Topic template for new users? Or... something?

[ganncamp (G Ann Campbell)]

We’re currently running our quarterly NPS again (2 weeks early to avoid the holidays). I glanced at the running results and found a familiar pattern:

(Horizontal scroll…)

The newest users are the least satisfied.

I suspect it’s because they’re the ones who toss out a cryptic:

Title: [error message]
Body: Please do the needful

And assume we’re going to wipe their noses with nothing to go on. And then get frustrated when they don’t get answers right away. Or when the responses are “Care to share what you’ve tried and what the result was?”

I know we have the FAQ and the welcome email &etc. Clearly they’re not reading them (or maybe those things are ineffective…? How would I tell if a user read them & still made these mistakes?)

So I’m wondering if there’s a way to target brand new users (maybe even all TL0) with special guidance in the post-writing window.

[JammyDodger]

There’s the educate until posts popups that you could repurpose? You can change how many times they show up, and customise the text to suit your needs too:

education.new-reply

education.new-topic

[ganncamp (G Ann Campbell)]

This is perfect! Thanks!

[ganncamp (G Ann Campbell)]

Aaand now that I’ve had time to come back and actually work on this, I have questions.

As you pointed out @JammyDodger, there are two different messages, one for posts (in existing threads, right?) and one for new topics.

But apparently there’s only one place to tune?

So if I make 2 replies before I ever create a new topic, I’ll never see the educational message about creating topics?

And do posts in conversation with Discobot count toward this?

P.S.

• Can I use emojis? There’s no preview…
• Does the education.new-reply show up when the user is replying in his/her own thread? I.e. user is OP, has gotten a reply from someone and is now responding to the reply. Does s/he/they see the education message? (It matters because what I say in it could change…)

[JammyDodger]

There is currently only one site setting to set the threshold for both but they do work independently, so you get the topic message for your first two topics as well as the post message for your first two posts.

• Replies to Discobot don’t trigger the message
• You can use emojis
• The education.new-reply does show up when you’re replying to your own topic

You do get the post message for a PM reply as well as a regular topic reply, so that may be something to be aware of depending on when your users start messaging.