Level 4 Subscriptions Question

Zachyy wrote:

Also, does anyone know if there will be an upcoming Community conference call or event. Thanks.

AFAIK, any meet ups, lounge access, and other such are all at level 6, or at Apple’s discretion.

Levels: Share what you know and get recognized - Apple Support

The subscriptions tab is intended to update near-immediately; within a few minutes.

I’ve sometimes seen the contents skewed maybe fifteen minutes behind “reality” though, if ASC is wobbling.

Subcriptions has two similar-but-different uses. It can subscribe to posters and communities, or can subscribe to your previous postings. Both uses together doesn’t work so well, as lots of follows-related activity can bury activity related to your postings.

I bookmarked the equivalent of this to get some depth on the tab:

https://discussions.apple.com/profile/Zachyy/subscriptions?page=1&perPage=60

This is what show, if things are working:

Check back tomorrow too, as sometimes stuff gets cached, and doesn’t immediately reflect a level up.

Zachyy wrote:

Also just a general question, I see some users post short comments while others post lengthy comments. For example, some users just provide an Apple Support Article while others will provide information from the article along with it. Any advise?

Find your own path.

Different people are, well, different.

There is no one right way.

There are, however, many wrong ones.

🥠

I usually prefer a short post including Apple Support articles and if I find another prior post that answered much better …I will post that thread giving the prior poster credit for their work. I also believe that *MrHoffman* put it well “ find your own path “

Zachyy wrote:

Also, does anyone know if there will be an upcoming Community conference call or event. Thanks.

MrHoffman wrote:

AFAIK, any meet ups, lounge access, and other such are all at level 6, or at Apple’s discretion.

Apple changes these policies on a regular basis. At one point, I think people in those mid-levels could attend conference calls. I remember there was a mid-level person at my very first in-person meet up (in addition to the late, great MacJack).

Don't forget that COVID put an end to lots of in-person events for lots of people. Even if Apple started having meet-ups again, people might be much less likely to attend to due modern issues like viruses and airplanes falling apart. Back in the day, Apple could sell out 5000 WWDC tickets @ $1600 a pop in 74 seconds. It's only this year that Apple has started bringing developers back in for in-house events, by invitation only. And COVID is flaring up again right now.

Also just a general question, I see some users post short comments while others post lengthy comments. For example, some users just provide an Apple Support Article while others will provide information from the article along with it. Any advise?

Sometimes giving advice is complicated, especially from old-timers like us who are set in our ways and tired of it all. But if you're young and/or enthusiastic, why not strive to the ideal? I know what an ideal reply looks like, but at this point, I'm not going to bother myself. Where's my motivation? But it sounds like you're still motivated.

In an ideal reply, greet the OP and welcome them to the forum. Don't use their name as those can change and that gets complicated. Restate the problem as you understand it. If the OP thinks you've misunderstood, they can correct you. But your restatement will help clarify the issue for yourself and others. (Apple support does this.)

Provide a short, succinct, step-by-step solution. People really like that. Just make sure that your reply doesn't look like (or actually is) an AI-generated response. AI systems like ChatGPT are good for syntactically correct, polite statements. You can always feed a question into ChatGPT to see what that kind of reply looks like. Use that tone, and layout, but omit the incorrect garbage. That's what's so frustrating about AI in these forums. The OPs respond really, really well to AI content. But they don't know if said content is factually incorrect, which it often is.

If there is an Apple Support document that would be helpful in some way, include a link to it. Also include a short quote of the pertinent information from the document. Never assume that people will actually click on a link and read the document.

Another really good template to follow are replies from the old Apple Community Specialists. Here are a couple of examples:

black "stage light" - Apple Community

Problem Updating Pages, iMovie, Numbers, … - Apple Community

They aren't perfect. They do use people's names. They were also limited in what they could say. Pretty much the only reply they could post was a link to an Apple Support document. But the OPs did respond well to them.

Supposedly, there are "secret" Apple support strategies that have been leaked. Here is one:

Approach customers with a personalized warm welcome

Probe politely to understand all the customer’s needs

Present a solution for the customer to take home today

Listen for and resolve any issues or concerns

End with a fond farewell and an invitation to return

I have no idea if this is true, but I wouldn't disagree with the idea generally.

Zachyy wrote:

I don't know if you guys are obligated to tell me.

I suspect you meant "allowed". Apple has NDAs around everything.

If you are participating on mobile, look for a down arrow in the top bar (to the right of "Community" and click it to see expanded options).

NOTE:

I’m not posting a screenshot because my options are different than yours and I wish to avoid moderation.

NOTE:

I am thrilled to see you reach Level 4, however; I have been advised to "stay on topic" = translation: Congratulating on every post is "off-topic".

Zachyy wrote:

Thanks, it seems to be working now. Do you use this feature and find it useful? I just let the participation notifications go to my email.

I use the local equivalent to the link previously provided, and have long disabled most of the email notifications.

When I start my helpful post with the phrase; "According to Apple:" ⇠ I link the article to that headline because I am only quoting part of the article and not the entire thing.

The reason for that is when I want to add other related articles (making it much longer and more detailed). ⇣

⇡ A perfect example is when someone’s Face ID stopped working and any number of my suggestions could work.

When I start my post with; "Learn how to ⇢ ", the entire article answers the question and no further information is needed.

That is the foundation for my strategic framework in how I personally approach a situation.

I hope that answers your question. 🙂‍↔️

It's really up to you, your level of knowledge, and how much effort you wish to put into your posts. My take on it is that I see little point in "reinventing the wheel" if there is an Apple support article (or in some cases one on another site if I'm confident in that site's advice) that clearly offers the same information that I would. It really depends on what I think will best help the questioner while not requiring a ton of unnecessary writing on my part.

As you spend time in the Community, you'll undoubtedly develop your own style and method of working.

Regards.

Are you asking how to construct a good response to a question?

Consider the type of answer you'd want if you were asking the question. A mix of a brief typed response and a link for more details is often ideal. However, there's no need to repeat what's already been explained in said link, often more clearly, with images and diagrams.

⇡ Don’t hold your breath.⇡

I have yet to experience a conference call.

Go to My Subscriptions under your user icon. Click on "Filter" and you'll see some options. A couple of others can be found by clicking the downward-arrow item next to "Filtered By".

Regards.