Beginner’s Guide to the Community

[Catherine_T]

Hi there Community Member!

Welcome to the Public Mobile Community. Our Community is a place where you can search for answers to your burning questions, help other Community members, earn rewards, and so much more! 

Navigating the Community might seem a bit daunting at first, but we’re here to help you. Let’s start with the basics: 

What is the Public Mobile Community and why does it exist?

The Community is an online platform for Public Mobile customers to search, ask, and answer questions related to your service. In addition to providing help and support, the Community also serves as a way for us to better connect with you. 

Public Mobile is constantly evolving, and we wouldn’t be able to do so without your feedback and suggestions. You are an essential part of the Public Mobile family, and we are growing together. In addition to that, using online platforms like the Community helps us keep costs low, which means more affordable prices for you. 

What can I do in the Community?

Mostly commonly, Community members search, ask, and answer questions.

Here are some helpful tips and tricks to help you settle into the Community:

• Try searching your question first: you may find that someone has already encountered a similar situation and that an answer has already been provided. If your question hasn’t been asked before, start a topic. You only need to post once—someone will answer your question.
• Asking and answering questions: the more specific you are, the more helpful it is for everyone. That said, helpful partial answers are better than nothing. Just make sure you don’t post any personal account information (e.g. credit card numbers, phone numbers, etc.).
• Post in the most relevant Community board: they’re laid out logically, much like the folders on your computer, and keep similar topics together. Keeping posts in the right Community board makes it easy for everyone to find what they’re looking for. We have a number of different boards.
• Stay on topic: when it comes to support questions, it’s best to stay focused so that problems can get solved quickly. If you do want to discuss the news, or nearly anything else, there’s the Discussion board for that!
• Recognize when your question has been answered: when the Community has served up a solution, click ‘Accept as Solution’ on the response. It helps people find answers more quickly and communicates your appreciation to the people who helped you.
• Participate and get Rewards: it’s your Community, too, and that’s why we encourage everyone to get involved. In addition to Rewards for eligible customers, we have added a ranking system and badges to your profile. It’s our way to thank you and let others know that you’re a stand-up member of the Community.
• Point out offensive content: we want our Community to be welcoming, respectful, and friendly. Offensive and rude comments are not welcome, and if you see anything that does not meet our Community Terms of Service, let us know by clicking the ‘Report Inappropriate Content’ button.

Check out this post on How to Navigate the Community. 

How do I benefit from the Community?

You can earn rewards as a Public Mobile Community member. Based on your level of involvement with our Community, you can earn up to $20 every 30 days. The amount you are rewarded depends on your contribution level relative to overall contribution, which can change month to month even if you contribute very consistently. For more information on Community rewards, check out this Help Article. 

Rewards don’t stop at the Community - check out this Help Article on how you can earn even more rewards. 

What are the different roles in the Community?

Public Mobile Employees: 

Members with a “PM” badge are Public Mobile product managers. Our goal is to enhance your Public Mobile experience by listening to your feedback and making improvements to our services. We are inspired by YOU - the Public Mobile Community.

Members with a “MOD” badge are Community moderators. These members are here to help you troubleshoot any tech-related or service-related issues. 

Oracles:

Members with a star badge are Oracles. 

The Oracles are a small group of Community members who have extensive knowledge about all things Public Mobile, and are passionate about making the Community a better place by helping our members. Oracles have used their knowledge to make a positive impact in the Community, by being helpful and providing constructive solutions and ideals, and their reward is legendary status—we view them as part tech wizard, part boy/girl scout, and part Jedi master. 

While the Oracles do actively help the Community, please remember that they’re customers like you, and not Public Mobile employees. Please reach out to the Moderator Team for tech- or service-related issues.

Meet our Oracles here. 

Community Citizens:

The Community wouldn’t be here without our amazing Community “citizens” (i.e. members). Depending on length of membership and level of activity, Community members can unlock different titles - the newest being “New in Town”, and most tenured being “Mayor”. 

• Mayor
• Deputy Mayor
• Town Hero
• Model Citizen
• Great Citizen
• Good Citizen
• Great Neighbour
• Good Neighbour
• New Neighbour
• New in Town

Regardless of title, everyone plays an important part in making the Community a welcoming place for everyone, and every member’s contribution to the Community is appreciated.

Terms of Services

To ensure the Community is a safe and enjoyable place for everyone, all members must follow the Community Terms of Services. 

We hope this post was helpful in introducing you to the Public Mobile Community. Thank you again for choosing Public Mobile. 🙂 

- The Public Mobile Team

[z10user4]

Nice layout @Catherine_T . I continue to suggest that the marketing of the $20 community reward is a misnomer. Only Oracles can earn that. And Oracles are only appointed by the company. So it's kinda false to say that.

We do keep getting the odd person asking how they can get the $20 and how to become an Oracle. (which roster hasn't changed in almost two years other than the retired designation).

[popping]

New PM subscribers must read. 👍👍

[darlicious]

@Catherine_T 

Great summary about the what to do and the who's who of the community. Being a member with a long history of debate about discussions vs the lounge we still have discussions about anything and everything not related to phones or public mobile but they occur in the lounge. The discussions board exists only in the archive so any member would be hard pressed to find it. Perhaps a minor edit is in order unless anyone would like to have a discussion about bringing the discussions board back?

Edit: I just found out about this help article today (09/12/20) thanks to @Triguy answering a new members query. @Catherine_T  this is great! Simple, plain language that makes it easy to understand the do's and don'ts of the community.

Things Not To Do in Our Community

• Include advertising and promotion links that don’t relate to the discussion.
• Use profanity and obscenity—we can’t wash your mouth out with soap online.
• Misrepresent information (basically: don’t lie).
• Spam, cross-posting, or in any way pushing unwanted content. Remember: relevant, quality content makes our Community better and more helpful.
• Demonstrate troll-like behaviour: let’s keep trolls under bridges and out of our Community.
• Post anything that violates copyright laws. Please, be respectful of what others have created.
• Expose your private information: keep it safe and to yourself. Account-related matters should always be brought up to Moderators through private messages.
• Post comments that are hateful, bigoted, racist, or politically or religiously offensive.

[SD08]

@Catherine_T   Thanks for creating this useful Beginner's Guide.

While you're listing all the community titles from New in Town on up, with an explanation of the Oracle role, perhaps it would be appropriate to briefly explain the Retired Oracle tag as well.  There are a number of us and we sometimes perform forum housekeeping actions as Oracles do, so it might help to clarify that for the benefit of those new to the community.

[darlicious]

@SD08 

I think a small update to the biographies of the oracles might be a good idea since the stats are 3 years old if not more! I can supply some updated stats if need be.....lol!

[SD08]

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@darlicious wrote:

@SD08 

I think a small update to the biographies of the oracles might be a good idea since the stats are 3 years old if not more! I can supply some updated stats if need be.....lol!

---

@darlicious 

While I agree that the Meet Our Oracle Team Help article should be updated with regards to membership (there are not 6 current Oracles but 5), I don't think it necessary to update the cumulative individual stats which continually change. However, the addition of a Last edited timestamp would be great for most help articles whenever they are edited going forward.  (Tagging @Catherine_T  for this suggestion too.) 

[darlicious]

@SD08 

Or perhaps the removal of the stats then.....saying that amassing 4200 bravos is impressive in the wake of @gblackma  and others achievements this year alone give those stats at that time no context. I didnt mean it to appear that I wanted the stats highlighted just updated or removed just not incorrectly displayed for new members to see.....

[wbg13]

A helpful guide for beginners like myself.  Thanks.

[darlicious]

@Catherine_T 

Hey I just noticed this....great addition! It's the small details that can make the biggest difference.