Items discussed at today’s Support Meetup:
Instantbird for Windows works with the Slack IRC gateway
@zoonini and @jcastaneda were able to get Instantbird for Windows working. However it is very chatty with IRC status messages. Hiding those with styling won’t help those who use a screenreader so another way is being looked for.
A draft of a short installation document is being worked on and should be available in a few days. This effort is so that a11y users can access the Slack channels and participate.
Reminder: don’t log into other people’s WordPress installations
This week there was a forum topic about a site that was compromised. The OP became convinced that it was due to a theme author logging in upon the OP’s request. It was a misunderstanding, but a good example that when you log into someone’s WordPress installation that way then you could be setting yourself for some real liability.
When providing support look, suggest, ask questions and gather data to help people. But don’t request and account to be able to log in and see the problem first hand. That’s going too far and could lead to trouble for the person helping.
Reporting sock puppets
If you report suspected sock puppet accounts please check the validity of those accounts first.
Sometimes people do have the same IPs because they’re connected via a VPN provider, a shared ISP or may be at a meetup with other people. Look at the user’s profile and posting history. If the account is valid then there may be good explanation.
In one case there was a meetup and it turned out a group of people decided to leave reviews. If you only look at IPs then you may be affecting legitimate forum users.
Offering something for reviews
It’s been occurring more lately: authors offering discounts on pro add-ons in exchange for 5 star reviews. That’s a good way for an author to get all of their 5 star reviews deleted.
- Asking people to review your plugin or theme is cool. We want real and legitimate feedback.
- Offering to compensate people in exchange for a review of your plugin or theme? Bribery.
If you come across a plugin author doing that then please collect the details and take a screenshot. Web pages can be changed but a screenshot makes an unpleasant conversation short. Send the details to the plugins team but for themes please ping the #forums Slack channel.
View today’s meetup transcript in the Slack archives. (A Slack account is required)