Three Things I Wish I'd Known: Jack Brickey
Joining the ranks of all those 3-thingersthat have preceded me with their awesome input, I offer to the Community three things that would help me if I were just getting started in the Community today.
Navigating the Stormy Community Waters 
This isn’t so much what I “wish I knew” as much as what I “wish I had done”. Like many others, I cut my teeth on Atlassian Answers and when we made the switch to the Community things were a bit rocky but ultimately settled out and, IMO, are now much better. Unfortunately, as things were changing I didn’t take the time to read all of the articles that were being created to make our Community experience the best it can be. As a result, my experience was less than ideal learning things the hard way. While this was largely a result of the articles being added after the fact, I still should have spent more quality time consuming articles as they were introduced. For reference here are some great articles in the order I would suggest consuming.
- Community Atlassian Team– It is good to know the Atlassian employees behind the Community. These are all great people and can help you have a more fulfilling Community experience.
- Understanding the Community– This article is a must read whether you are just joining us or if you are a long-timer. It is also a great refresher so add it to your bookmarks.
- Being part of the Community– Here you will find the guidelines that all members should follow to ensure the Community remains a great place to connect, share and learn.
UNDERSTANDING THE PLAYERS
One thing I love about the Community is diversity! There are all sorts of people that participate here and with very few exceptions you won’t find what often plagues many online forums – trolls and abusers 
- I'M NEW HERE– This title helps a Community responder welcome you and structure their response in a manner that doesn’t assume an advanced understanding of the product. This disappears after three posts.
- ATLASSIAN TEAM – If you see this you know the member works for Atlassian. It is nice to see that Atlassians participate in the Community as it adds a level of credibility that is often missing in company sponsored customer forums.
- COMMUNITY CHAMPION– These members are seasoned Community members that have demonstrated the commitment to help others as well as their product knowledge. While their input may not always be right you can place a good bit of confidence in the answer. It is important to note that these individuals do not work for Atlassian.
- Name[partner] COMMUNITY CHAMPION– These individuals work for an Atlassian partner developing apps. They are well versed with many of the Atlassian products are obviously are experts in their company’s app products.
NOT THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN
While the Community is most certainly a tremendous resource for finding answers to your questions and interacting with other users, there are other great resources that you should leverage. This is important when you consider that the Community is largely made up of folks that are volunteering their time to help others. It is always best to spend a bit of time researching your question before posting a new question. Often you will learn more thru research than what a simply answer will provide. With that in mind, here are some resources you should consider:
- Atlassian Documentation– If you aren’t leveraging the online documentation you are truly missing out. There is a ton of great info out there and more-often-than-not will provide you a better understanding to your question. Just click on the product then use the search bar, easy-peasy!
- Marketplace– When you can’t find a way to accomplish something within the product OOTB, take a moment to search the Marketplace. There are some great apps out there from scripting, to automation and improved look & feel. You can really take your instance to the next level.
- App Support– If you are working with an app please be sure to contact the app's support desk directly. Often you will get a quicker answer there.
- Google– always turns up possible answers many of which will take you directly to the Community.
- Books- There are quite a few books you may wish to consider. Just head out to Amazon and search on Jira. Below are three that I surfaced from the comments below. While I don't have personal experience w/ these knowing the individuals (Matt and Rachel personally) and hearing firsthand from others you won't go wrong with any of them.
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