How would you help on this community and why?

[OTrieger]

I can see that different people have different approach on how to help on other people posts. And I was wondering if adding a sample WF for the suggested solution is the correct thing to do in order to help the person to find a solution?

I will be interested to know what are your thought about this topic!

Kind regards,
Oren

[Bren_Spill]

Well said! I'll definitely be keeping this in mind when offering solutions in the future.

[OTrieger]

I have main 2 reasons why I would not share WFs:
1. The solution is way beyond the person current knowledge of Alteryx, so he will not manage to get it and will ask more questions about it. He just jumped a too steep a gradient. The person must go back to the last thing that he learned and felt good about and find what he does not fully get. The person thinks that he is confused with that thing that he is asking, however it is not the source for his confusion, as if it was he would solve it by getting the needed knowledge. So obviously he does not know the source for his confusion, and the solution for it, is to go back to the place that he felt that he was doing good and understood everything, and at that place look to what he did not fully understand and get it clear and the minute that he will get that clear he will be able to move forward, so it does not matter if you will share with him a WF, he will not understand it as it is beyond him knowledge, you only going to make him more confused on the topic. While he be happy that you solved his problem, he still will not be able to operate in that area. 

2. Honestly some of the questions are so basic, that I'm wondering if the person really bothered to do any of Alteryx Academy training. I think that there should be here some responsibility to get the guys to the needed knowledge not share freebees, get the person learn it, that is the only way to master Alteryx. Obviously with getting help, but not getting the job done by others.
2. I can see here ACEs and other experienced people, you all worked it out and solved your own problems, but you did it, not someone else did it for you. So this is a personal path, and that path will be different from person to person. There is no short cuts, you need to acquire the knowledge. Giving the final product will not get the person to learn it faster, actually it will slow him down, as you normally find out that the thing that he thinks that he is confused with will not be that thing that he is confused with, otherwise he will not be confused, he would find a solution as he knows what confusing him, and that is the reason even if you will give to the person the final WFs he still do not know how you did it as there is a prior thing that he did not manage to solve it.

I do see posts that honestly asking something that is very challenging, however on the other side I see so many basic questions and know that the person did not bother to get some basic knowledge to get it solved.

 

[apathetichell]

3. Workflows requiring using an API/Database or Code which is really specific to the poster. Poster has to figure it out for themselves.  There seems to be a nebulous where my Alteryx problem starts and ends for some posters.

This is all a bit moot though - the problem on this community really isn't from the answers. Worfklow/solution/description - whatever. The larger problems are 1) The posters who won't try to build something for themselves/learn how to google/realize that the workflow is beyond them. 2) the posters who are consultants - who should not be working with Alteryx. Calling this out specifically - if you are an Alteryx consultant and you can't build a batch macro - get another job. 3)  Alteryx. Some of these things are core product problems/documentation problems which Alteryx should step to the plate and solve.  We are volunteers invested in building a strong ecosystem but at the end of the day - Alteryx is pretty tiny at my company - and it's up to Alteryx corporate - whether PE owned or not -  to invest more in making the product ecosystem healthier.

[cpet13]

I strongly agree with what has been said about a person having the responsibility to learn the material. I am a big proponent of the idea that every person should do what they can to learn what they need to. Given that, every person has different strengths and weaknesses - some people excel at figuring out how to think through a problem logically and come up with a solution to a complicated problem, while others may not find that as easy but are excellent at developing the right question to ask of the data (which is oftentimes more critical of a skill to have). In the end, I enjoy responding to questions on the community board not so much for the person asking the question, but for the opportunity it gives me to learn new things. I have often found a question someone had asked, tried to find an answer/solution to the question, and learned something about Alteryx (either a way a tool(s) could be used that I had not considered, a feature I didn't realize was there, etc.). This is a part of how I have taken it on myself to learn the material.

[OTrieger]

@cpet13 

I totally agree with you, I learn from people questions, each time something new. Each one has his way how to approach a problem, and by reading other people comments and the questions giving me new point of view on the same problem that I might did not thought about. I totally agree with you.