Get Better Help
Reactiflux is a large chatroom that's been around for a few years, and has some etiquette guidelines that have emerged. These aren't hard and fast rules, you won't get banned or kicked for not following them, but keeping them in mind will help you get the most out of our chatroom community.
Remember that every member of Reactiflux is a person
This is a chatroom for professional developers. The admins, moderators, and everyone else in Reactiflux are donating their spare time; nobody's being paid, their suggestions may not be correct, and they may not know the answer. Treat them like somebody you don't know who's standing next to you offering help or suggestions.
The chatroom is async
You may get help within 5 minutes if somebody who knows the answer is looking for something to do, but it's entirely possible that you won't get a response for an hour or more. If you're asking about a less popular tool, or a specific edge case, you may even get an answer several days later. To get the most out of Reactiflux, keep it open in the background for a while after asking a question.
Moderators need your help
If you see something you feel is out-of-line, please use our @moderator ping to alert us. You can send it in #reactiflux-moderation if you don't feel comfortable doing it inline, or can submit anonymously from our report page. There's a buried way to copy a direct link to a specific message, which is very helpful when reporting.
Ask your question
Instead of asking their question, newcomers to the chatroom very commonly ask about asking a question.
"Does anyone know about [X tool or library]?"
The answer is probably "yes," but nobody can help you until you state what your problem is. If someone knows, they'll answer, and if they don't, they won't.
"Is it okay if I ask about [X tool or library] here?"
Instead of asking, scan through the list of channels for any that seem like obvious fits for your question. If you don't see any, don't hesitate to post it in #help-react. If there's a better place for it, one of the moderators or other helpful users will suggest it.
Ping people only when needed
Pings (@-mentions of other users), replies, and threads work well if it's unclear who a response is for, or if there's been some time between messages and you want to ensure they see it.
It's very tempting to try to get more attention to your question by pinging a member of Reactiflux, but please don't. They may not actually be online, they may not be able to help, and they may be in a completely different timezone--nobody likes push notifications at 3am from an impatient stranger.
Ask permission before direct messaging
All of the same problems as @-mentioning apply, and private conversations can't help anyone else. Your questions are likely not unique, and other people can learn from them when they're kept public.
Be helpful
It doesn't matter if you can't answer a question in a brief sentence, or if you get pulled away before you can type out further replies. If a question isn't clear, ask a clarifying question. If you remember something you read that seemed related, send a link. A lot of people who are stuck will be fine if you can't provide the solution, they just need another place to look.
Be polite
The other people in Reactiflux deserve your respect, so be polite. Not "retail employee" polite, but don't fan flamewars, don't feed the trolls, and disengage if you find yourself worked up over a technical dispute.
Be a model channel citizen
Be the change you want to see in the world! If a conversation is getting heated, try to defuse it. If a hard question is unanswered, dig in and work through it with them. If a channel is full of unanswered questions, mention in #reactiflux-moderation that you'd like to take ownership of it.
Do your research
There is a tremendous body of knowledge contained within the internet. Chat servers fill a great gap when you're struggling to find a resource or are unsure of how to proceed, but your first step should be independent research. Come to us when you hit a wall or want a sanity check.
More info
We also have a code of conduct that we hold our members to. We don't ban users lightly, but repeatedly behaving contrary to these guidelines after being warned and corrected could result in you getting banned.
These are some general pointers; they're not comprehensive, and they're not a guarantee that you'll get answers to all your questions. We also have an MVP designation for a small number of contributors. There aren't set conditions you need to meet to be considered for it, the people we privately consider for it have embodied these qualities for significant amount of time. Their presence in the channel makes it a better place for everyone.