Guidance for Socialites

Socialites are Habitica contributors who help answer questions in the Tavern and the Newbies Guild. The following article offers tips and tricks for Socialites to help answer questions.

Mission
Our goal is to answer questions fully and concisely for new and old players alike.

How to Start
Start small by giving answers to questions you're sure about. If you're not certain about how to help someone, you can read the wiki carefully and give a summary of what you find. It's often helpful to also post links to relevant wiki pages so that the player can learn extra details if they'd like to. However, avoid giving abrupt "RTFM" ("Read the Freaking Manual") responses; be aware that new players might not know about the wiki, or might feel overwhelmed by all the information in it, so be sensitive to their needs for gentle assistance.

Join the Aspiring Socialites guild. This is a place for Socialites to share resources, clarify answers to complicated questions, ask questions directly related to being a Socialite, and spread cheer. However, when you have questions of your own about how to use Habitica, please do not ask them in the Aspiring Socialites guild because that is not its purpose - ask them as any other player would in the Tavern or Newbies guild so that the questions and answers can help other players.

Tips and Tricks

 * When players ask about features that don't exist, say something like "We don't have that feature, but the good news is that you can request it through Help > Request a Feature for the website or About > Request a Feature on the mobile apps." Avoid saying "Unfortunately, we don't have that feature." Using "unfortunately" makes it seem like there's a problem with Habitica for not having that feature and that there is an expectation that it needs to be fixed by the developers.


 * When advising players to report bugs, if it's a website problem say something like "Please report that through Help > Report a Bug." It's best to not give them the direct link to the Report a Bug guild or the bug report page on GitHub because they won't remember the link if they need it again in future but they are likely to remember the menu location. If the bug occurs on a mobile app, direct them to About > Report a Bug in the app's menu.
 * When someone has posted anything inappropriate, do not moderate (that is for the Staff and Moderators to do). Instead mark the post as inappropriate by using the flag option. If you wish you can state "I'm not a moderator, but just so you know, it looks like your post [or username] might violate the Community Guideline's language policy. https://habitica.com/static/community-guidelines" Don't phrase a comment as a direct command; for example, don't say "Please don't swear. You should remove your message."
 * Use Markdown to format links. This looks neater, and avoids an issue where underscores in links incorrectly show up as italics on the Android App.
 * If a player reports that the About > Report a Bug/Request a Feature buttons in the iOS app do not work, please ask them to check that their email address is configured with Apple's email client. This is required by the standard iOS in-app feedback mechanism.
 * Use the Chrome Chat Extension to monitor both the Tavern and Newbies Guild at the same time. (Click the name in the extension for a fast reply)
 * Keep common responses to questions in a format that you can easily copy and paste from. This makes responses quick and pre-formatted with links for easy reading.
 * If you see someone posting in the Tavern or any guilds about tools they have built to integrate with Habitica, suggest to them that they copy their post to the Aspiring Comrades guild - it's a guild for developers who have built 3rd party tools using the Habitica API. Note that this is not instead of posting to the Tavern or other guilds - they're allowed to do that too (as long as they don't spam multiple irrelevant guilds, of course).
 * If players ask for help through PM, and the question isn't about a private matter, it is advised that you reply and explain PMs aren't for support and that you will answer their question in The Newbies Guild or another chat. Some suggest wording: "PMs are not for support, but if you post your question in The Newbies Guild, I will answer it there." Or: "In case others are wondering about your question, I've answered it in [name of guild], so that everyone can benefit from the information!

Children in Habitica
As described in Children Using Habitica, Habitica staff have a legal obligation to block any account for a child under 13 as soon as they become aware of the account, unless they have written permission from the child's parent or guardian.

When a Socialite sees an adult player posting about their child using Habitica, they can advise the adult player about the legal restriction related to children younger than 13. Lemoness has suggested that these words be used:


 * Hi &lt;NAME&gt;! Just as a heads up, due to restrictions imposed by the Child Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), Habitica cannot allow kids under the age of 13 to use this website without their parent or legal guardian's permission. You will need to email Lemoness, our Community Manager, at admin@habitica.com with your child's display name and User ID (from Settings > API), and include a statement that A) you are their parent or legal guardian, and B) you give your full permission for them to use Habitica. If you have any questions or concerns about Habitica, you can include those in the email as well!

When a Socialite sees a player state that they are under 13, the Socialite should immediately flag the child's message and not interact with the child further in any way. This includes not posting the above message to the child. Technically, as soon as we know they are a minor, we aren't allowed to communicate with them via Habitica until the parent or guardian gives permission.

If a Socialite merely suspects that a player is underage, they should take no action related to that. They should not inquire directly or indirectly about the child's age, or explain to them that they need to be over 13 (this is to protect their privacy and to prevent them feeling that they should claim to be older than they are). Socialites should assume that the child is 13 or older unless there is proof otherwise. However if they are violating the Community Guidelines with spamming or any other undesirable behavior, it is still appropriate to flag their messages, as you would for any player.

Contacting Staff and Moderators Urgently
Usually when you see a problematic post, all you need to do is flag it, which alerts the moderators and allows them to deal with it. Occasionally there might be a problem that you feel needs urgent attention, in which case you can email with "Urgent" or "Important" in the subject line. If you don't receive a response in an hour or two, then you can post in the Aspiring Socialites guild to attract the attention of moderators who might be able to get in touch with Lemoness more quickly, or see that she is unavailable and handle it themselves. If it's a true emergency, you might not want to wait that long and might consider posting in the guild immediately.

If you do feel it is essential to reach out in the Aspiring Socialites guild, please be aware of the sensitivity of the messages in question. Remember that the guild can be read by any Habitican, not just Socialites. It might be necessary to give a vague description of the problem and then wait for a moderator to ask you to send specific details by some other method.

Useful Links

 * Memorable Bugs
 * Newbies Guild - A good place to answer questions!
 * Report a Bug Guild - Direct players here when they ask about bugs.
 * Aspiring Socialites Guild - Join this to learn new information for Socialites as it becomes available.
 * FAQ
 * Party Wanted Guild - Direct party-hunters here.
 * Wiki main page - Contains tips for getting started; good to reference for new players.
 * Features Across Clients - Comparisons between the website and the official mobile apps.

Outdated Advice
Some old bug/feature work-arounds are no longer necessary or effective. For example:
 * When players had trouble sorting their To-Dos, the old fix was to tell them to delete completed To-Dos, however that now has no effect on any sorting problems that might occur. If a player cannot sort their To-Dos, they should report it in the Report a Bug Guild.

Contributor Tier Process
If a player has been posting helpful, relevant, accurate advice for some time, they may be awarded with a Tier 1 Socialite Contributor Reward. If they continue to provide consistently positive and helpful assistance over time, they may be granted further Tiers.

There is no nomination process for Socialite Tiers. The staff, moderators, and high-level contributors choose who will be awarded based on what they observe.

Socialite Tiers are usually only awarded for assistance provided in the Tavern and the Newbies Guild because it is harder for the staff and moderators to notice ongoing assistance in other areas. However, under special circumstances, a Socialite Tier might be awarded for other assistance at the discretion of the staff.

Guide des Socialites