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wxWidgets - Cross-Platform GUI Library
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IRC Channel

If the documentation isn’t enough and you need in-person help, you can try the #wxwidgets channel on the Libera IRC server (irc.libera.chat). This channel is regularly filled with many people who are all very experienced with wxWidgets and are often willing to help.

Tips for Getting Help

The wxWidgets IRC channel is an active and growing community of wxWidgets users who will gladly share their knowledge to help you get your wxWidgets code working. However, they are also generally busy people, so there are some things you can do to improve your chances of getting a helpful answer to your questions.

Don’t Ask to Ask

Avoid questions like this:

  • Is anyone here?
  • Does anyone know anything about __?
  • Has anyone ever done __?
  • Are any of the wxWidgets developers here?

Most people simply ignore these questions. They have found that answering them causes the recipient to expect personal attention from them, and they don’t want to set that expectation without knowing the scope of the problem. Just asking what you want to know will be far more effective.

The last question also presumes that the rest of the users aren’t good enough to help you with your problem. You may be surprised to learn how much regular users know about the framework’s internals.

Provide Enough Information to Solve the Problem

  • If you’re getting an error, copy and paste the real error. Don’t paraphrase, don’t retype, don’t interpret. Error messages contain details that you might miss but that are probably essential.
  • Provide just enough code that will compile and will demonstrate the problem. Occasionally incomplete code can be useful, but in most cases the person helping you will need to run the code. That person probably does not have time to work to try to compile it.
  • Tell people what you expect to happen and what is actually happening. If you only include one or the other, no one will be able to figure out what you want help with.
  • Don’t flood IRC channels. If you have more than a very few lines to paste, use a pastebin.

Be Patient

  • Stick around the channel for a while after asking. Many people check their IRC windows regularly but infrequently.
  • Don’t complain about how quiet or unhelpful the channel is. That’s a sure way to turn away people who might have been thinking about helping.

Be Courteous

  • Check the manual, the FAQ, and the wiki first. People hate answering RTFM questions.
  • Don’t privately message people without permission. Unsolicited private messages are considered intrusive and annoying. (Besides, when you get your support in public, others may learn from it, too.)
  • Don’t complain about how much wxWidgets sucks if it doesn’t do what you want.
  • Realize that although we are glad to help you understand how to use wxWidgets, we won’t write your program for you. You will get the best responses to your questions if you show evidence of having tried to solve the problem yourself, rather than asking for examples at every step.