Thread: Modification to Tralfamadorian in #tihelp

Hi all,



So at the moment, for those of you don't know, we have a feature set up with Tralfamadorian in #tihelp, where helpers can !checkin and !checkout of a list of users available to help members.

When a member joins the help channel, Tralfamadorian then announces to the joining member those users available to help. A good system as it keeps the member needing help apprised of the current situation in the channel, and lets them know whose around to help.

The only slight issue I have with it, is that a member can sometimes wait for a long time in the channel, because the checked-in members are not aware that a user has joined the channel.

I would suggest an additional feature designed to apprise the checked-in members that a user is awaiting help.

Upon entering the channel, a user needing help could type a command, such as !help or !staff (if the channel is +m, the user could do this via PM to Tralfamadorian).

Upon receiving the command, Tralfamadorian would then check that the member is actually in the #tihelp channel. If yes, Tralfamadorian would then send an announce to the checked-in members (and only them) advising that someone in the help channel requires attention.

This would have the benefit of stopping members waiting for a long time to get help, keeping the help channel workers apprised of the current situation.

Helpers or staff who do not wish to receive such announces, could simply !checkout of the system. There may also need to some restrictions put in place, such as individual members only being able to use the command once per hour, or something similar, to stop any potential spamming of the bot and help staff.

If this suggestion is approved, well I have to say sorry to the person who will have to modify the bot. If memory serves, thats you Synth - sorry mate :001_smile:

Cheers for your time, all.

Jameo

This is a very nice idea. Synth would have to code it, but I'm sure he could handle that. Very nice though.

This is a great idea. I will forward it to Synth. Can't promise how long it will take.

In the meantime, you can always turn your highlights on in MIRC so that the computer pings when someone types your name.

I've been voluntold.

Well I started a little bit of it this evening, and I'm in the debugging stage. Everything appears to be working. Essentially they are sent a notice on the channel telling them to check their PM. In the PM it lists the people available and asks if they need anyone specific "yes" or "no" If yes, then the bot asks who and notifies that person that user123456 is looking for them. The bot will tell the user to hold.

If "no" Then it asks what they need help with, a kinda FAQ guide. Simple things like Intros or Account problems are on the list. Since I have all the helping members saved and what they can and cannot do on the forums it will compare the users online, their responsibilities, and the needs of the user. The bot then starts at the lowest possible user that could help them on that available list.

Example) A user needs help with general questions. Any user in #TIHelp should know the rules by now so the bot will try them first. If they do not respond in a minute to the PM, the situation is escalated to the next in line, The Intro/Review mods. If none of them reply, then it's forwarded to regular mods, after that to super mods, and finally admins if no one down the tree responds. The user will be notified of the situation as time progresses. It's like a complex ticket system.

But if a user needs help with their account, ie. locked out. A super mod is needed at least. The bot will then proceed to ask me for example. "user123456 needs help with their account."

You can choose to ignore this or reply to the PM, meaning, you have taken up the ticket/user. The bot will stop it's search there and point the user to the #TIHelp channel again and specify the user designated to help them.

Those were my thoughts, and it's already programmed =P
I don't know if this is what you meant?

Voluntold - lmfao

That is the best word ever.

Hearts to Synth!