Quality of Help - for DALnet's #IRCHelp Helpers
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    Written by MrD [md@gxt.net] (May 2002)


	Welcome to the #IRCHelp quality of help guide. This was made
for the purpose of helpers who need to apply more attention to the
quality of help which they provide users with. That usually indicates
that they know most the commands and don't have a problem with the
knowledge department, but the answers they give are simply too vague
or far too rushed.

	If you have been referred here by your guide, as a helper it
would be a good idea to take a careful read through this and maybe
pick up on a few tips and ideas. It'll be useful for you because it
will show you where you may be going wrong and what you can do about
it. Remember that this isn't a major flaw, and will not take long to
get into the habbit of doing, so don't worry about it.

	You must firstly understand that 'competition' cannot exist
in a help channel such as #IRCHelp between helpers because the 
purpose of the channel is to help users. The only competition which
is bound to exist is that within the higher channel ranks and that
isn't usually to do with the quality of help, so you won't be 
familiar with that kind of situation. However, the most important
factor in this is the users - not the other helpers. It does not
matter who gives out the first answer. What matters is who gives
out the most concise and clear answer which will benefit the
user in the best possible way.

	Example 1:

	<Guest10101> How do I register my nickname?
	<IRCHelper1> /ns register passwd email
	<IRCHelper2> First change your nick to an unregistered
		     and non-ghost nickname, then type /nickserv
		     register <password> <email> and check your
		     email address after to complete registration.
		     To change your nick type /nick <newnick>


	From the above, we can clearly see that IRCHelper2 gave out
the most useful and informative help for that particular user, 
especially considering the user was informed that he needed to be
using an unregistered and 'un-guest' nickname. He was also informed
that he needed to wait for an email from DALnet to complete his
nick registration. That shows that he is now more likely to be
successful in registering his nickname, which means less work for
other helpers when the user comes back complaining that the help
which IRCHelper1 gave him "didn't work" even though technically,
the help which the first helper gave was correct. Thus, we can 
conclude from this that one must consider the situation the user
is in before giving out the standard help.

	Example 2:

	<_-Random-_> How do I register a channel?
	<IRCHelper1> /chanserv register #chan passwd desc
	<IRCHelper2> First you need to register your nick as you
		     have not done so: /nickserv register password
	             email, then check your email. After you have
	             done that, go in an unregistered channel, make
		     sure you have @ next to your nickname and type
		     /chanserv register #chan password description.

	Example 2 clearly shows that IRCHelper2 has checked whether
the user has got a registered nickname prior to helping them with
registering a channel. He did this by using /nickserv info nickname
and then assessed the situation. This shows patience, thought
and intelligence. He then provided *full* nickname and channel
registration guides, as the user did not just ask for the *command* of 
registering a channel, but *how* to register it, which was the help
he recieved.

	In conclusion, you, the helper must be aware of the fact
that every user is an individual, and no one command applies to all
of them because not all of them only need the command recited over
and over. Considering the situation first will get you a long way
and will show your advance in skills. These are the type of skills
we need for our future Ops.





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		Copyright 1996-2002 DALnet #IRCHelp
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