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GinkgoWerkstatt — How to: Request CSS Help
Published: 2012-09-24 09:32:32 +0000 UTC; Views: 2422; Favourites: 27; Downloads: 0
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Description body div#devskin7273709 img { border:none!important; } body div#devskin7273709 ::selection { color:#333; background-color:#acc0c0; } body div#devskin7273709 ::-moz-selection { color:#333; background:#acc0c0; } body div#devskin7273709 ::-webkit-selection { color:#333; background:#acc0c0; } body div#devskin7273709 .author { display:none; } body div#devskin7273709 .gr-box { max-width:700px; margin:auto; background:#transparent; padding:30px; padding-top:0; } body div#devskin7273709 .gr { background:transparent; border:none; } body div#devskin7273709 .gr1 { display:none; } body div#devskin7273709 .gr2 { display:none; } body div#devskin7273709 .gr3 { display:none; } body div#devskin7273709 .tri { display:none; } body div#devskin7273709 .gr-top { border:0; z-index:10; height:120px; background:transparent; } body div#devskin7273709 .gr-top img { display:none; } body div#devskin7273709 .gr-top h2 { color:#859a82; font-family:'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size:18px; text-shadow:#AAA 0px 3px 5px; position:absolute; top:97px; left:6px; } body div#devskin7273709 h2 a:hover { background:none; border:none; } body div#devskin7273709 .gr-top span { color:#888; text-shadow:#FFF 1px 1px 0px; font-size:11px; position:absolute; top:128px; left:6px; margin-left:10px; letter-spacing:0.1em; } body div#devskin7273709 .gr-body { border:1px solid #AAA; background-image:url('https://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/o/2010/237/6/8/176807312_146040_bg-entry.jpg'); background-repeat:repeat-x; background-color:#CFDBDB; border-radius:10px; -moz-border-radius:10px; -webkit-border-radius:10px; border-radius:10px; -moz-border-radius:10px; -webkit-border-radius:10px; border-radius:10px; -moz-border-radius:10px; -webkit-border-radius:10px; box-shadow:0px 0px 10px #CCC; -moz-box-shadow:0px 0px 10px #CCC; -webkit-box-shadow:0px 0px 10px #CCC; } body div#devskin7273709 .list { display:none; } body div#devskin7273709 .text { color:#3c3c3c; margin-top:20px; padding:40px 30px; font-family:Verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px; line-height:16px; max-width:700px; } body div#devskin7273709 a { color:#5c8484; text-decoration:none; font-family:Verdana, sans-serif; } body div#devskin7273709 .bottom { margin-bottom:30px; padding:0 25px; } body div#devskin7273709 .commentslink { font-size:10px; padding:3px; color:#333; text-shadow:#FFF 1px 1px 0px; float:left; } body div#devskin7273709 blockquote, body div#devskin7273709 .example { background-color:#dde6e6; padding:10px 5px 5px 10px; border-left:5px solid #93a3a0; position:relative; } body div#devskin7273709 ul { margin:5px 5px 5px -10px; } body div#devskin7273709 ol { margin:5px; } body div#devskin7273709 h1 { color:#4c98b9; text-shadow:2px 2px 4px #fff; font-family:'Maven Pro', sans-serif; margin:20px 0 -10px 0; font-weight:bold; letter-spacing:0.03em; } body div#devskin7273709 .text h2 { color:#4c98b9; text-shadow:2px 2px 4px #fff; font-family:'Maven Pro', sans-serif; margin:20px 0 -10px 0px; font-size:18px; font-weight:bold; letter-spacing:0.03em; } body div#devskin7273709 img { border:1px solid #93a3a0; } body div#devskin7273709 b { background:#78bedd; color:#fff; padding:2px; } body div#devskin7273709 .float { position:absolute; top:20px; left:175px; margin:0 20px 0 0; } body div#devskin7273709 img { border:none!impotant; }

I do get notes and comments of people asking for help quite a lot. While most people do just fine there are some people that forget that they are asking for a favour and aren’t in the position to demand anything.
Others are just so vague that you never really know what they really want you to do. And because of that I decided to write down some tips – based on my own experience – to help those who are not sure how to ask for help right. It will make things easier for both sides.

The following things are not universal, they reflect mostly my point of view and how I would like to deal with such request and the process of it. It will not apply for all CSS coders, but it should still give you an idea of what to do and what you should avoid.



Before you ask for help
Make sure that you have tried everything that is within your possibilities. The best way of learning is to spot mistakes on your own.
Sometimes it is easier to quickly ask someone else, but if you are able to figure things out on your own, you will remember them the next time and won’t do it again.

If – no matter what you have tried – the problem remains you should have an exact idea of what you want and what is not like it should be.
In best case you have a screenshot of the bug, as well as a layout or mock-up of how it should be like.



How to get into contact
Once you have chosen a person or group to contact, you can either leave a comment or a note.
Personally I prefer notes because comments can get lost easily and I wouldn’t like my profile page looking like a big help board with walls of text.

If you decide to leave a comment you shouldn’t write down the whole problem right away. Ask the person/group if they would be willing to help you with a problem. If they get back to you and want to help you can go on explaining the problem (either via note or comments).

In case you write a note you should find a matching subject for your note first. That way the recipient knows right away what the note is about.
Opposite to comments you could explain your problem in detail right away. Explain what the problem is or with what you are struggling and state what kind of help you are looking for.
The person you are asking for help has no idea what you are trying to do, nor how the finished result should look like if you don’t tell or show them. Fixing problems will be nearly impossible then, especially if they can only guess what should be done.


If a person doesn’t have the time or any other reason to help you, you should accept the fact.
No discussion. You will find someone else to help you most likely.


Bug fixing
While you both try to work on the problem, you as the person asking for help, should always stay patient. Not everyone is sitting all the time in front of the computer and often it takes a while until the helper can really focus on the problem.

Additionally you shouldn’t expect that the helper will code the whole thing for you, they might just give you a general advice or point you in the right direction.
It could happen – especially if you are a beginner – that this information will just confuse you, as you don’t have much understanding yet. In that case ask politely if they could give you an example or help directly with the code.


Sometimes it can happen that a problem can’t be fixed. The reasons might be different, but if it happens you should just accept the fact.
Any person who is trying to help often has to experience the bug themselves to understand what is going wrong. Even with the same code and general settings in can happen, that they won’t get the bug and everything will be fine for them. In that case there is nothing that can be done anymore.
The only thing you can do is to ask someone else, as they might be able to reproduce the bug.



tl;dr

  • don’t expect anyone to (re-)code the whole thing for you
  • provide as much information as needed
  • don’t just leave a link and say you need help
  • be patient and don’t demand anything
  • be nice enough to say thanks for the help you got




Helpful Resources:
How to: Scroll BoxesTransferred from :devecssercise:.

This is the first part of a tutorial series that I will be working on in the future and will be released whenever I find the time for it.
In order to know how I can make them better and to make it easier for you to understand the things I am talking about it would be appreciated if you would leave some feedback!

---

For this tutorial series I am explaining different elements you can create or modify with the help of CSS. The level of experience that is needed to be able to understand the tutorials can differ and will be in no order.  I will try to explain the things as simple as possible though.

The Basic

More tutorials: ginkgografix.deviantart.com/ga…


Or check eCSSited to get help from fellow CSS coders or to find other useful resources in the gallery.

Related content
Comments: 29

devine55rage [2018-12-20 20:26:24 +0000 UTC]

Aha! Something I know! Css! One of three programming languages I majored in!

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Kjherstin [2013-06-08 12:13:38 +0000 UTC]

But being annoying is so much fun!

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GinkgoWerkstatt In reply to Kjherstin [2013-06-08 14:34:34 +0000 UTC]

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WDWParksGal [2012-10-05 16:16:16 +0000 UTC]

Added to the article collection at #DevNews

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GinkgoWerkstatt In reply to WDWParksGal [2012-10-05 16:53:22 +0000 UTC]

And thanks again!

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WDWParksGal-Stock [2012-09-29 16:31:38 +0000 UTC]

Sigh. You must have been really annoyed when I asked you three times how to load a CSS for a group ~ I kept forgetting.... but then I wised up and wrote it down!!!

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GinkgoWerkstatt In reply to WDWParksGal-Stock [2012-09-29 16:58:20 +0000 UTC]

Haha no, don't be silly! You haven't been among those people that annoyed me. Don't worry

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WDWParksGal-Stock In reply to GinkgoWerkstatt [2012-09-29 18:07:27 +0000 UTC]

I hoped not! I truly depend on you for my CSS questions ~ and, of course, for CSS journals!

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GinkgoWerkstatt In reply to WDWParksGal-Stock [2012-09-30 06:54:38 +0000 UTC]

You can ask me for help anytime

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WDWParksGal-Stock In reply to GinkgoWerkstatt [2012-10-01 19:20:48 +0000 UTC]

thank you

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neurotype-on-discord [2012-09-25 03:01:19 +0000 UTC]

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GinkgoWerkstatt In reply to neurotype-on-discord [2012-09-25 07:03:31 +0000 UTC]

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neurotype-on-discord In reply to GinkgoWerkstatt [2012-09-25 07:28:17 +0000 UTC]

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gillianivyart [2012-09-24 21:31:11 +0000 UTC]

Excellent idea for an article. I get asked for help often and sometimes people are not clear as to what they want help on. I haven't really had anyone be demanding or rude... Guess I am fortunate. My bf had someone who was rather demanding for the CSS request for a different site. Even so much as asking for a logo for their guild site, then the guy changed the guild name and declined the work, very annoying.

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GinkgoWerkstatt In reply to gillianivyart [2012-09-25 08:57:45 +0000 UTC]

Thanks. I just got too many of such notes and comments that really annoyed me and i thought this might be helpful for some.
Luckily the rude/demanding ones don't happen often, but it makes you angry how people interact with you when you see that.

Indeed. Hate it when it happens, especially when you have spent a lot of time for such things before already.

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gillianivyart In reply to GinkgoWerkstatt [2012-09-25 16:25:56 +0000 UTC]

I told him to not do the logo without accepting payment first. Since a logo can't really work for anyone else. Unless they also name themselves "Team Lethal Ganks". Well, it is better that they changed their name. And it was damned hard to get the circle they wanted with those letters. We came up with a cool symbol plus the words in a circle around it. Really, the amount of work that is spent on something like that is totally unappreciated by those who don't do art and graphic design.

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GinkgoWerkstatt In reply to gillianivyart [2012-09-27 07:47:46 +0000 UTC]

Yeah logos - especially with names -are too special and there is not much you can do with unused ones. You can only keep it for inspiration or try to adjust it enough to get something new for later.

Totally right. Especially time is a factor that people rarely see. To come up with something good and decent isn't done within an hour. But i guess people will never understand that.

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gillianivyart In reply to GinkgoWerkstatt [2012-09-27 14:32:52 +0000 UTC]

Or maybe keep in a portfolio as an example And let people know they can totally steal the style of it for their own logo!

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Synfull [2012-09-24 18:03:00 +0000 UTC]

Useful article Because I have the CSS cursor tutorial I often get people asking how to fix other CSS problems (of which I have no CSS knowledge) and this will be a useful article to link people to to know who to talk to, and also importantly how to politely ask for help

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GinkgoWerkstatt In reply to Synfull [2012-09-25 08:56:04 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, i guess that problem do have a lot of people. Submit something specific once and people will assume you can help them with everything.

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Gasara [2012-09-24 17:34:17 +0000 UTC]

This is absolutely wonderful. The advice you've given here should help problem-solving run a lot smoother - for both parties.

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GinkgoWerkstatt In reply to Gasara [2012-09-25 08:53:54 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

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SingingFlames [2012-09-24 15:17:10 +0000 UTC]

Great thoughts. People should always be polite and understanding when asking for help. Afterall, the other person is doing them a favor.

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GinkgoWerkstatt In reply to SingingFlames [2012-09-25 08:54:26 +0000 UTC]

Exactly my thoughts. It just said that some people don't know how to "behave" sometimes.

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SingingFlames In reply to GinkgoWerkstatt [2012-09-25 14:38:38 +0000 UTC]

Agreed. Especially online, where everyone is an anonymous face behind a keyboard. It's easier to be nice to people when you're face to face (although some people still are rude then too ).

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GinkgoWerkstatt In reply to SingingFlames [2012-09-26 15:31:10 +0000 UTC]

Haha yeah, some people can never be nice - no matter if online or in real life.

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namenotrequired [2012-09-24 14:45:34 +0000 UTC]

Great article, thanks I've added it to my CSS and Skinning Resources journal

Thought this could be added as a deviation ._.
You probably can't add it as a deviation because it contains images (like the bullets, which are emotes, and thumbs), which is not possible for literature deviations.
I'd recommend not putting that in the description though, cause that's what people see as the description in the message center too

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GinkgoWerkstatt In reply to namenotrequired [2012-09-24 15:21:53 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

Hm,weird thing and a bit confusing if you ask me :/
It shows up? Urg, will remove it. Thanks for letting me know.

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namenotrequired In reply to GinkgoWerkstatt [2012-09-24 16:55:38 +0000 UTC]

No problem

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