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    What if you could get answers faster and get answers that are more complete the first time you asked them. Here is a suggestion on how you can ask questions that generate that kind of response. Every time you ask a question in the Forum provide these four things:

    ·         Business Goal: What do you want to accomplish?

    ·         Repro Steps: How did you get to where you are now when you ran into a problem?

    ·         Expected Results: What did expect to happen in this case?

    ·         Actual Results: What happened? Was there an error message or can you provide a log for us to parse?

    ·         Environment: Tell us about your environment (OS, SQL Version, are CRM & SQL on the same box, is the e-mail router installed, Update Rollup, is this a production system, etc.)

    Try this and see if it helps to get better answers quicker.

    CRM Community Guru and Saxophonist
    Tuesday, October 26, 2010 6:05 PM

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    I think the first point to make is that this forum is not intended as a place for posting bugs, and I personally don't think it should be. Microsoft Support is the main place for handling support and bugs. I recognise that Dynamics CRM Solution Center in MS Support lists the forums as one of the self-service options, but that doesn't imply that this is where bugs should be posted. My view is that Microsoft Connect should be the main place to raise bugs, but MS don't help themselves in the case of CRM by only opening CRM as a product that accepts product suggestions, rather than bugs, so you have to raise a bug as a suggestion to fix a bug. Microsoft Connect does have reasonable structuring of input.

    Re the other points made above:

    1. I agree that the search is poor. However, as a forum for posting unstructured information (see next point), I'm not convinced how much better it can get, as it's essentially just a text search
    2. This forum is for posting general questions, so I don't think it is possible to structure the data entry with prompts. An inclusion of the product version would help, but this forum runs on a general platform that's used for many Microsoft products, so it would be hard to include this. This does not necessarily excuse the lack of a place to enter the product version, but I think in general this is not a major issue. Around the time when a new version is released, then it is important to know the version as you cannot assume it, but outside of this period you can work on the assumption that posts relate to the current version. I acknowledge there is a consideration about viewing old posts, as some knowledge of version history could help

    Although it is useful to make a comparison with Salesforce.com, a significant difference is the number of products they sell. Microsoft use common tools to manage support and forums (with a few exceptions), so there are necessarily some compromises that have to be made

    Microsoft CRM MVP - http://mscrmuk.blogspot.com/ http://www.excitation.co.uk
    • Marked as answer by Jim Glass Jr Sunday, July 24, 2011 5:36 PM
    Wednesday, March 2, 2011 9:24 AM
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    I also think the forums are not always for resolving bugs but also it gets the advice from experienced users on the best way to do things or a solution to a problem that isn't a technical bug/problem
    • Marked as answer by Jim Glass Jr Sunday, July 24, 2011 5:37 PM
    Saturday, June 18, 2011 2:38 AM

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    thank you so much for such a great guidance.

    hope all guys will follow it.

    yes.sudhanshu

    http://bproud2banindian.blogspot.com
    http://ms-crm-2011-beta.blogspot.com
    Thursday, October 28, 2010 2:12 AM
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    Certainly makes sense. Is it possible that the web form for posting could have these boxes to act as an aide memoire?

    Monday, November 22, 2010 11:54 AM
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    Not yet. We're workin' on it.  :O)
    CRM Community Guru and Saxophonist
    Sunday, December 19, 2010 1:26 AM
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    I agree with sjb500.  Having a simple web form to guide the poster in submitting a forum thread would appear to be a win-win.

    Todd

    Tuesday, December 28, 2010 5:55 PM
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    Back when CRM 4 rolled out, there was a quite a bit of crossover for a while between it and the previous version (CRM 3).  Now, just as then, we encourage posters to indicate which version applies to the context of a thread.  The clearest and easiest way to accomplish this is to simply prefix your posts with either "CRM 4:" or "CRM 2011:".

    As always, it's important to know the deployment type (On-Premise or Online), but the differences in the forums usually help provide a natural indication for that.  However, this forum often receives a great deal of both, so while CRM 2011 On-Premise hasn't rolled out just yet, please make an effort to indicate the deployment type for clarification and good practice going forward.

    Dave Berry - MVP Dynamics CRM - http:\\crmentropy.blogspot.com Please follow the forum guidelines when inquiring of the dedicated CRM community for assistance.
    • Changed type DavidBerryMVP, Moderator Wednesday, February 9, 2011 5:49 PM meant to be a discussion, not a question
    • Merged by Donna EdwardsMVP Tuesday, February 22, 2011 8:53 PM Great Fit for Help Us Help You
    • Proposed as answer by vasu karempudiBanned Wednesday, February 27, 2013 8:23 AM
    • Unproposed as answer by Donna EdwardsMVP Wednesday, February 27, 2013 1:12 PM
    • Proposed as answer by vasubabuk Thursday, March 21, 2013 5:52 AM
    Wednesday, February 9, 2011 7:24 AM
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    After spending hours over the last few weeks trying to find information on this forum and posting bugs encountered in CRM 2011 (RTM onsite) I have to say that the solution this forum runs on is totally inadequate for the following reasons:

    1. The search is next to useless.
    2. The form as others mention should prompt the user to list the version, environment etc. There are so many versions out there it is essential the reader understands which posts relate to which versions.
    3. This forum should be used as a bug reporting tool directly to Microsoft. What is the point posting bugs only to be told to report them to Microsoft Support.

    All of the above works for Salesforce.com. If Microsoft are serious about competing against them they need to raise their game in providing fit for purpose tools for the community who are interested in their products.

     

    Tuesday, March 1, 2011 9:28 PM
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    I think the first point to make is that this forum is not intended as a place for posting bugs, and I personally don't think it should be. Microsoft Support is the main place for handling support and bugs. I recognise that Dynamics CRM Solution Center in MS Support lists the forums as one of the self-service options, but that doesn't imply that this is where bugs should be posted. My view is that Microsoft Connect should be the main place to raise bugs, but MS don't help themselves in the case of CRM by only opening CRM as a product that accepts product suggestions, rather than bugs, so you have to raise a bug as a suggestion to fix a bug. Microsoft Connect does have reasonable structuring of input.

    Re the other points made above:

    1. I agree that the search is poor. However, as a forum for posting unstructured information (see next point), I'm not convinced how much better it can get, as it's essentially just a text search
    2. This forum is for posting general questions, so I don't think it is possible to structure the data entry with prompts. An inclusion of the product version would help, but this forum runs on a general platform that's used for many Microsoft products, so it would be hard to include this. This does not necessarily excuse the lack of a place to enter the product version, but I think in general this is not a major issue. Around the time when a new version is released, then it is important to know the version as you cannot assume it, but outside of this period you can work on the assumption that posts relate to the current version. I acknowledge there is a consideration about viewing old posts, as some knowledge of version history could help

    Although it is useful to make a comparison with Salesforce.com, a significant difference is the number of products they sell. Microsoft use common tools to manage support and forums (with a few exceptions), so there are necessarily some compromises that have to be made

    Microsoft CRM MVP - http://mscrmuk.blogspot.com/ http://www.excitation.co.uk
    • Marked as answer by Jim Glass Jr Sunday, July 24, 2011 5:36 PM
    Wednesday, March 2, 2011 9:24 AM
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    I totally agree with David.

    However, sometimes, it is hard to define if the problem is bug related or if this is about misconfiguration, bad custom code, and so on...

    My blog : http://mscrmtools.blogspot.com

    All my tools for Dynamics CRM 4.0 on my dedicated site: MSCRMTools Repository

    Friday, March 4, 2011 12:27 AM
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    I also think the forums are not always for resolving bugs but also it gets the advice from experienced users on the best way to do things or a solution to a problem that isn't a technical bug/problem
    • Marked as answer by Jim Glass Jr Sunday, July 24, 2011 5:37 PM
    Saturday, June 18, 2011 2:38 AM
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    hii Jim,

     

    I think,this advice is good because surely forums are for discussions ,but if we make the topics clear and concise then the discussion would be more fruitful and will come out with desired outcomes.

     

    We just need to segregate,whether  is an query or the it is desired to explore some new feature.

     

    Thursday, August 11, 2011 3:26 AM
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    same concern with David!

    Friday, November 16, 2012 6:52 AM
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    Thank you. This will really help.
    Thursday, January 17, 2013 2:31 PM
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    Very informative. This is a big help to all in the community.
    Friday, February 8, 2013 8:57 AM
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    Wow Thanks 
    Sunday, February 24, 2013 12:42 AM
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    thank you so much for such a great guidance.

    hope all guys will follow it.

    Sunday, February 24, 2013 6:23 PM