Mythbusters: I'm too new to contribute to Community

[Erica Moss]

Editor’s note: The Welcome Center is a great place to learn how best to navigate the Atlassian Community.

“My question is SO basic. I don’t feel comfortable asking it here.”

“I don’t have nearly enough Atlassian experience under my belt to meaningfully contribute and answer other people’s questions.”

Often, folks who are discovering the Atlassian Community for the first time have two simultaneous reactions: 1) Wow, there’s a lot of great information here; and 2) Now that I’ve been helped by other members, I want to give back, but I feel intimidated.

The TL;DR is you should not feel nervous about being a novice when navigating the Atlassian Community.

It is a space filled with students, beginners, advanced experts and everyone in between. In fact, if you have questions, it's likely others have had or will have similar ones, so by surfacing it in the Community, more people can benefit.

A couple of tips:

It’s easy to do a quick check on whether or not your question has already been posed: Use the search bar in the top right and type in a few keywords related to your question (example: bamboo environment rest api) — you can also do this via a quick Google search.

Don’t see what you’re looking for? Go ahead and post your question in the relevant product or interest collection, following our best practices guide, which suggests including a descriptive title and offering specifics in the body of your post, such as what deployment you’re using and any steps you’ve already taken to resolve your issue.

Secondly, if you’re hesitant to offer up a potential solution to a fellow member’s question, just remember: Atlassian tools are nuanced, and there are often several creative ways to tackle a challenge. Your response does not have to be absolute — you can say things like, “When I was in a similar situation, this is how I approached it...” and it just might spark ideas for others. The more you answer, the more confident you become, and we’ve even got a badge for that.

All members add value to the Atlassian Community, so we encourage you to dive in and see what you can discover — you may surprise yourself.

[Jack Brickey]

could not agree more Erica! I recall that early shyness of not wanting to stick my neck out. Heck I still have that feeling when answering some questions. But the difference now is that I know how understanding and supportive others in the Community are so by all means jump in and join the fun!

[Erica Moss]

@Jack Brickey You lead by example every single day, Jack! 🤗

[Liam Green]

@Jack Brickey I feel exactly the same - I'm certain at one point I'm going to post an answer and get a pop up telling me I'm wrong and all access to the community has been revoked!

The whole community is so friendly and helpful though - it's great to be a part of it!

[abhishek.karn]

Nice ice-breaker🙌

[Rajesh Viswanathan]

Yes my client from leading bank in USA , use to say we need to Lead by Example in our day to day work , to be a role model to others in fast world .. 

[Jimmy Seddon]

This was exactly how I felt and I didn't do very much for about two years.  It wasn't until I saw this warm welcoming approach first hand at the 2019 Summit that I really realized how awesome the Altassian Community really is.  I took the proverbial "leap of faith" and I have no regrets! 

Everything I have been involved in over the past 6 months has not only helped grow my career but I feel more knowledgeable about the Atlassian products, I've made a tons of connections and friends that I wouldn't have been able to find without the Community!

[Erica Moss]

@Jimmy Seddon And we're so glad you did, Jimmy!

[slaisam]

👍🏼

[Evangeline Black]

This post gives me a hope. I'm struggling to put it together and take the proverbial leap of faith @Erica Moss as Jimmy said. 

[Fadoua]

I still feel like a novice when I am on the community site. I learn from users questions, I learn from experts(Community Leaders + Atlassian Engineers). It is a non-stop learning process. Some days I feel happy looking at how much information is available on the site, some other days I feel overwhelmed and even puzzled, yes because the more you dig into the Atlassian World the more you feel like there is still a lot to discover.

[Erica Moss]

@Fadoua I, too, learn something new every day. Thanks for being such a strong Leader for us, Fadoua!

[LarryBrock]

"Every day I re-learn something new."  :-)

[Antoine Berry]

That gif though. :)

You are absolutely right, I love stumbling upon topics with multiple answers and each of them being right in their own way !

[Erica Moss]

@Antoine Berry That gif is definitely in my top 10 of all time. 😄 Thanks for helping to lead the way, Antoine!

[LarryBrock]

A few thoughts that crossed my mind on this topic:

Never be afraid to share what you know, even if it's not exactly right, way you present it may be the difference between someone understanding it or not.

Never be afraid to be wrong, that's usually how we learn things.  Be humble when you are and thankful to those who provide polite useful guidance.

Na-nu, na-nu ... live long and prosper!  :-)

[Erica Moss]

@LarryBrock Always be learning. 😎

[Sakina]

Learning..........never ends

[Ravi Sagar _Sparxsys_]

Asked few people to start contributing recently, will forward this link to them. We learn a lot by replying to other questions. There are many things that one can do with Atlassian tools, Jira, Confluence and other tools have so many features and people want to use them to solve different kind of problems. In an attempt to provide help we also learn a lot. Apart from the documentation this community is my number 1 source to seek information.

Ravi

[Erica Moss]

@Ravi Sagar _Sparxsys_ I love hearing that. 😄

[Sakina]

I learned a lot of new things by reading different questions and the recommended solutions

[Michael Wohlgemuth _Wolge_]

Let me add something as a standard run-o-da-mil atlassian admin who has to learn oh so much still:
When checking out the questions in the community, and then trying to answer them, possibly going around googling and testing possibilities, you yourself learn a lot of new things.

Thats what i did. And one day, i, too, will be an atlassian expert. Might take a while, but small steps forward > standing still.

regards

[edit]

'tis an excellent gif indeed :D

[Erica Moss]

@Michael Wohlgemuth _Wolge_ Such a great point — thank you for sharing!

[Brittany Joiner]

100% agree with all of this!! I actually love when people ask “basic” questions because I remember when that was me and how helpful it was to type out my question and just get a clear answer back! Plus I love having a combo of mind bending questions plus some easy ones to help with and add value. 

And I’ve had to work through a bit of imposter syndrome sometimes here too. I see some of these questions, and despite the fact I have the reputation as a trello expert, there’s a lot I don’t know! But I’ve found that even if I don’t have answer to something, sometimes providing info about another way to approach it, or even just letting someone know they can reach out to support team with bugs can still be super valuable. 

[Erica Moss]

@Brittany Joiner You teach me new things, always. 😎

[carrie_eandm]

@Brittany Joiner Imposter Syndrome - that's me too! I feel like I know so much but then get stuck answering a simple question myself. I guess we could consider ourselves experts on our own board setups.

Yay!

[Brittany Joiner]

This is true!

[DPKJ]

Nice post, I simply believe as humans if we don't seek and propagate knowledge there is no meaning of calling our self superior species.

What is best way to seek and propagate knowledge? The answer is COMMUNITY.

So, if know something, share, and if don't know something, ask. This way we will make everyone's life happier.

[Sunny]

I've made myself believe in the fact that I learn best by teaching. 😃

[Brett Coster]

As a testament to the quality of this community, whenever I have needed a solution to a problem over the last 2 years, googling has led me to this community, and the correct answer, 9/10 times.

Whilst I didn't post and ask questions myself, this community has supported me in my development for the past 2 years. I am rectifying that problem now, by choosing to be a more active member of the forums.

Thanks

[Erica Moss]

@Brett Coster Thanks so much for the kind words — and we're looking forward to seeing even more of you!

[Jaqueline Hinz]

Thank you for the post! I am ready to dive in, learn and be surprised!

[Erica Moss]

@Jaqueline Hinz That's awesome. 😎

[Sri Kumar]

Hey @Erica Moss ,

Thanks for this write up. I am new here and I am interested to contribute but little bit intimidated. I am sure that I will start things of one at a time .😁👍

Hope you will be seeing me active in community in few weeks down the line. 

-Sri

[Erica Moss]

@Sri Kumar We're so glad you're here! Let us know if you have any questions.

[Sri Kumar]

Sure 👍

[Veera]

Thanks for the amazing post, @Erica Moss 

[Erica Moss]

@Veera Glad it was helpful!

[Mo Beigi]

Great post! I highly approve of the Sun Conure GIF :)

[Dave Liao]

You're never too new (or too old) to contribute to the community! 🙏

[Liam Green]

@Erica Moss - love this!

It's really important for everyone to know that they can contribute and that everyone in the community is so friendly and receptive.

[Veronique DUFOUR]

You just need to ask questions as it may help others and if you think you know the answer don't be shy and try to answer, if it's not the correct answer at least you tried and the person asking the question knows that help may come :)

[mina]

thank

[ncdc hải phòng]

Thanks for the great article 

[Prashant Sangappa Shivashimpi]

Hello @Erica Moss ,

Greetings. This really a great forum to be in and I am very excited to be part of this awesome team.. I started contributing and it's really very nice feeling..

BR,

Prashant.

[elizabeth_jones]

This is wonderful and I am so grateful for this community. I love that I can share my knowledge and learn so much from others who have already experienced a challenge I am just meeting. Thank you for this great reminder. 

[Lisa Mounteer]

Wow - I've been lurking for years and haven't really felt I had much to say. This post (I finally found it) is very encouraging and you will find me out and about in the Community more!

[Davin Studer]

It's a bit intimidating answering questions at first ... not wanting to be wrong. But I would say even asking a question is contributing as other might also have that question.

[John Funk]

Answers are almost always helpful! And a good way to learn. That's what brought me to the Community in the first place. 

[Alexis Robert]

That's some good tips, especially the bit about looking for similar issues in the community : I've found that very often an issue has already been asked AND answered, so it's always a good idea to redirect people to these, or reference them in your answer.