Welcome and thank you for your interest in contributing to the Mozilla Community Forums! These are some questions that new contributors commonly have about answering questions in our Community Forums which may not be fully answered in the [[Answering questions on the Support Forum|forum guidelines]] . __TOC__ =General best practices= [[UI:details_start]] ==What do I do when I first sign up?== Read our [[Answering questions on the Support Forum|forum guidelines]] to get to know what you can and can not do. ==What if I'm not technical savvy enough?== Most questions don’t require in depth technical knowledge or more than a few months of experience using a Mozilla product. Just a few troubleshooting tricks, a positive mentality and some polite interactions with Firefox users! ==How to keep myself updated on threads I've participated in?== To get updates about threads that you've participated in, make sure to update your [/users/settings notification preference] so you'll get notification everytime there's a new comment. ==How to keep myself updated on new questions?== You can install [https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/sumo-live-helper-/ this extension] (created and maintained] by fellow community members) to get yourself updated on new questions. With this extension, you'll get notification everytime there's a new question in product and locale that you're interested in. ==What do I do if the user becomes aggressive/nervous?== Check out the [[Customer Service Contributor Forum Skills|Skills Training]] and the [[Angry User Training]] guides. ==How to report user who doesn't want to follow the suggested procedures in the forum guidelines?== You can click on the three dots menu next to the post, and then choose "Report Abuse" menu. The post will then get flagged to our Forum Moderators for review. ==Anything else?== This is completely optional, but you can also introduce yourself in [/forums/support-forum-contributors/717325 this thread] if you're comfortable sharing. We'd love to get to know you! <3 [[UI:details_end]] =Tips and Tricks= Here are some useful tips and tricks from users that have been answering questions for a long time: ==Starting Out== * Always be polite, if you feel yourself needing to be rude, impolite or rant, please step away and do something nice for yourself (e.g. tea, chocolate, coffee, hike, walk, bicycle, etc) and come back 1 hour later :-). * When there is more than one user posting help in a forum, please acknowledge one another in your responses and work together for a solution, opposing answers can be confusing. Aim on answering the user's questions, if you see two answers as a user how would you feel? * Focus on things that you know to start with. Do not be worried that you cannot do everything. Perhaps start by looking at people using the same operating system as yourself, or a Firefox an element that you are comfortable with. * Pace yourself. Set yourself a small target of just answering two or three questions when you are online. * Be nice. Add a personal touch in your answer, and don't come across as a robot. Be aware of the fact that some users may be very frustrated and just want their problem solved. * When you use [[common forum responses]], be sure to edit them where necessary. * If you're participating in the Firefox forums, it might be helpful to check out the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Support:Releases support release wiki] for the latest Firefox version to keep yourself updated with trending issues and incidents. * If you're using generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude) to help you with your reply, please be sure to read [/kb/contributor-policy-generative-ai-usage our policy] on the usage of Generative AI tools in our platform. ==Conduct Research== When starting, try some research to answer the question before posting: * Did someone answer a question like this in the past - search other questions * Are there articles on this subject that the user has not answered yet? * Are there any workarounds that are less that 4 years old on related support sites such as [https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/ Firefox subreddit] or [https://forums.mozillazine.org/ MozillaZine forum]? * If it is a Firefox issue, you can ask for information from the about:support page. See [[Use the Troubleshooting Information page to help fix Firefox issues]] for details. ==Always Read More== * Try to fully understand the question and the problem, if something is fuzzy ask the user for more details. When you give an answer that has nothing to do with the question/problem the user will be frustrated. * Read the question from the first to the last letter - too many times a user replies to an answer they've been giving : "Have you not read what I wrote..." ==Advanced== Flag duplicate questions and inform the user to stick with the original by linking them to it, as detailed [[Answering questions on the Support Forum#w_duplicate-questions|here]]. ==Working with Others== When working with other forum contributors, remember to follow these tips: * Read everything that has been posted by others, before posting yourself. * If someone is already working on a question, do not jump in until they have left that question, only contribute what you think will help the end user by adding onto the original reply. * Encourage other contributors if you notice someone new, please be nice to them. (: * If you get a nasty message in your inbox from another user, do not hesitate to report it to a moderator or admin. Please check out [[Meet the Team]] to see who you can reach out to. * If you're having a dispute with other community member, please contact a [/groups/forum-moderators/ forum moderator] or a [[Meet the Team|Community Manager]] if intervention is required. We will resolve differences according to the [https://www.mozilla.org/about/governance/policies/participation/ Mozilla Community Participation Guidelines]. ==Remember!== Important things to keep in mind: * A positive attitude will make the user comfortable and will improve relationship between us and the end-user. Be nice, be polite, be gentle. Put yourself in the user’s position. * Have fun! Think about how good it is to solve someone else’s problem, and therefore making that person (that is probably thousands of miles away from you) have a better experience on the internet. * Sometimes there will be questions (or additions to questions) where users say how much they like Firefox and Mozilla. Acknowledge these comments and keep it fun - it will make these users feel valued. * Keep your posts simple, and don't give them endless lists of do's and don'ts that they can't make head or tail of, that are way over their head. * It does not matter if you are a top 25 or top 10 contributor, your quality contributions are still highly valued.

Welcome and thank you for your interest in contributing to the Mozilla Community Forums!

These are some questions that new contributors commonly have about answering questions in our Community Forums which may not be fully answered in the forum guidelines .

General best practices

What do I do when I first sign up?

Read our forum guidelines to get to know what you can and can not do.

What if I'm not technical savvy enough?

Most questions don’t require in depth technical knowledge or more than a few months of experience using a Mozilla product. Just a few troubleshooting tricks, a positive mentality and some polite interactions with Firefox users!

How to keep myself updated on threads I've participated in?

To get updates about threads that you've participated in, make sure to update your notification preference so you'll get notification everytime there's a new comment.

How to keep myself updated on new questions?

You can install this extension (created and maintained] by fellow community members) to get yourself updated on new questions. With this extension, you'll get notification everytime there's a new question in product and locale that you're interested in.

What do I do if the user becomes aggressive/nervous?

Check out the Skills Training and the Angry User Training guides.

How to report user who doesn't want to follow the suggested procedures in the forum guidelines?

You can click on the three dots menu next to the post, and then choose "Report Abuse" menu. The post will then get flagged to our Forum Moderators for review.

Anything else?

This is completely optional, but you can also introduce yourself in this thread if you're comfortable sharing. We'd love to get to know you! <3

Tips and Tricks

Here are some useful tips and tricks from users that have been answering questions for a long time:

Starting Out

• Always be polite, if you feel yourself needing to be rude, impolite or rant, please step away and do something nice for yourself (e.g. tea, chocolate, coffee, hike, walk, bicycle, etc) and come back 1 hour later :-).
• When there is more than one user posting help in a forum, please acknowledge one another in your responses and work together for a solution, opposing answers can be confusing. Aim on answering the user's questions, if you see two answers as a user how would you feel?
• Focus on things that you know to start with. Do not be worried that you cannot do everything. Perhaps start by looking at people using the same operating system as yourself, or a Firefox an element that you are comfortable with.
• Pace yourself. Set yourself a small target of just answering two or three questions when you are online.
• Be nice. Add a personal touch in your answer, and don't come across as a robot. Be aware of the fact that some users may be very frustrated and just want their problem solved.
• When you use common forum responses, be sure to edit them where necessary.
• If you're participating in the Firefox forums, it might be helpful to check out the support release wiki for the latest Firefox version to keep yourself updated with trending issues and incidents.
• If you're using generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude) to help you with your reply, please be sure to read our policy on the usage of Generative AI tools in our platform.

Conduct Research

When starting, try some research to answer the question before posting:

• Did someone answer a question like this in the past - search other questions
• Are there articles on this subject that the user has not answered yet?
• Are there any workarounds that are less that 4 years old on related support sites such as Firefox subreddit or MozillaZine forum?
• If it is a Firefox issue, you can ask for information from the about:support page. See Use the Troubleshooting Information page to help fix Firefox issues for details.

Always Read More

• Try to fully understand the question and the problem, if something is fuzzy ask the user for more details. When you give an answer that has nothing to do with the question/problem the user will be frustrated.
• Read the question from the first to the last letter - too many times a user replies to an answer they've been giving : "Have you not read what I wrote..."

Advanced

Flag duplicate questions and inform the user to stick with the original by linking them to it, as detailed here.

Working with Others

When working with other forum contributors, remember to follow these tips:

• Read everything that has been posted by others, before posting yourself.
• If someone is already working on a question, do not jump in until they have left that question, only contribute what you think will help the end user by adding onto the original reply.
• Encourage other contributors if you notice someone new, please be nice to them. (:
• If you get a nasty message in your inbox from another user, do not hesitate to report it to a moderator or admin. Please check out Meet the Team to see who you can reach out to.
• If you're having a dispute with other community member, please contact a forum moderator or a Community Manager if intervention is required. We will resolve differences according to the Mozilla Community Participation Guidelines.

Remember!

Important things to keep in mind:

• A positive attitude will make the user comfortable and will improve relationship between us and the end-user. Be nice, be polite, be gentle. Put yourself in the user’s position.
• Have fun! Think about how good it is to solve someone else’s problem, and therefore making that person (that is probably thousands of miles away from you) have a better experience on the internet.
• Sometimes there will be questions (or additions to questions) where users say how much they like Firefox and Mozilla. Acknowledge these comments and keep it fun - it will make these users feel valued.
• Keep your posts simple, and don't give them endless lists of do's and don'ts that they can't make head or tail of, that are way over their head.
• It does not matter if you are a top 25 or top 10 contributor, your quality contributions are still highly valued.