Am I imagining that the traffic in these groups is up by a factor of 3 or more
in the past two years? I remember active groups, but this seems like a deluge.
It wasn't so much the deluge of messages as it was the new interface making
our work doubly hard. We are working hard with the Mactopia folks to get
this fixed, but it has made for frayed nerves.
In summary, most of us don't use the web interface so we see the messages
coming across in very tiny font, we don't see the thread so when you reply
we have no idea without opening other emails to try and figure out what your
comments like "that worked" was in regards to. We learn how to help others
by what works. Plus we seem to get more attitude from posters. I think this
is a result of the user assuming this is an official Microsoft support site
instead of peer to peer help. After answering questions for hours, this
attitude can really raise your hackles. Then there is the fact no one seems
to be trying to search for the answer. Look at how many times we've answered
the question about sounds. There is a lot of assumption (and this has always
been the case but it's even more complicated now by another version of
Office and the OS,) but users don't give any info on what version of the OS
or Office they are using. Is it a POP, IMAP or Exchange account? We aren't
mind readers and the combination of these will result in different answers.
John McGhie summed this up nicely:
How do you get to my place from where you are? You can't answer that until
you know where I am, right?
Same with questions in this forum. Until we know what you're using, we
can't answer the question.
You'll get a "response" but it will probably be "I can't answer until I know
what you are using."
Of course, if we're busy, like we are now, then the questions that don't
have enough information may have to wait a few months for their response,
until the rush is over
It's not as though there's an official "policy" or anything. But when I log
in here for the day, chances are there will be around 90 new questions
awaiting me. If each one takes four minutes to answer, there's three hours
worth of work right there.
Now: That's three hours worth of my recreation time. You know, the time
that's left over after going to work, eating, doing the shopping, playing
with the kids, walking the dog and arguing with the Tax Department.
So it's highly unlikely that I will sit here too long trying to be a
mind-reader on a question that doesn't tell me enough detail
I would like to add one more thing. With so many messages, we scan the
subjects to see ones we know we can answer. Poorly written subjects can get
overlooked. Especially ones like "I need help", "disgusted" and "newbie".
For best results:
Before you report a problem, first make sure you are updated. Many problems
are solved by simply updating. Restart your Mac. This often fixes many
problems. Running Repair Permissions is another standard tool used to repair
problems. Look in Entourage's Help or search
<
http://www.entourage.mvps.org/> or <
http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/> for
answers. If you still can't find the answer then ask on the Entourage
newsgroup. I would say search the Mactopia's search but currently that isn't
working with much accuracy. When that get fixed, it will be a big help.
* Create a subject that defines your problem. Subjects like "help" and
"newbie" can be overlooked. Many users will scan the list for subjects where
they might be able to help out and will overlook your problem. It's OK to
add "I'm a newbie" in the message, but it's not necessary for the subject.
If it's a long subject, make sure the important words come first. Entourage
truncates long subjects in the list and the key word won't be seen.
* Identify the version of Entourage that you are using. Often there are
different solutions for different versions. How to find version info.
<
http://www.entourage.mvps.org/version/index.html#find_version>
* Identify the version of the OS that you are using. For OS X it's under
the Blue Apple in the menu bar....About this Mac
* For Send & Receive problems, identify the type of account. Is it a POP,
IMAP, Exchange or a web based account? Don't know? See Accounts
<
http://www.entourage.mvps.org/accounts/index.html>
* Give as much detail about your problem and what you have done so far to
troubleshoot. Just saying that I have tried all the suggestions on the list
doesn't mean very much. Saying "it just doesn't work" isn't helpful either.
Give details!
Hopefully, these suggestions will help find a speedy solution to your
problem.
