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##Open Letter to the PokeAlarm Community - Problems, Patches, and Pantheon

Hello Everyone! Deadly here! I wanted to take second and write an open letter to the PokeAlarm community. I may do these now and again to detail the state of the PokeAlarm community and address where I plan on taking PokeAlarm.

When I originally started this project, I had no idea it was going to grow into what it is now. PokeAlarm was originally written to be a quick little python script to send myself Pushbullet notifications when rare Pokémon spawned. Now over 6 months later, PokeAlarm has grown into a powerful, complex notifications system that supports almost a dozen different services. With the release of Generation 2, we’ve seen a huge increase of traffic. Our discord channel went from 100 active users to 200 practically overnight. Over the last two weeks, we’ve had over 1,700 unique visitors (a fact that still amazes me). However, with this growth has led to an increase in some problems within our little community as well.

###The problem(s):
This influx of new users has caused two major issues to grow to a point where I have no choice but to address them.

  1. Users unwilling to put time and effort into their problems (and look in the wiki)

  2. Both a lack of respect for the Developer’s and their boundaries.

Over the last two weeks, these issues have become a big problem for us. Users have begun asking the same questions day after day. Even when directed the Wiki (which Remedy has done a great job with and easily answers 90%+ of the questions asked daily), they would prefer to have their hand held. And some users have taken this even farther – constantly sending us private messages when their questions aren’t answered quickly enough. Once I logged on to over 100 different notifications from various users messaging me. Messaging us directly doesn’t given anyone else the chance to solve you’re issue, and forces us to ignore you (and be the ‘bad guys’) or walk you through the issue. And some users are downright rude about it – twice in the last two weeks we have had to ban users who were hostile and unhappy with answers they were given. Let’s be real: PokeAlarm is a free, open-source utility, yet we strive to offer a level of support for our users that is unheard of in the PokemonGoDev community.

I do take some responsibility for some of these problems. I originally wrote PokeAlarm for technical minded users – people who knew how to use Git and understood concepts like JSON formatting and webhooks. As a result, PokeAlarm doesn’t currently tell the user exactly what’s wrong. It expects you to be willing to Google and troubleshoot. The lure of Pokemon has brought in a lot of users that are uncomfortable in these areas.

In order to address these solutions, I need help from the community. I need help from you!

###Things the Community can do to help: Before I get into it, I want to make one thing clear. Not everyone in the community is a problem. There are tons who are great. Often users are polite and kind, always making sure to thank us. That is why I’m writing this – I’m asking for your help to fix these issues.

  1. Read the Wiki before asking for help. The Wiki is very detailed and has lots of information, so most of your questions are answered in it. It’s one thing to read the wiki and need clarifying; it’s another to skip it entirely.

  2. Follow the rules and be respectful. Both to other users and to the developers. Feel free to talk to us and ask questions, but please don’t private message us without asking first. Don’t forget to thank someone who has helped you find an issue.

  3. Be open to helping others. Even directing others to the correct wiki page is a big help. This also benefits to you. Every minute I spend helping someone with an issue is a minute I could have spent improving PokeAlarm.

  4. Keep in mind that I do this as a hobby. I have a wife, school, and work all vying for my attention as well. I know that there are a ton of things you guys would like to see added to PokeAlarm, but please keep in mind that I am just one person working on this in his spare time.

###Things I am going to do to help:

  1. Add a new #Rules channel. I’m going to be creating a #Rules channel in our Discord so that the rules are clearly stated all the time. Users that fail to comply will be warned, and repeated violators will be banned. Things like cross-posting issues in multiple channels, spamming incorrect channels, or being rude will not be tolerated.

  2. Step back and allow others to help more in Discord. Adding these new fixes and updates to PokeAlarm -- while supporting users in Discord -- has been difficult. I’m hoping the community will rise to the occasion to help their fellow users.

  3. Change how PokeAlarm is updated. Going forward, I will be grouping major updates to PokeAlarm into ‘patches’. I will continue to make small commits to fix bugs and issues, but new features (especially those that require changes in how to PokeAlarm handles configurations) will be more clearly documented. The next patch (v3.01) will be focused on improving error detection while starting. Common mistakes like JSON formatting, missing files, and incorrect configuration settings will now be clearer. Patches will remain in ‘beta’ status until changes to the Wiki are complete.

###Continued Support
Finally, I want end on a positve note and thank everyone in the community who continues to support PokeAlarm. Particularly those that have donated financially, as those contributions have allowed me to divert more of my free time towards improving PokeAlarm and adding new features. I’ve also had a lot of users ask for better ways to contribute. As a result, I’ve decided to open a Patreon. Patreon is going to accept way more payment methods and gives you guys the option of easily donating monthly. As a perk, all Patreon donators of $5 or more will have a special flair in the Discord chat.

I hope that these changes help move us to a better place, and I welcome any feedback you might have. Feel free to start up a conversation in the #general chat with me.