Rob Probin's Site | PmWiki / HowToGetAssistance

What is a good way to seek assistance from the PmWiki community, with the least possible waste of their time and effort, and the quickest positive outcome for respondents?

When you have an issue with PmWiki, Cookbook ? recipes, Skins ?, or the environment PmWiki is installed in, it is worthwhile to undertake some or all of the following preparations and precautions.

Review and research available information

ensure you are, as much as possible, running the current version of all PmWiki, skins, and recipe software.
review the current documentation for updates and changes
search the PmWiki Issue Tracking System to see if the issue is already known about
search the mailing lists
search PmWiki
inspect your current environment (see PHPInfo)
check the file permissions
check the troubleshooting guide
there is help on specific PmWiki:error messages
see the FAQ and PmWiki:FAQ candidate pages

Since a query may relate to any, or all, of

environment (OS, web server, PHP)
PmWiki (version), or recipes
functionality of PmWiki or PmWiki documentation

the appropriate and accurate information will go a long way to isolating a cause and determining a solution

Reproduce the issue

The next step is to reproduce the issue in a different environment if it is feasible.

the PmWiki test ? pages are a good place to do this
consider disabling all recipes in config.php. If the problem disappears add the recipes back in one at a time until the problem re-occurs
another useful way is to create a group and use a group specific customisation to diagnose the problem

Seek assistance

Having done all of this, and being none the wiser about your issue (although probably somewhat wiser about PmWiki) you could

leave a query on the PmWiki:questions page
post a message the the PmWiki mailing lists
add a question to a *-Talk page

When making a request for help, feel free to

provide a link to the wiki in question, and the problem in particular
have an example of the issue on your wiki, or as a test ? page on PmWiki
provide edit access to the wiki example
set the $EnableDiag flag for that page to allow helpers to examine your environment
if performance related, use the Stopwatch
provide, where appropriate, version numbers of your OS, web server, and PHP being used
provide, where appropriate, the PmWiki:version of PmWiki, and recipes
provide one or more test cases
provide links to the documentation you thought pertinent and used in your research (this will also facilitate updating of the documentation)

All of these things will greatly assist and incentivise^[1] those who wish to help you get to the nub of the problem without having to ask further probing questions.

PmWiki Issue Tracking System

If the issues turns out to be a software bug, performance issue, change request, enhancement, or feature request, the PmWiki Issue Tracking System (PITS ?) is where you register it.

Again, all the above pertinent information should be placed in the issue report to assist in its resolution.

HowToGetAssistance

Review and research available information

Reproduce the issue

Seek assistance

PmWiki Issue Tracking System

See Also