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Add content for Supporting Other Users page on why support is a worth…
…while pursuit and jQuery support venues to participate in. Partially addresses #10.
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title: Supporting Other Users | ||
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With millions of jQuery users all over the world, there's always someone out | ||
there who needs a helping hand. Like many open source projects, the jQuery | ||
Foundation relies on community support channels like | ||
[forums](http://forum.jquery.com), [IRC](http://irc.jquery.org), and | ||
[StackOverflow](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/jquery). Helping out | ||
with support is one of the best first steps you can take to get involved in any | ||
open source community, and is a great way to contribute on an ongoing basis. | ||
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## Instant Gratification | ||
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Fixing bugs and improving documentation ways are surefire ways to prevent | ||
eventual trouble for others, but if you want to have an immediate impact, | ||
nothing beats Q&A. The feeling of moving a stumbling block aside for a | ||
perfect stranger, or triggering a "Eureka!" moment that helps someone become a | ||
better developer (and the thanks you'll receive) is pretty fulfilling — and | ||
can be addictive! | ||
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## Broaden Your Knowledge, Deepen Your Perpsective | ||
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Making yourself available to help with support is an organic way expand your | ||
exposure to aspects of the API and different techniques you (and your | ||
colleagues) may not have already encountered. Solving an **actual problem** is a | ||
great way to get hands-on experience with something new, converting a piece of | ||
knowledge into an actual weapon in your toolbelt. And even if you can't help with | ||
a particular question, just being around to observe the problem and someone | ||
else's solution is a great way to **learn from others' mistakes**, putting you in a position | ||
to avoid common pitfalls without ever falling into them yourself. | ||
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Over time, however, you'll come to recognize the common problems that pop up | ||
time and time again, and maybe even develop a knack for uniting the those in | ||
need of help with that perfect link, no matter the subject. Most importantly, | ||
however, this experience helps set you up to make informed decisions when it | ||
comes to proposing and discussing new features and changes, as you're able to | ||
make judgments and recommendations that go beyond your own particular needs. | ||
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## Serve On The Front Lines | ||
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There's often a lot of overlap between [bug triage](/triage/) and support. | ||
Unfortunately, many users rush to support forums breathlessly claiming to have | ||
discovered a bug at the first sight of an exception, when the actual culprit is | ||
having misread some documentation or a lack of experience with language | ||
principles. On the other hand, it's not uncommon for a user to come in looking | ||
for help, assuming they're making some sort of mistake, only to discover an | ||
actual bug that needs to be filed and fixed. Working on Q&A puts you | ||
squarely in the middle of this action, an indispensable link between users and | ||
the workarounds they need to continue making progress on their projects, and | ||
core team members and the reduced, confirmed test cases they need to actually | ||
begin solving bugs. | ||
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## Where To Help | ||
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### IRC | ||
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Live, interactive support for all jQuery Foundation projects takes place 24/7 | ||
in the [#jquery](irc://irc.freenode.net/#jquery) IRC channel on | ||
[Freenode](http://irc.freenode.net), and it's a great place to give and receive | ||
help with small- to medium-sized problems in all sorts of environments. (If you're unfamiliar | ||
with Internet Relay Chat, take a look at our [IRC Help](http://irc.jquery.org/irc-help) page for | ||
information about how to get connected and what to expect once you're there.) | ||
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### Forums | ||
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Traditional, asynchronous "message-board" style support goes on at the [jQuery | ||
Forum](http://forum.jquery.com/), which presently runs on [Zoho | ||
Discussions](https://discussions.zoho.com/home). There are forums for | ||
discussion of development issues, but the primary support takes place on the | ||
[Using jQuery](http://forum.jquery.com/using-jquery), [Using jQuery | ||
UI](http://forum.jquery.com/using-jquery-ui), and [Using jQuery | ||
Mobile](http://forum.jquery.com/using-jquery-mobile) forums. | ||
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### StackOverflow | ||
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If features like karma and upvoting of answers appeal to you, there is a | ||
vibrant, independent [jQuery support community on | ||
StackOverflow](http://stackoverflow.com/tags/jquery/info), the popular Q&A | ||
site. |