What happened to the help button that would lead to the chat page?

That button was my biggest help here and the main reason I love FCC. Now I see a hint button only. Where’d it go?

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I’m guessing that most users preferred to have the help chat open in a separate tab or window, so the popout functionality was removed.

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Yah, I go in regularly (daily) to help people out for an hour and I can tell you it’s now tumbleweed town

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I noticed this as well. I hadn’t ever used it until I got to the Basic Algorithms section of Javascript, but then when I started using it, did I ever start using it. I think it’s a shame that it’s gone and wonder if there are any plans to restore it.

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You can always navigate to help rooms in another tab or window. Or you can install the Gitter app.

Apart from it being a great help and informative it gave a feeling of community spirit and if it has been removed and is not just a short term glitch then i think whoever has made this decision needs there head looking at as im thinking of finding a different site.

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Thanks for your patience - I just now noticed this thread.

Mentioning @SkyC @ArielLeslie @DarrenfJ @acecharly and @johnnyosullivan here too to make sure they see this.

After looking at the data, we’ve concluded that Gitter is more helpful for campers who have already made some progress through freeCodeCamp’s challenges.

So instead of pressuring every single camper to join Gitter immediately after they sign up for freeCodeCamp, they can join through freecodecamp.com/settings whenever they feel like it. (There are links to the chatroom directory on freecodecamp.com/settings, freecodecamp.com/about, and here on the forum.)

This means that the campers who join will be more motivated to participate. This should make Gitter less chaotic and more useful for everyone using it.

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Thanks for the reply @QuincyLarson. Will there be a way of turning that button back on once we have decided that it is helpful for us? By the way, I forgot to mention that I had been using the JavaScript Help gitter, and that was much better than the main room, which was not supportive of beginners or those in need at all, so your point is well-taken.

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Thanks for the update. I’ll do what I can to direct people over to help if and when they need help in here…

Maybe then it makes sense to add the exercise much later. At present, with no indication that the help gitter is even a thing, there’s way less traffic (traffic in the help room, specially off times compared to NA ‘office hours’ is usually manageable by the one or two people who hang out for an hour or so). Anyway, just a thought.

I do like helping out once a day but I don’t see the point if it takes 20 to 40 before a question is even asked. (Used to be within a couple of minutes).

Our thinking is that instead of trying to have Gitter built-into freeCodeCamp itself (a pop-out sidebar), they can navigate to these help chatrooms directly, or click through from our directory. The campers who are serious about using them can also install the Gitter desktop apps and access them from there.

I appreciate the idea that complete beginners don’t get too much out of asking for help and copypasting answers without understanding what is going on…
However, I do think the chat is too well hidden at the moment. Traffic has really gone down and so has the opportunity to help others (I prefer chat over the forum in many ways), which doesn’t only help the person being helped, but also the people providing the help. Maybe we can provide some middle ground and clearly tell people during sign up that the possibility exists to ask for help in the chat and where to find it. An external link to the chat wouldn’t be too bad in my opinion. And perhaps a link to gitter can be added in the Read-Search-Ask post on the forum.

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hi, im going through a challenge named “confirm the ending”.
not really sure if i am to use regular expressions. cus i have absolutely no clue how to work with those :confused: :neutral_face:
can someone give me an idea for new approach :slight_smile:

Please make your own thread - do not reply to other threads with a new topic.

lol. cool sorry bro :smiley:

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I agree with the sentiments expressed here. Chat is too quiet and it was such a good tool for both the people asking for help and those helping. I’ve learned a lot helping others. It’s seems too obscure at this point to seem useful for those just getting started. Even with the help button, I didn’t really get the value of it at first. It’s a shame that it’s so quiet now. :frowning:

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This decision killed gitter chat and huge amount of possibilities for people to help and get to know each other.

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