Recently active discussions in Get Satisfaction tagged with user tips

UPDATE Will be updating this topic again. The interface has just changed so these first few steps do not reflect the current design any longer.

Start a topic
Have a question, idea, problem or just want to talk? Start typing in the box at the top of the page and see if any similar topics are already in the system.


Click on one of the topics or see all search results:


From the search results page you can click on the topic if you find it or start a new one:


OR, just lick the "Start a Topic" button at the top of the page.


Pick a category: Question, Idea, Problem or Discussion. Enter your topic and a brief but descriptive title:



Add a relevant product or service:



Tag it and tell everyone how you're feeling about it:



Finally, be sure you've done all you can to make your topic as noticeable and findable as possible. Then submit it!:


Browse topics
On the Company home page you can see a paginated list of all topics in that community. You can view them by the default view "Recenty Active", by "Latest Topics" or by "Unanswered". You can also filter the list of topics by type of topic by clicking on the list above the tabs: Questions, Ideas, Problems, Talk or by Products or Tags which are displayed toward the top of the page.

Tags
Toward the top of a Company Home page is a grouping of Popular Tags. Clicking on any of these tags will give you a list of all topics with that tag. Each topic has a list of tags associated with it when tags have been assigned. You can add tags to any topic.


Products & Services
There is a list of Popular Products & Services on the Company home page as well. Clicking on any of these will give you a list of all topics associated with that product or service.


Clicking the "+" will add a product to your dashboard. Clicking the "-" will remove it from your dashboard.


You can also click on the "They make x products" link to see a page with all products associated with company. From this page you can view all the products associated with or related to the company, you can add new products, you can add products to your dashboard and you can click through to any specific product page where you'll see all associated topics and have the option of editing the product details.


People's Pick
"People's Pick" is no longer being used. We now have a system that is more explicit in its meaning. Questions have "answers". Problems have "solutions". Ideas have "good points". When enough people mark someone's reply this way, it will be displayed at the top of the page. If you simply liked what someone had to say, but it doesn't specifically solve a problem or answer a question, you can leave a quick comment for them.

Official Responses and Status
Company representatives are able to mark the status on topics and mark their answers as the Best Answer or Solution from the company. It too, sticks to the top of the topic page and can be viewed inline in the context of the conversation. See this topic for further explanation.

Your Dashboard
Every registered user has a dashboard which you can access by clicking "You" in the top bar. Here you can edit your public profile, view a list of all topics you've participated in across all of Get Satisfaction, keep track of your stats in the system, manage products and companies you wish to follow, and edit your account settings*. You can also subscribe to a RSS feed of your acitvity from your dashboard.

*Account Settings
Account settings are part of your dashboard. This is where you can edit your personal information such as nickname, real name, email address, avatar, tagline, location, password, etc. This is also where you would go to close your account, edit your title if you're officially involved with any companies and set your notification preferences.

Profile
Clicking on another user's name will take you to their profile page. Here you'll see their public profile information, their site usage stats, all topics they've participated in across all of getsatisfaction.com and a list of the companies, products and services they use.

Add a company
If you don't find the company you want to discuss on the Companies page or from the company search at the top of every page, you can add it here. If you're officially affiliated with the company you can claim it!

That's about it. Pretty simple all in all. So dive in and start participating in the conversation!

For those who may not be aware this is possible or get that it's possible but haven't figured out how to do it, read on...

Disclaimer: We are working on refining this process. We are aware that it is currently awkward and overly complicated and not at all intuitive.

That said, this is how to currently do it:

Let's say you want to associate Company A's product (we'll call it Foo) with Company B.

1. Go to Company A's Product & Services page (you'll find the tab on their Get Satisfaction home page)

2. Click on the product or service you want to associate ("Foo") which opens up that product page

3. Click the "Edit this product" link over on the right

4. That launches a modul window that allows you to edit the details of the product or service. Under "Related Companies" click the "Add another relationship" button

5. Start typing the company name "Company B" and you will be given a list of results. Select the correct result and then select a relationship type. Then click the Save Product button.

6. Now you should see "Foo" over on Company B's Products & Services page under the "Related To" tab. AND it will show up as a product or service option when creating a new topic fo Company B.

(screenshots coming...)

UPDATE:

By replying to a topic you are automatically following it. However, if you'd like to follow a topic without replying to it click the "Follow this discussion" link for a "Talk" post, the "I have this problem too" button for a "Problem" post, the "I have this question too" button for a "Question" post, or the "I like this idea too" button on an "Idea" post.









Following a topic means you'll receive email notifications when an update is made to the topic and the topic will appear in your Dashboard.

If you want to "un-follow" a topic click the "stop following it" link.

Click on the "Get Satisfaction! Start your own People Powered Customer Service Site" badge in the bottom of the page


or just click here. Fill out the form and click the "Create Company" button.

You will also be given the opportunity to add a company when a company search brings up no results.

Searching from the top bar:


Searching from the Companies page:



There will be a bit of a delay between the time you add the company and the time it appears on the Companies page as we need to approve each one to keep the Spam away. Adding all the details such as logo, description and external link when you're adding the company may help speed up the process -- and make our jobs a little easier! :) Also, keep in mind that this will be your only chance to add these details unless you receive admin status for that company.

If more than a business day goes by and your site hasn't shown up, feel free to send us an email at info [at] getsatisfaction [dot] com.

When posting a reply in a particular company's Satisfaction site, please don't post the exact same reply to multiple topics. It just comes across as spam, and no one likes spam.

If you do post a verbatim reply to more than one place we may delete it in all but one location at our discretion.

Thanks for your cooperation! Let's try to keep Satisfaction useful and uncluttered.

If you see a company or organization in Satisfaction that you own or work for and it doesn't have any employees associated with it yet you can claim it. How? you ask. We like employees to get involved so we give you several ways:

1. On a company's Satisfaction site to the right of the Start a Topic bar there will be some text that says "Is this your company?". Click the "Learn how to get involved" link. If there are already employees affilitiated it will say "X [company name] employees are here listening and participating" instead.



2. Once you add a company to Satisfaction you'll be given the option to claim it.



3. On the "Companies & Organizations" page you'll see a "Claim it!" link on the right above the list of recently added companies.



In all three cases you'll be taken to a page where you can learn more about Satisfaction and click the "Claim it!" link



or search for your company then click the "Claim it" link.



You'll be asked to fill out a form with some basic information.

Next we'll need to confirm your affiliation with the company. This can take up to about two business days. The more proof you can give us of your affiliation with the company the faster your claim will be approved. For instance, an email address with a domain that matches the company's official URL helps tremendously. Once we've verified your affiliation with your company we'll set your role within your company's Satisfaction site and you'll be good to go! You'll get an email at that point that helps to point you in the right direction for what to do next.

If you have any further questions about the claim process please post them here in our Satisfaction site or email me at amy [at] getsatisfaction [dot] com.

RSS is Real Simple Syndication. You subscribe to an rss feed that updates every time something new happens. You can use our feed in your favorite RSS reader.
For a fun explanation of RSS check out this video.

You can set up a feed based on companies, topics, products, tags... Just about everything.

We're all about open conversation here at Satisfaction so we're not going to delete a post or reply just because someone says something negative. However, there are a few instances where we will delete a post or reply:
- SPAM
- Inappropriate (as deemed by us)
- Abuse (as deemed by us)
- Crass commercialism (as deemed by us)

If you see a post that you think falls into one of these categories, click the "Flag for review" link, select the category it falls under and add a little explanation if you will to give us some further insight into why you think it needs to be reviewed. We'll review our Flagged items page from time to time and will delete items as we find necessary.






If you notice something that needs immediate attention, flag it and email us at info [at] getsatisfaction [dot] com with a link to the post.

To find a company or organization in Get Satisfaction select "Company" from the "Find a:" dropdown list at the top of the page. Then type the company or organization name into the box. A list of suggestions will appear.


Or you can click on the "Companies" link in the top bar. You will be taken to the Companies & Organizations page where you can search for a company. If you don't find it, you can add it!

When you see a reply you like or think is useful, you can click the "Mark as useful" link to give it a star.



Once a reply has received the required amout of stars it will be posted at the top of the conversation as a "People's Pick".