When you're helping other MyBB users with their issues, it is important to remember that you only respond if you are comfortable and knowledgeable in the topic the user needs help with. If you don't know how to help, it's better to leave the issue for someone who knows an answer than make a guess.

Beyond that, there are some basic guidelines to keep in mind while providing support to users:

• Be nice. Many users looking for support are new to MyBB. There's never a good reason to be rude or condescending, even if a user doesn't understand the help you're giving.
• Use proper English. It's important to be clear and concise when providing support. Remember that while support provided on the Community Forums is provided in English only, for it's not the first language for many users, and you may need to simplify or rephrase your responses.
• Don't ask for sensitive information or administrative credentials. Seek alternative means to limit safety risks and leave written instructions for other users looking for a solution. Help users watch out for inadvertent data disclosures and report messages with sensitive information to staff.
• Build on existing resources. A link to exhaustive Documentation article is generally better than custom answer, since the Docs can be updated and improved, and thus stay up-to-date. Similarly, you can refer to high quality responses on the Forums and supplement any missing details.
• Create long-lived knowledge base. When possible, use more general examples and explanation to let users who discover the discussion later fix similar problems. Avoid including or referring to external images and resources that may be removed at a later point. Your answers may be more popular, and should remain applicable after months or even years.
• Make your reply easily readable and take advantage of formatting options:
  • `short code` (Discord, Forums) and [code=language]long code[/code] (Forums),
  • [i]Option Value[/i] (Forums) / _Option Value_ (Discord),
  • link selected names and terms to explanations and additional reading: [url=https://...]technical term[/url],
  • [b]Category → Page Location[/b] (Forums) / **Section → Location** (Discord),
  • refer to locations and features by copying their exact names and letter case (e.g. Tools & Maintenance → Task Manager),
  • refer to MyBB's source code, use GitHub and specific version branches and line numbers — for example, you can point anyone to lines 13-16 of file inc/class_session.php in MyBB 1.8.17 like this:
    

    https://github.com/mybb/mybb/blob/mybb_1817/inc/class_session.php#L13-L16

• Give support to help, not for reputation. While getting a positive rating for a post is a nice reward for helping users, you should not expect anything for giving support. Do not get upset if your reputation doesn't get a boost every time you provide support.