Best Tips to Find the Answer

[Olga_T]

Hello everyone,

Our SmartBear Community is a great resource you could use to find useful information regarding some specific SmartBear product. And, if any question arises, the first step would be to search for the answer on the appropriate forum. If there are no similar topics found, feel free to make your own post to describe your question or share your tips and use cases. 

Search for existing topics

1. At the top of any Community page, there is a Search all content field. There, you can type the text you are looking for.

   

2. You can apply modifiers to the terms you enter in the search field:
   - use quotes to search for an "exact phrase";
   - use the plus sign to search for +one +or +more +words;
   - use the minus sign to -exclude -certain -words from your search.
   
   
3. You can then modify the search criteria to look for the information among posts, users, or private messages.
4. You can also filter out the search results by location, author, date, metadata, type of post, or you can also search for the results among topics that contain some images, attachments, etc.
   

   

 It would probably be useful for you to search for results among topics which were marked as Solved by the Community members. For this, besides the way described above, you can also do the following:

1. Scroll the page down a little bit and click the New Solutions link in the resource column on the right.
2. The search page will be opened, but it will be automatically filtered out by topics marked as Solved.

Note: Don't hesitate to give Kudos to the posts you like (see the instructions below).

Create your own topic

The second option to find the answer to a question would be to create your own topic. Use the following instructions to ask your question in the Community:

1. First, navigate to the product forum where you would like to ask your question.
   - go to the main menu in the top right corner of the Community page;
   - select the product, and then, the forum you are interested in.

2. On the right, below the search field, you will see the Start a topic button. Click it, and you will be redirected to the New message form. The opened form is to start a topic on the forum you have chosen at step 1.
3. In the Subject field, enter a name that describes your question best.
4. In the Body field, enter the description of what you are interested in.
   
   Note: While filling in the Body field, you can use the menu to switch between the Rich Text, HTML, and Preview views for convenience. Enrich your text by adding photos, videos, emoticons, and to format it as you wish using the Body field's toolbar. You can also attach a file to your post - for this, click the Choose file button below the Body field and browse for the file you want to attach.
   
   
5. Labels on the right would provide an additional description to your topic. Type in your own label, or choose one of those listed.
6. When you are all set, click the Post button below the Body field on the right.

Following all the 6 steps demonstrated in the image will help you get answers to your question fast:

The topic is now created and available on the forum page you chose at the beginning. By default, you are automatically subscribed to all topics you participate in, so you will be notified via email when anyone replies, unless you manually unsubscribe.

Alternatively, to create your topic, you can navigate to the New message form from the main Community page if you click the Ask your question link on the right, below the Welcome banner.

But, in this case, when creating your post, an additional Select Location field appears. Make sure you choose the correct board.

Note: Don't hesitate to give Kudos to the replies you like and accept them as Solutions! Please see the below instructions to learn how to do this:

Say Thanks and Accept Solutions

Say thanks to the members who were trying to help you by posting a reply to your topic. Here are the great ways to do this:

1. Post your reply to the topic 

2. Give Kudos to the post you like 

3. Mark the best reply as a solution by clicking the Accept as Solution button 

I hope these instructions help you easier find what you are looking for in our Community!