This article tells you about the Azure community and their amazing support structures.
Why Forums?
At this very moment, there are several people creating high quality apps using the Azure platform. However, before they actually launch it for consumption, each one of them would be facing different problems. Sure, ‘Read The Manual’ seems like the most obvious solution to these problems, and yes the Azure documentation is impeccable – but if all that the user needs is to solve one particular issue, the amount of time spent in going through the entire documentation could definitely be put to better use. That’s where community forums are lifesavers. Sure, there is the Azure tech support team that is available to help solve your problems – however, it is highly recommended to first post in forums where there are enormous benefits thanks to the community structure such as:
• Increase in the visibility of a question – more community members, more potential solutions givers.
• Support teams don’t work 24×7. A global community ensures that there are contributors from different hemispheres awake at all points of time.
• You wouldn’t necessarily be the first with the problem. If a similar problem exists, then a readymade solution would be available to you, saving a lot of time.
• And if yours is the first, then the eventual answer will help aid all future programmers with a similar problem.
And in cases where you don’t want to share the problem with a community because of privacy issues, then you can always fall back on the Support team to solve it for you. However, forums should always be the go-to point for problems with Microsoft Azure. The easiest way to ask questions about Microsoft Azure is to use the forums on MSDN and StackOverflow. If your target language is .NET, the most appropriate forums for discussion are on MSDN. StackOverflow forums should do for all other languages. Here are a couple of links, at Stack Overflow and MSDN.
Posting effectively in forums
To use these forums effectively however, there are certain unwritten rules – including etiquette and effective question setting – that one needs to follow:
Search before you post: Posting a question that has already been answered in the forum or in the FAQ sections makes it a redundant task for people to answer it again. And also, it shows minimal effort being put into actually finding a pre-existing solution for a similar problem – this is highly discouraging for potential answerers. If a similar question does exist, then make sure you explain clearly what is different about the current case. Therefore, exhaustive research to make sure that it is a unique question is absolutely imperative.
Try and post in the right forum: Specialists in the area of your particular problem tend to visit those sections of the forums more for obvious reasons. Therefore, dumping the post in a random section does nobody any good – you will not get your answer, and more time is spent of re-routing the answer to the right sections than in answering it.
Write a good title: A good title helps your question get the attention it deserves. It attracts people interested in your topic so that you can get an answer quickly. Make sure the topic stands out, while keeping the question title short. Do this by making sure you lead with the most important words so that you attract the right kind of people.
Write great questions: It is absolutely key to take your time and frame the question properly. The more details you give, the better the chance you have of getting an appropriate answer. Make sure you are descriptive with the question, and you mention all important details such as the version of the product, the OS you are using, the error messages that are being shown, and what exactly you’re trying to do. This is extremely important as what might seem like familiar context to you, is completely new to someone else. Make sure the question actually has a definite question at the end of it – not just a wall of text with no clear direction. Also make sure that you use proper terminology throughout to ensure that the contributors aren’t being mislead. Last, but not least, make sure you’re asking only one question per thread. Open new threads for follow-up questions to encourage concise answers.
Mark as answer: Once someone answers your question, make sure you reward them by at least marking it as an answer. This ensures that the next time you post a question, people recognize you and make sure they actually spend the time to answer your question.
And finally,
Be Courteous: People who are contributing to the forums, or are answering your questions, do not have to do that. These guys are using some of their personal time to answer a question that you are asking. So, always try to be thankful and courteous. Being rude will not get you an answer. Also do not use all caps – which in the Internet world is akin to screaming, and is definitely not considered courteous.
These simple unsaid rules or guidelines should be enough to increase your chances of getting an answer to your problem, and along with it also ensures that you’re helping the others out in the forum and helping maintain decorum. And of course, once you think you’re ready to take the next step – why not give back to the community and answer someone else’s question. Happy forum-ing!
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