Thread

Is there any other EE communities, I am in the more advanced learning stage and it seems, no offense that my more difficult questions that I ask never get answered.  It would be great to have another resource. Thanks:)

This is by far your best bet.  I think one issue is simply time.  This community is very heavy on designers and developers as opposed to communities such as Joomla and others which have a lot of “chatters.”  Not to say those communities don’t have their own good developers but I think they have a lot more hobbyists who are able to put the extra time into the communities.

Some of the more advanced questions here could take a half hour or more of time to answer from start to resolution after going back and forth.  For a lot of developers, it is hard to take out a half hour of an already jam packed day (that half hour could be billable!) to answer an advanced forum question.  A half hour might seem extreme but forum activity is also distracting and that adds time beyond actually answering the question.

Another problem is that an advanced question might take a lot of gear switching.  I have to admit I post more than my fair share of “noise” here but most of the time when I am here, I am working (searching forum posts and downloading add-ons.)  I usually have enough on my mind trying to fix some other problem that doing a complete shift to think about a totally different advanced question is difficult. 

I see a lot of questions I would like to answer but just don’t have the chance to stop and do it.  Perhaps one way to help this is to expand your network of EE contacts.  I am often helping a fellow developer/designer (mostly people I have worked with in the past) to help get them past a sticking point.  There are no central gathering places for my networks though.  If your questions are related to client work, then you might just outsource it to these networks. 

In short, we many here are very busy!  😉

My Twitter info is in my sig, feel free to follow and send an IM through there.

EDIT:  On second thought, who am I kidding?  I probably waste way more than a half hour every day screwing around on the web when I should be working.  😉

I think by far that is the most thought out and detailed reply to such a question, thank you very much:)  I am also super busy as all the good ones are, not to toot my own horn but I get it.  Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of time or extra funds to shift to a EE developer.  I’m a fairly decent designer so I can always barter that for more technical stuff but then again there is still the time issue.  The only issue with us all sticking to our day and not answering questions (I am guilty too) is that the community never grows.  EE is what I call a closed community and seems to grow at an slow pace.  The good thing is the more questions that go unanswered leaves a big gap for those who have the know how to come in and earn a very good living with EE alone.  I have many clients switching to EE and they are stuck with me because no one on the forum answers their questions.  That is a black mark on the community and I come in as the hero. I learn all thing eventually and have learned complex EE stuff without the help of the forum members.  So I guess I will figure this one out and keep things as is:)  Again thank you for taking the time to shed some light on the why;)

A suggestion, have EE hire someone to help answer technical questions for paid versions, they would probably sell more EE for sure.  I would even pay extra for support to third party apps and of course EE questions.

This is by far your best bet.

Agreed. But this is a evry friendly and helpful forum, and I have been generally given speedy and helpful advice and support.

This community is very heavy on designers and developers as opposed to communities such as Joomla and others which have a lot of “chatters.”

Yes. And that’s a good thing. Not to say you can’t talk about something else in The Lounge for a change, but most if the postings are directly related to EE. And I appreciate that.

EDIT:  On second thought, who am I kidding?  I probably waste way more than a half hour every day screwing around on the web when I should be working.  😉

Who are we, indeed 😛

I don’t speak for everyone.  That is just the reason that I don’t post to advanced questions often.  I’m sure other communities have the same sort of issue also. 

ExpressionEngine already has support for paid versions.  That support is the regular tech support forum.  You can post supported questions there.  Hiring someone to tackle the “other” questions (generally sent to the “how to” forum) is difficult because you need support boundaries.  Support has to draw a line somewhere.  Ellislab just could not have enough resources to provide “answer guys” to any sort of question. 

This is something better handled by 3rd parties, but then you run into your other problem…

Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of time or extra funds to shift to a EE developer.

Ellislab would likely not charge less than what any other developer would charge.

I have many clients switching to EE and they are stuck with me because no one on the forum answers their questions.

Sorry, I don’t see that at all. We (and by that I don’t mean EL, but the community at large) are more than willing to help, share our knowledge, give advice. On the other hand, you can’t expect people to do your work for you, for free. So, a quick question that I know the answer to, or where I can offer some insight or give advice in some other way, I am happy to help, as are many others. If I don’t know the answer, and don’t find the problem interesting enough to research on my own, I won’t respond unless it’s a genuine technical support issue (which I am paid to answer, after all.)

By and large, this has worked very well for me.

A suggestion, have EE hire someone to help answer technical questions for paid versions, they would probably sell more EE for sure.

So, what exactly are Lisa, Robin, Sue and me doing, you think? Not to mention Michael, Justin, Derek and Derek, on occasion?

We’re all on an EE learning curve, dare I say it even the EE Pro’s are still learning new techniques and ways of doing things!

Speaking for myself the forums have been invaluable for finding solutions to do certain things that aren’t covered in the support docs, sure it sometimes does take time to find them but once you’ve learnt a certain technique it’s in your memory for when you need to use it again. I see this learning time as an investment, just as I’d learn anything else.

You may have noticed that Ingmar is now on board as a Tech Support Specialist to add even more customer support on these forums, and avery good job he’s doing as well.

I say keep posting your questions…

So, what exactly are Lisa, Robin, Sue and me doing, you think? Not to mention Michael, Justin, Derek and Derek, on occasion?

I think he is referring to unsupported questions in the howto forum.  Though tough questions do often get answered there, they also fall through the cracks at times.

We’re all on an EE learning curve, dare I say it even the EE Pro’s are still learning new techniques and ways of doing things!

Agreed, I figure out new ways to do things every day.

I think he is referring to unsupported questions in the howto forum.

Perhaps. But he did say “answer technical questions for paid versions”, and that is exactly what we do.

Though tough questions do often get answered there, they also fall through the cracks at times.

Personally I am rather active in the Howto forums as well, for example, but I admit we don’t keep track of open issues there in the way we do in Tech Support.

We’re all on an EE learning curve, dare I say it even the EE Pro’s are still learning new techniques and ways of doing things!

Agreed, I figure out new ways to do things every day.

Not every day, perhaps, but certainly once in a while, oh yes.