Microsoft Tech Community Code of Conduct

[Michael Holste]

Welcome to the Microsoft Tech Community!

The mission of this online community is to provide a platform for IT Pros, Developers, Office 365 and Azure Users, cloud fans and Microsoft to interact. It is a central destination for education and thought leadership on best practices, product news, live events, and roadmap. Get started by signing in. You'll need a Microsoft email to register (@outlook, @hotmail, @live, etc.)

DO:

• Be positive, kind, and courteous. “Like” posts and ask questions. Be friendly with others on the network. Feel free to provide feedback, but keep it constructive.
• Look at the product groups and join conversations. Groups are where most of the conversations happen. Browse through the groups and join the ones that interest you.
• Post to the right place! Is your question about Exchange? Post it to the Exchange group. Using tags like #SharePoint and #2018 help people understand what you are talking about. Not sure where to post? Feel free to message an admin.
• Mark answers as correct. This helps ‘close’ the thread so folks know you’ve received the answer you were looking for.
• Search before you post! There is a chance that your question has already been answered. The search function on this platform is very powerful, take advantage of it. Speaking of which...
• Keep private stuff private. Double check to make sure you are posting confidential information responsibly and in the correct place.
• Add a profile picture and fill out your profile! It’s easy and quick, and helps people discover you as an expert.
• Fine-tune your email notification preferences. Go to your settings to set your preferred notifications. /t5/user/myprofilepage/tab/user-preferences
• Invite others to the network. Reference the network using our shortlink http://aka.ms/mstechcommunity

DON’T

• Post questions expecting to find support to break-fix issues. The best place to get Microsoft support is: http://answers.microsoft.com/ or if for Office 365 open a support ticket in your Office 365 Admin Console. If you have a problem, we want to make sure it’s tracked, ticketed and escalated as needed so you’re back up and running as quickly as possible. We do not offer ticketed support in the Microsoft Tech Community.
• Post solicitation, spam, and/or content free posts. This is a place for all of us. Don’t fill the groups with 3rd party promotion. Violators may be banned from the network.
• Be negative. Constructive feedback is good, but avoid personal remarks, sarcasm and blame.
• Use crazy fonts, profanity or ALL CAPS. All caps and strange fonts are annoying. Not only does it look like shouting, it makes others want to use profanity.
• Wander off topic. No posting about sports, religion, politics or other things that don’t belong here.
• Share content from a private group. Respect your colleagues and our acceptable usage policy.
• Harvest user data. Some members may share personal information here. If you spam members from this network, Microsoft may take legal action.
• Post content you didn't write. While quoting blogs and other sources is fine, if you include content that wasn't written by you, please include a source link/attribution.

Where any aspect of this Code of Conduct is in conflict with the Microsoft Terms of Use, the Microsoft Terms of Use will take precedence.

Badging Rings

You will notice that some community members have colored rings around their avatars. This means they were awarded a specific badge. Here is a breakdown of each badging ring:

Microsoft employees - Like you, they are members of the community around Microsoft products, and we encourage them to share their knowledge, expertise, and opinions on this platform.

Community Managers - Our community managers are here to encourage conversation, provide direction, answer questions, and keep the community healthy.

MVPs - MVPs are recognized technology experts who passionately share their knowledge and expertise with the community.

Similarly, you may notice badges and ranks next to usernames. Badges are achievements you can unlock. Ranks, like “MVP”, can either be assigned or earned through participation.

Feedback & Ideas

This is a community for the Microsoft community (you). So if you have feedback or ideas, please reach out to the administration team! 

Attached Code/Scripts/Programs

While we allow people to post attachments, scripts and code as they can be helpful to solve problems in the community, users must take responsibility for running any code submitted to the site outside of official Microsoft channels. If you don't know what it does, don't run it.

Flag inappropriate content for review

This network is a big place and moderators cannot see everything. If you see any violation of these guidelines, please notify us within the community by choosing "Report Inappropriate Content" from the message's Options menu and let us know why you feel the content is inappropriate.

If you have any questions about our guidelines, terms, or policies reach out to the admin team.

 Thanks for joining the Microsoft Tech Community. Learn more about how to Get Started.

[Michael Holste]

The mission of this online community is to provide a platform for IT Pros, Developers, Office 365 and Azure Users, cloud fans and Microsoft to interact. It is a central destination for education and thought leadership on best practices, product news, live events, and roadmap. Get started by signing in. You'll need a Microsoft email to register (@outlook, @hotmail, @live, etc.)

DO:

• Be positive, kind, and courteous. “Like” posts and ask questions. Be friendly with others on the network. Feel free to provide feedback, but keep it constructive.
• Look at the product groups and join conversations. Groups are where most of the conversations happen. Browse through the groups and join the ones that interest you.
• Post to the right place! Is your question about Exchange? Post it to the Exchange group. Using tags like #SharePoint and #2018 help people understand what you are talking about. Not sure where to post? Feel free to message an admin.
• Mark answers as correct. This helps ‘close’ the thread so folks know you’ve received the answer you were looking for.
• Search before you post! There is a chance that your question has already been answered. The search function on this platform is very powerful, take advantage of it. Speaking of which...
• Keep private stuff private. Double check to make sure you are posting confidential information responsibly and in the correct place.
• Add a profile picture and fill out your profile! It’s easy and quick, and helps people discover you as an expert.
• Fine-tune your email notification preferences. Go to your settings to set your preferred notifications. /t5/user/myprofilepage/tab/user-preferences
• Invite others to the network. Reference the network using our shortlink http://aka.ms/mstechcommunity

DON’T

• Post questions expecting to find support to break-fix issues. The best place to get Microsoft support is: http://answers.microsoft.com/ or if for Office 365 open a support ticket in your Office 365 Admin Console. If you have a problem, we want to make sure it’s tracked, ticketed and escalated as needed so you’re back up and running as quickly as possible. We do not offer ticketed support in the Microsoft Tech Community.
• Post solicitation, spam, and/or content free posts. This is a place for all of us. Don’t fill the groups with 3rd party promotion. Violators may be banned from the network.
• Be negative. Constructive feedback is good, but avoid personal remarks, sarcasm and blame.
• Use crazy fonts, profanity or ALL CAPS. All caps and strange fonts are annoying. Not only does it look like shouting, it makes others want to use profanity.
• Wander off topic. No posting about sports, religion, politics or other things that don’t belong here.
• Share content from a private group. Respect your colleagues and our acceptable usage policy.
• Harvest user data. Some members may share personal information here. If you spam members from this network, Microsoft may take legal action.
• Post content you didn't write. While quoting blogs and other sources is fine, if you include content that wasn't written by you, please include a source link/attribution.

Where any aspect of this Code of Conduct is in conflict with the Microsoft Terms of Use, the Microsoft Terms of Use will take precedence.

Badging Rings

You will notice that some community members have colored rings around their avatars. This means they were awarded a specific badge. Here is a breakdown of each badging ring:

Microsoft employees - Like you, they are members of the community around Microsoft products, and we encourage them to share their knowledge, expertise, and opinions on this platform.

Community Managers - Our community managers are here to encourage conversation, provide direction, answer questions, and keep the community healthy.

MVPs - MVPs are recognized technology experts who passionately share their knowledge and expertise with the community.

Similarly, you may notice badges and ranks next to usernames. Badges are achievements you can unlock. Ranks, like “MVP”, can either be assigned or earned through participation.

Feedback & Ideas

This is a community for the Microsoft community (you). So if you have feedback or ideas, please reach out to the administration team! 

Attached Code/Scripts/Programs

While we allow people to post attachments, scripts and code as they can be helpful to solve problems in the community, users must take responsibility for running any code submitted to the site outside of official Microsoft channels. If you don't know what it does, don't run it.

Flag inappropriate content for review

This network is a big place and moderators cannot see everything. If you see any violation of these guidelines, please notify us within the community by choosing "Report Inappropriate Content" from the message's Options menu and let us know why you feel the content is inappropriate.

If you have any questions about our guidelines, terms, or policies reach out to the admin team.

 Thanks for joining the Microsoft Tech Community. Learn more about how to Get Started.

[#3]

Michael, i'm still bit confusing by positioning of Microsoft resources. In particular, "The best place to get support is: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice onTechNet ".

If open TechNet support menu above is positioned as one of the support links for Non IT pros. Among dozen of other links to receive the support. I understand people on "answers" are motivated to answer, perhaps their income depends on how good they are in answers. From this point of view yes, answers is the best place. But is this the best place for IT Pros for whom this community is?

IMHO, this community is also the best support place for tenants admins. Depends on how we understand the "support" term.

Anyway, happy holidays and good luck in New Year!

[#4]

Hi @Sergei Baklan - thanks for highlighting this and we will work to clarify what we mean by support in our documentation.  The best place to get Microsoft support is answers.microsoft.com.  The Tech Community is a valuable resource for the community to share best practices and discuss Microsoft products and services.  Members of this community may offer you recommendations and suggestions based on what they've seen and experienced but it does not replace official Microsoft support.

[#5]

I also found very comprehensive details on this below Microsoft Technet Wiki article.  Good work from Author:

Getting Started with the Microsoft Tech Community

Kudos to the author of above article!

[#6]

That would be the fabulous @Cian Allner :) 

[#7]

Thanks! Is there any way I can follow the Tech Community easily on a mobile app with notifications etc.?

[#8]

Hello,

I have tried to get a question answered in Developer and Tech Net forums without success. I am working through the MVA tutorials. I am new to this forum. Can I get this type of question answered here? And if so, do you have any suggestions on where to specifically to start?

Thank you, Wildcat2009

[#9]

There are no plans for a mobile app at this time but it is one of the most requested features - we hear the feedback.  It's a very big endeavour and we have plenty of things to work on before we pursue an app.  Meanwhile, you can log into the Tech Community on your phone and it works, but nothing that allows you to receive push notifications.  You do see notifications on your mobile browser when logged in.

[#10]

Hi Anna,

Thank you for your reply. I don't have a mobile device question, I have a SQL related question. Am I in the right place?

Thanks again,

JDBooze

[#11]

We have a SQL community in the Tech Community to host questions for SQL, please join today: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/SQL-Server/ct-p/SQL-Server

[#12]

Hi, quick question about an achievement! What does "Quick Start" indicate? The other achievements explain themselves, though I've not figured out what that one means.

[#13]

Hello Michael, I am a new user of MS Tech community and I would like to write/submit a blog. Can you please guide what is the process? Thanks, Noman

[#14]

Hey Noman, 

We don't have a community-sourced blog at this time but it's something we are looking into. I'd recommend simply posting in the product space (example: an excel post should go in the Excel space). 

Looking forward to seeing your content! And please keep in mind that 3rd party promotion isn't allowed here. 

[#15]

Hey Matt,
I agree it's not the clearest name. 'Quick Start' just means that you got up and running really fast (posting, replying, liking). Consider it a reinforcement of your quick adoption!

Welcome (again) to the community.
-Mike

[#16]

Hi Mike,

Just intresting what does it mean more concrete - post the same date as you joined the community, or within one week, or what? Very few people (~2 hundred) have this badge within more than 60K members.

[#17]

Hey Sergei, 

We don't expose the actual algorithm so people can't game the system.  

[#18 · Accepted solution]

A more updated thread is located at: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Tech-Community-Blog/Microsoft-Tech-Community-July-5-Release-P...

[#19]

Hello there,

I'm trying to upload my profile picture but I just cant... all I get is what you see in attached file :( is there any other way to get this done?
I've tried different browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) and I also tried searching for a link on my profile 'My Images' and it does not exist.

Thanks in advance

[#20]

I want to use date picker in excel

[#21]

@Ikhlaque khan, I would point you to the Excel community/space.

[#22]

So when you have a 'real' problem brought about by a Microsoft 'buggy release' who do you address the problem to within Microsoft so that the community who are affected by the release can feel in some way reassured that Microsoft who depends on the Insider Testers are being listened to or assisted in overcoming bugs that Microsoft has not acknowledged or tried to assist in solving.

In particular

..https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Windows-Insider-Program/How-do-I-prevent-Insider-Program-from...

Is there anyway to actually email or phone a Microsoft Technician on this?

[#23]

Looking at the thread, it looked as though several Microsoft employees were involved in solving the issue. You can confirm they work at Microsoft due to the blue ring around their profile. Microsoft staff are definitely monitoring these boards.

If you need immediate assistance, you can always go to support.microsoft.com. 

[#24]

I suggest disabling the edit option for a post, once it receives a reply.

[#25]

Hope my most recent post was okay! I would love for more IT Communicators to participate in the IABC community! Please flag if it is not appropriate.

[#26]

Hi @Anna Chu I was reading what you wrote in response to @Sergei Baklan regarding where to go for what.  Is there any more clarification from Microsoft on this?  Here is what I found and there may be more:

Microsoft Support - https://support.microsoft.com/

Tech Community Q&A - https://answers.microsoft.com/

Tech Community Q&A - https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/

Best Practices, but I thought was Tech Community Q&A based on the user posts and the URL literally says tech community in it... until I read this post: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/

Microsoft Reference Material: https://technet.microsoft.com/

Microsoft Learning: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning

[#27]

I have no idea how to unsubscribe from my question answered

[#28]

How do i post my own question?

[#29]

To post your own question, go to the appropriate space for your question within the various communities, and click "Start a New Conversation."

[#30]

Yes, you can unsubscribe from your own question. Go to your user settings (My Settings on the top right) and Manage Subscriptions.

[#31]

Hal yang mirip tidak hanya mencakup perihal DO atau DON "T saja, akan tetapi susunan tata letak dan etika masyarakat di tempat ini

[#32]

Can someone explain to me how tags work? I added a tag to a random blog post just to test and now I can't remove it. I thought if I add a tag to something it's only visible to me.

[#33]

Hey Navishkar, 

Tags are user-generated and can applied to conversations and blog content. In some places, general users don't have the ability to delete tags. If you link me to the article I can remove the desired tag. 

Thanks!

[#34]

Thanks Michael. Here is the URL:
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Office-365-Blog/New-Apps-and-Services-in-Office-365-US-Govern...

I created a tag called "Navz" thinking it was only available to me.

[#35]

Will the PP deck from the sessions be available for us? Can see the presentations again but would love to have the PP decks aswell. And another thing, where do I find out stats from the Ignite event this year? Stats like how many attended, countries, sessions, etc

[#36]

The PowerPoint decks will be available on session pages as soon as they are ready. Should be very soon! 

[#37]

Thanks Eric - For some reason the video for BRK3312 (Windows Virtual Desktop Deep Dive) is not there. Any idea why ? Thx in advance for your help

[#38]

It's still being processed. Once the video team has completed this process, it will be automatically added to this community.

[#39]

How do I write a post (question)?

[#40]

Hey Hashiru, 

To submit a post or question, you need to navigate to a discussion space within the product communities. Click Communities in the top navigation bar, then find the community you are interested in. Once there, select the Space (like a subgroup) and then you'll be able to post. 

Here's some further instructions: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Getting-Started/Microsoft-Tech-Community-Getting-Started-Guid...

[#41]

Teşekkür ederim sevgili dostlar iyi ve mutlu sene,ker hepinize.

[#42]

thank you microsoft tech

[#43]

Thank you Microsoft tech

[#44]

how can I delete a post/question in a conversation space?

[#45]

Hey Ann, 

You can only delete your own posts and comments here on Tech Community. To do this, just click the drop down arrow to the right of the comment or the thread and select Delete. 

[#46]

I need protection for my computer. NTS contacted me, and I am quite leery of them. Also, they are charging me $79.95/mo to use them, I prefer to go thru Microsoft, if possible.

[#47]

Are you kidding me?  I add a post reply to something and I get Badges!!!  I'm not a child.  I don't need badges - what I need are answers.