You put that in, and there a a few people I know that will rant on it just becauseā¦
Including a person I know just came back from a month or so ban for being an ass.
People that will do that if they read that will take it on as a challenge.
If someone starts ranting on you, get a MOD and back awayā¦
And donāt be shy to flag something thatās a dup FR, a pointless rant, anything against COC. I was busy all day until about 3pm and have flagged 2 things since then.
They donāt always agree, but they listen and if they think something should be done, they do it.
100% correctā¦ although some of those rant threads are pretty funnyā¦ especially when the OP gets answers they donāt like and keep fighting back until they get an answer they like.
He was trying to manually trigger automations that had dummy triggers because scripts were too hard or unstable or something, so he wrote multiple of these automatons because a single automation was unwieldy. And it took multiple NOās for it to finally register.
Getting back to possible guidelines for answering questionsā¦
If Iām going to answer or get involved, I try to stick to facts, options, and questions.
I try to avoid stating: āyou should doā¦ā and instead say: āWhat has worked for meā¦ā or āI have found that x,y,zā¦ā or āI would tryā¦ā
I am also ok stepping back if someone else wants to jump in or the OP isnāt getting it (I can be more of a problem then helpful )
And Iām ok pushing back on, or flagging, misinformation, rants, or worthless opinions but this can be tricky.
How to help us help them - or How to give a good answer
Before we beginā¦
This forum is not a soapbox
You donāt work for Home Assistant, thatās an open source project. You are volunteering your free time to help others. You donāt have to respond to their rantsā¦
Moved this post to Community guides, since this thread seems to have gone off on a tangent.
I must admit, sometimes I rag on the ranters when Iām in the moodā¦ kinda for sport. I donāt get offended by them and I have no illusions that I will convince them of anythingā¦ bad me. no scooby snacks.
I donāt want to edit before getting more opinions: I actually think videos should be avoided as much as possible. Iām not saying thereās no value in them, but there are very few good quality videos that will stand the test of time. I suppose itās true for written content too, but that is easier to edit or comment on.
Iām not saying complete avoidance, but rather to state the implications of posting a video.
Iāll sit down later and draft a point. On mobile and just quickly responding.
BTW, thatās another disclaimer I often use. Sometimes I try to give quick help with a pointer or two, while I am able to write a more complete answer, but since Iām on mobile at the time, it woild be too tedious.
I ones saw a respond from an OP, which maybe felt āinsulted/misunderstoodā
Canāt remember it wordly, or in which Topic, but was something like.
āHey, Maybe you should think about the generation who grew up with (A click on a button, to install an App from Google Playā ) and then 2-3 click to create an Automation in that App) , And now with HA, I have to install maybe 3 different Apps( I think he mend, HA +Integrations +Cards(etc) and writing code, to accomplice the same, itās complicated ! )
I do somehow āfeel pityā for those generations, one of my last assignments was as āteacherā in a IT-Gymnasium ( 15 years ago )( Private such, where prime goal was to satisfy stockholders and ( public assigner/Goverment) ( So approval of students and easy (cheap and basic level) education materials, was one of their prime priorities, to fulfill the ārequirementsā for their āBusinessā ! )
In short, If a person had i.e Gaming experience and knows howto replace a Ram and/or a Graphic card ( handling a screwdriver )( And know howto install an App ) , they were considered having the competence as qualified ( and considered them self as such ) ā¦
I know i do , from time to time forget ( or being mislead ) into a state where i assume, people have ādone their homeworkā , or they give the impression that they know/done more than they actually do/have, so i assume they have done( in my opinion ) the most basic i.e troubleshooting steps.
Lately im trying to not āexpectā that some people in fact havenāt done anything before they open a Topic, or they pick the first and best Post in a search, to post a question