From Behind the Contact Form: Tips from GitHub Support on Helping Your Community

In the last seven years, GitHub Support has gotten over 23,000 questions about your open source projects. Rachel Berry, one of the humans behind the contact form, discusses the questions GitHub Support sees most often and the small changes you can implement to remove confusion and make all the difference for your users and community.

Transcript

1. From behind the contact form Tips from GitHub Support on 
 helping your community
2. @cmrberry
3. @cmrberry via giphy.com
4. ! GitHub
5. ! GitHub (That’s not me)
6. ! GitHub (That *is* Hubot)
7. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
8. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! (TOTALLY ACCURATE PHOTOGRAPHS)
9. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
10. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
11. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1,076,923 : 1
13. TECHNICAL QUESTIONS PER DAY 300
14. 27,000
15. QUESTIONS IN THE LAST 7 YEARS ABOUT OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS 27,000
16. 57%
17. WITHOUT GITHUB ACCOUNTS 57%
18. Wait… what?
19. People who contact us instead of you
20. DON’T KNOW HOW
 TO REACH YOU People who contact us instead of you
21. REACH OUT BUT NEVER HEAR BACK People who contact us instead of you
22. ARE TOO EMBARRASSED OR INTIMIDATED TO TRY People who contact us instead of you
23. DON’T KNOW HOW
 TO REACH YOU People who contact us instead of you
24. YOU GET SOME CONTACT INFO!
25. YOU GET SOME CONTACT INFO! AND YOU GET SOME CONTACT INFO!
26. YOU GET SOME CONTACT INFO! AND YOU GET SOME CONTACT INFO! YOU ALL GET CONTACT INFO!
27. YOU GET SOME CONTACT INFO! AND YOU GET SOME CONTACT INFO! YOU ALL GET CONTACT INFO!
28. YOU GET SOME CONTACT INFO! AND YOU GET SOME CONTACT INFO! YOU ALL GET CONTACT INFO!
29. “…this is frustrating because it looks like I died not once, but several times, due to having many starter spears in my inventory…” WHAT THEY SAID:
30. “…this is frustrating because it looks like I died not once, but several times, due to having many starter spears in my inventory…” WHAT THEY SAID: via freepik.com
31. “… is it possible to hire a hacker? I am a student in ###, and I would like to know if there is the possibility of changing university academic grades? I'll pay for the service…” WHAT THEY SAID:
32. WHAT THEY SAID: via giphy.com
33. “Do you know how to make a space and time travel app (where you can actually travel through time to fix a regret, even if you wasted your only chance of dating someone who even asked for a kiss)?” WHAT THEY SAID:
34. WHAT THEY SAID: via giphy.com
35. “I want to track my husband…” WHAT THEY SAID:
36. WHAT THEY SAID: via giphy.com
37. “…it says module not found. Command prompt window says to report error to github.com. The file to be included is…” WHAT THEY SAID:
38. “…Can I donate like $150.00?…” WHAT THEY SAID:
39. WHAT THEY SAID: via rinibb-blog on Tumblr
40. 1. Have a real contact page
41. Contact Us >
42. Contact Us > WHERE DOES THAT LEAD??
44. 1. Have a real contact page 2. Have an alternative to issues
45. WITHOUT GITHUB ACCOUNTS 57%
46. 1. Have a real contact page FROM BOWER.IO
47. 1. Have a real contact page FROM BOWER.IO
48. 1. Have a real contact page FROM BOWER.IO
49. 1. Have a real contact page FROM BOWER.IO
51. 1. Have a real contact page 2. Have an alternative to issues 3. Have that info in your readme
52. if readme.include? contact_info success = true else puts “I’m confused!” end
53. SCREENSHOT OF PHPMAILER GOOGLE
54. 1. Have a real contact page 2. Have an alternative to issues 3. Have that info in your readme NOT HELPFUL
55. 1. Have a real contact page 2. Have an alternative to issues 3. Have all of that in your readme
56. GRAPH WITH AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON A REPO BEFORE CONTACTING US FOR NOT GITHUB TIME SPENT ON LAST REPO BEFORE CONTACTING SUPPORT
57. GRAPH WITH AVERAGE TIME SPENT ON A REPO BEFORE CONTACTING US FOR NOT GITHUB TIME SPENT ON LAST REPO BEFORE CONTACTING SUPPORT
58. REACH OUT BUT NEVER HEAR BACK People who contact us instead of you
59. Community == Interaction
60. via giphy.com
61. “How do I create an issue for XYZ? … I thought that there might be a way to log the issue directly on their GitHub project site.” WHAT THEY SAID:
62. WHAT THEY SAID: ABC / XYZ ???
63. via tumblr.com
64. “I already raised an issue in the above mentioned url but no response. So I mailed you regarding my issues. Kindly help…” WHAT THEY SAID:
65. WHAT THEY SAID: via thegoodvybe on Tumblr
66. http://www.michaelbromley.co.uk/blog/529/why-i-havent-fixed-your-issue-yet
67. 1. Use Issue Templates
68. 1. Use Issue Templates!
69. 1. Use Issue Templates!
70. 1. Use Issue Templates 2. Use Saved Replies
71. SETTINGS PAGE ON GITHUB FOR ADDING SAVED REPLIES
72. 1. Use Issue Templates 2. Use Saved Replies
73. 1. Use Issue Templates 2. Use Saved Replies 3. Have dedicated triage staff
74. Support Driven Development “If I’m going to build this,
 how does it affect me later when I have to support the user?” - KEVIN HALE
 WUFOO COFOUNDER
75. Support Driven Development “If I’m going to build this,
 how does it affect me later when I have to support the user?” - KEVIN HALE
 WUFOO COFOUNDER
76. Mo’ Users Mo’ Issues
77. See more: www.ascendproject.org
84. TEACH THEM ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
85. SHOW THEM HOW TO TRIAGE COMMON ISSUES
86. HELP THEM BECOME A CORE PART OF YOUR TEAM
87. TEACH THEM ABOUT YOUR PROJECT SHOW THEM HOW TO TRIAGE COMMON ISSUES HELP THEM BECOME A CORE PART OF YOUR TEAM
88. ARE TOO EMBARRASSED OR INTIMIDATED TO TRY People who contact us instead of you
89. Encourage Contributions
90. “I'm new on GitHub and I'm trying to make my first contribution… User ABC checked the code and added a commit, and is asking me to merge his sample code, which is what I don't understand.” WHAT THEY SAID:
92. “I want to contribute to XYZ, however I can't find the process to follow. Is it the same as ABC? Like fork the repo and then pull request?” WHAT THEY SAID:
93. 1. Use (at least) a Contributing file
94. 1. Use (at least) a Contributing file
95. 1. Use (at least) a Contributing file
96. 1. Use (at least) a Contributing file
97. 1. Use (at least) a Contributing file
98. 1. Use (at least) a Contributing file
99. 1. Use (at least) a Contributing file 2. Use labels like ‘first-timers only’ 
 and ‘up-for-grabs’
100. UP-FOR-GRABS.NET
101. UP-FOR-GRABS.NET
103. FIRSTTIMERSONLY.COM @YOURFIRSTPR
105. CODEMONTAGE.COM
106. 1. Use (at least) a Contributing file 2. Use labels like ‘first-timers only’ 
 and ‘up-for-grabs’ 3. Give detailed feedback for those
 who really want it
111. 1. Use (at least) a Contributing file 2. Use labels like ‘first-timers only’ 
 and ‘up-for-grabs’ 3. Give detailed feedback for those
 who really want it
114. 1. Use (at least) a Contributing file 2. Use labels like ‘first-timers only’ 
 and ‘up-for-grabs’ 3. Give detailed feedback for those
 who really want it 4. Keep them coming back for more
115. BIT.LY/HEALTHY-OS
116. BIT.LY/ART-OF-COMMUNITY
117. Making your project the best it can be is really hard
118. Making your project’s community the best it can be is even harder
119. There are people looking to make it easier…
120. Help them help you!
121. @cmrberry THANK YOU! bit.ly/gh-support-tips