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160 changes: 100 additions & 60 deletions source/Contact.rst
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.. _Help:

Contact
=======

.. _Using Robotics Stack Exchange:
Contact the ROS community to ask for support, offer help, or suggest ways we can improve.
This article introduces the ways in which you can contact us.

**Area: community | content-type: about | experience: beginner, intermediate, expert**

.. contents:: Table of Contents
:local:

Support
Summary
-------

Different types of questions or discussions correspond to different avenues of communication;
check the descriptions below to ensure you choose the right method.
You can contact the ROS community in the following ways:

* `Stack Exchange <https://robotics.stackexchange.com/>`__: Ask for support or discuss a problem

* Issue tracker: Submit an issue or suggest an enhancement: <Placeholder link to new "Submitting an issue" article>

* :ref:`Discourse discussion boards <discussion-boards>`: Share ideas or discuss best practices

* `Zulip chat <https://openrobotics.zulipchat.com/Recent>`_: Chat to other ROS community members, including maintainers, in real time in the ``General`` or ``ROS General`` topics.

* `Email <mailto:ros@openrobotics.org>`_: Contact us directly if you have a private or sensitive issue

* `Email (security) <mailto:security@openrobotics.org>`_: Contact us directly if you have a security concern

.. _asking-for-support:

Asking for support
------------------

Need help troubleshooting your system?
First, search `Robotics Stack Exchange <https://robotics.stackexchange.com/>`__ to see if others have had similar issues, and if their solution works for you.
First, search `Robotics Stack Exchange <https://robotics.stackexchange.com/>`__ to see if others have had similar problems, and if their solution works for you.

If not, ask a new question on `Robotics Stack Exchange <https://robotics.stackexchange.com/>`__.
Make sure to add tags, at the very least the ``ros2`` tag and the distro version you are running, e.g. ``{DISTRO}``.
If your question is related to the documentation here, add a tag like ``docs``, or more specifically, ``tutorials``.

Make sure to add tags, at the very least the ``ros`` tag and the distro version you are running, for example, ``{DISTRO}``.
If your question relates to the documentation, add a ``docs`` tag.
You can also add a tag for the relevant documentation area, for example, ``tutorials`` or ``concepts``.
Please don't contact the developers/maintainers directly.
The community can't see question or answer(s) not asked or answered publicly.
The community can't benefit from private answers and questions.
Keep your questions out in the public to help others with solving their problems.
Open Source development works best when the entire community participates in discussions and helps to answer questions.
It's better to send all questions to `Robotics Stack Exchange <https://robotics.stackexchange.com/>`__ and report all issues to the issue tracker.

Contributing support
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
.. note:: If you can provide support to others, please do: <Placeholder link to new Contributing to ROS article>

ROS 2 users come from a wide range of technical backgrounds, use a variety of different operating systems, and don't necessarily have any prior experience with ROS (1 or 2).
So, it's important for users with any amount of experience to contribute support.
.. _reporting-an-issue:

If you see an issue on `Robotics Stack Exchange <https://robotics.stackexchange.com/>`__ that is similar to something you've run into yourself, please consider providing some pointers to what helped in your situation.
Don't worry if you aren't sure if your response is correct.
Simply say so, and other community members will jump in if necessary.
Reporting an issue or suggesting an enhancement
-----------------------------------------------

<<<<<<< HEAD
Issues
------

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -79,61 +97,83 @@ As appropriate, also include your:
* Gifs or movies to demonstrate the problem

.. _Using ROS Discourse:
=======
If you identify issues, have suggestions for enhancements, or have a question specific to one package, you can report an issue on GitHub.
>>>>>>> ca528b8 (Create contributing to ros (#6918))

<Placeholder link to new "Reporting an issue" article>

.. note::

If you have a private or sensitive matter to discuss, email us directly at `ros@openrobotics.org <mailto:ros@openrobotics.org>`__.
If you have a security concern, email us directly at `security@openrobotics.org <mailto:security@openrobotics.org>`__.

.. _discussion-boards:

Discussion
----------
Discussing ideas and best practices
-----------------------------------

To start a discussion with other ROS 2 community members, visit the official `Open Robotics Discourse <https://discourse.openrobotics.org/>`__.
Content on the Discourse should be high-level;
it's not a place to get *questions* about code answered, but it would be suitable to start a conversation about best practices or improving standards.
To start a discussion with other ROS community members, visit the official `Open Robotics Discourse <https://discourse.openrobotics.org/>`_.
Content on Discourse should be discussions and announcements.
It is not a place to get *questions* about code answered, but it would be suitable to start a conversation about new ideas, best practices, and improving standards.

Discussions about ROS 2 development and plans are happening on the `Open Robotics Discourse' ROS category <https://discourse.openrobotics.org/c/ros/111>`__.
Participating in these discussions is an important way to have a say on how different features of ROS 2 will work and be implemented.
Discussions about ROS development and plans are also happening on the `Open Robotics Discourse' ROS category <https://discourse.openrobotics.org/c/ros/111>`_.
Discussions about ROS are in the `ROS category <https://discourse.openrobotics.org/c/ros/111>`_.
Participating in these discussions is an important way to have a say on how different features of ROS will work and be implemented.

The diverse community behind the ROS ecosystem is one of its greatest assets.
We encourage all members of the ROS community to participate in these design discussions so that we can leverage the experience of community members, and keep the varied use cases of ROS in mind.
We encourage all members of the ROS community to participate in these design discussions so that we can leverage the experience of community members, and keep the varied use cases of ROS in mind when design decisions are made.

Etiquette
----------
Offering help
-------------

If you are in a position to support others, share your knowledge and help fellow users work through challenges.

<Placeholder link to new "Contributing to ROS" article>

Assume 'good faith': It's easy to mis-interpret the meaning or tone of comments on the internet.
Assuming good faith gives the benefit of the doubt to those trying to help you, avoiding: insulting well meaning community members, and poisoning the mood.
Assuming 'good faith' when responding almost always works better even if the original response was not in fact in good faith.
Contacting us privately
-----------------------

Please don't send your question more than once: The question was seen.
If you didn't get a response then likely nobody has had time to answer you.
Alternatively, it could be that nobody knows the answer.
In any case, sending it again is poor form and akin to shouting and is likely to aggravate a large number of people.
This also applies to crossposting.
Try to pick the forum which you think matches best and ask there.
If you are referred to a new forum, provide a link to the old discussion.
If you'd like to contact us privately, for example, if your question contains information sensitive to your organization or project, you can email us directly at `ros@openrobotics.org <mailto:ros@openrobotics.org>`__.
If your message is regarding a security issue, email `security@openrobotics.org <mailto:security@openrobotics.org>`__.

Etiquette
---------

On `Robotics Stack Exchange <https://robotics.stackexchange.com/>`__ you can edit your question to provide more details.
The more details that you include in your question the easier it is for others to help you find your solution which makes it more likely for you to get a response.
* Assume 'good faith': It's easy to mis-interpret the meaning or tone of comments on the internet.
Assuming good faith gives the benefit of the doubt to those trying to help you, avoiding insulting well-meaning community members and poisoning the mood.
Assuming 'good faith' when responding almost always works better, even if the original response was not actually in good faith.

It's considered bad form to list your personal deadlines; community members answering questions also have them.
* Please don't send your question more than once: The question was seen.
If you didn't get a response then likely nobody has had time to answer you.
Alternatively, it could be that nobody knows the answer.
In any case, sending it again is poor form and akin to shouting and is likely to aggravate a large number of people.
This also applies to cross-posting.
Try to pick the forum which you think matches best and ask there.
If you are referred to a new forum, provide a link to the old discussion.

Do not beg for help.
If there is someone willing and able to help with your problem, you usually get a response.
Asking for faster answers will mostly have a negative effect.
* On `Robotics Stack Exchange <https://robotics.stackexchange.com/>`__ , you can edit your question to provide more details.
The more details that you include in your question, the easier it is for others to help you find your solution which makes it more likely for you to get a response.

Do not add unrelated content to posts.
The content of posts should be focused on the topic at hand and not include unrelated content.
Content, links, and images unrelated to the topic are considered spam.
* It's considered bad form to list your personal deadlines.
Community members answering questions also have them.

For commercial posts, see also `this discussion <https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/sponsorship-notation-in-posts-on-ros-org/2078>`_.
* Do not beg for help.
If there is someone willing and able to help with your problem, you usually get a response.
Asking for faster answers will mostly have a negative effect.

Minimize references to content behind pay walls.
The content posted on `Open Robotics Discourse <https://discourse.openrobotics.org/>`__ and `Robotics Stack Exchange <https://robotics.stackexchange.com/>`__ should "generally" be free and open to all users.
Links to content behind pay walls such as private journal articles, text books, and paid news websites, while helpful and relevant, may not be accessible to all users.
Where possible primary sources should be free and open with paid content playing a supporting role.
* Do not add unrelated content to posts.
The content of posts should be focused on the topic at hand and not include unrelated content.
Content, links, and images unrelated to the topic are considered spam.

Single link posts are to be avoided.
Generally speaking, posting a single link answer is less helpful and can be easily confused with spam.
Moreover, links may degrade over time or be replaced.
Paraphrasing a link's content along with some contextual information and attribution is often much more helpful.
* For commercial posts, see also `this discussion <https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/sponsorship-notation-in-posts-on-ros-org/2078>`_.

Private contact
---------------
* Minimize references to content behind pay walls.
The content posted on Open Robotics Discourse and Robotics Stack Exchange should be free and open to all users.
Links to content behind pay walls such as private journal articles, text books, and paid news websites, while helpful and relevant, may not be accessible to all users.
Where possible primary sources should be free and open with paid content playing a supporting role.

If you'd like to contact us privately (e.g., if your question contains information sensitive to your organization or project, or if it's regarding a security issue), you can email us directly at ``ros@osrfoundation.org``.
* Single link posts are to be avoided.
Generally speaking, posting a single link answer is less helpful and can be easily confused with spam.
Moreover, links may degrade over time or be replaced.
Paraphrasing a link's content along with some contextual information and attribution is often much more helpful.
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