the people who need help.

[Espeon 338]

>This site sucks

>Bring back the chat

 

Oh god my sides

 

This is a pretty well-hidden thingy here, but as you said, plans to make it more visible etc. It should prove to be a lot better than a thread that's cluttered with tons of posts that might get overlooked, or a single-issue thread that gets made three times.

 

The only reason I'm here is because of that bold, red-text warning to keep up with stuff in this section, by the way. It's always nice to have a reminder, especially one that's in deep red.

[Strife 455]

Interesting. While it gives users a more 1 on 1 support approach and then some nice opportunity for feedback on the process afterwards, it makes it a very private system.

 

That means you'll be getting a LOT of common 'problems' reported that are simply user error. In the old forum board system, standard users like myself would be able to quickly answer these types of questions (which I used to do quite frequently). Unfortunately, now the user must wait for someone to be online that has access to these support tickets.

[Bohtty 1,775]

Lol, I feel hispter.

Glad to see this feature finished/polished and officially revealed. Hopefully this helps expedite moderation tasks. :]

Edited August 21, 2012 by Bohtty

[I used to be a stranger 7,994]

Oh now I know why I had such a hard time finding it before.

It's because an official method for bug reports didn't exist! *slaps knee from humour*

 

The whole

 

Zoop: :V

 

Zoop :V

 

Could only have been better if he rated his own response "5 stars".

[Pinkazoid 3,493]

Oooh~

Fancy :3

 

This looks great, although I liked how they put up the threads here, that way others could be open to their opinions about this as well, but this looks pretty neat xD

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

I'm excited for this feature. This will definitely help with personal problems with the site rather than public.

[Bronium 512]

I have a few suggestions (that I've suggested in the support system, but why not mention it here eh?).

 

1) The ability to edit your requests/replies after you post your reply.

 

2) The ability to only reduce the severity of a request, so you can prioritize your requests. I assume that's how you prioritize your requests.

 

3) (A bit iffy on this one) The ability to change the status of a request to open if you change it to resolved, in case you realized you just had another question.

 

4) A notification when you get a reply to your support request.

 

5) Why are they called tickets? Just curious. I know this isn't really a suggestion and it shouldn't really be listed as 5 but you know what? I'm going to do what I want! F the mainstream! F the system! Liberty for all!

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,527]

I have a few suggestions (that I've suggested in the support system, but why not mention it here eh?).

 

1) The ability to edit your requests/replies after you post your reply.

 

Not sure I really see the point of this. If you have anything more to say, just add another message to your ticket.

 

2) The ability to only reduce the severity of a request, so you can prioritize your requests. I assume that's how you prioritize your requests.

 

I'm hesitant to add request severities because people will likely feel tempted to misuse the higher severity settings in an effort to get a faster reply to their query, when a "how do I change my avatar?" ticket marked "critical" will do nothing less than annoy the staff answering them.

 

3) (A bit iffy on this one) The ability to change the status of a request to open if you change it to resolved, in case you realized you just had another question.

 

If you have another question, don't mark the ticket resolved. You're always welcome to open a new ticket if you would like to follow up on a previous one. We'll consider allowing a ticket to be "re-opened" for a limited period of time, however.

 

4) A notification when you get a reply to your support request.

 

You should receive an email when your ticket is replied to. An inline notification is something I'll ask @ to look into.

 

5) Why are they called tickets? Just curious. I know this isn't really a suggestion and it shouldn't really be listed as 5 but you know what? I'm going to do what I want! F the mainstream! F the system! Liberty for all!

 

"Ticket" is the accepted terminology for a system where you start a conversation with a specific department and anyone in that department can deal with your query. Ticket systems are extremely common in many technological industries, and they're called tickets here as well for consistency.

 

Calling them something else would be like calling a phone call something else.

[Strife 455]

5) Why are they called tickets? Just curious. I know this isn't really a suggestion and it shouldn't really be listed as 5 but you know what? I'm going to do what I want! F the mainstream! F the system! Liberty for all!

 

The name goes back to the archaic days when people used paper for the majority of their note keeping instead of digital files. Tech requests were literally tickets, filled out and filed specifically. A lot of businesses still use a physical ticket system, actually.

[Bronium 512]

Not sure I really see the point of this. If you have anything more to say, just add another message to your ticket.

For the same reasons you can edit your messages pretty much everywhere else. You can fix any silly mistakes that make your message hard to read and if you realize you can add more content to flesh out your ticket and in the appropriate place too. For example.

 

I have a post about blarg and I talk about the good things about blarg. Point 1, Point 2 and Point 3. Then I give a small conclusion and be off my way. Then I realize that I could've add something to Point 2 to make it better. Post. Then I realize I could have made point 1 better. Post. I realized a new point. Post. It just looks so messy and cluttered. I hate messy and cluttered. Not sure what other members feel about this.

 

I'm hesitant to add request severities because people will likely feel tempted to misuse the higher severity settings in an effort to get a faster reply to their query, when a "how do I change my avatar?" ticket marked "critical" will do nothing less than annoy the staff answering them.

I hate when this happens. I knew this was going to happen. I said only reduce it and I never said make the ability to increase it. That'd be stupid and clearly exploitable. Again, this is a technical issue, so I'm not too sure if you can implement it. If you can't and and did realize that I only said reduce but thought that I would have understood that it is impossible to just reduce, I'm sorry. I can't assume things (except when I do).

 

If you have another question, don't mark the ticket resolved. You're always welcome to open a new ticket if you would like to follow up on a previous one. We'll consider allowing a ticket to be "re-opened" for a limited period of time, however.

This was just a suggestion from my personal preference mostly because I can't delete tickets even if they're resolved. Since I might make a boat load of requests, I'll have a lot of resolved tickets just lying there. Cluttering everything up.

 

4) Cool. That would be very useful.

 

6) Maybe the ability to delete tickets in the support box so there'll be less clutter of all your resolved tickets.

[Bunches 81]

seems like this will keep things more organized i like the new idea.

 

The name goes back to the archaic days when people used paper for the majority of their note keeping instead of digital files. Tech requests were literally tickets, filled out and filed specifically. A lot of businesses still use a physical ticket system, actually.

 

my work uses paper "suggestion/complaint/comment" tickets still. we fill them out and put them in an envelope and at the end of each month the envelopes from each store get mailed to the central office and they read all the tickets. it takes forever. but we are still a relatively small company, so i guess it makes sense.

[techno915 408]

This is a wonderful feature to this forum. Not only can it help the new members get started and find their way around, it can also help regular members with any issues they may still be facing. For instance, my signature.

 

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techno915

[morethanicecream 116]

Finally, a place where blank flanks can ask questions. I mean, it is O.K to post questions on this forum if you have been on these forums for awhile and know your way around and such.