TFS Top Tip #8 - Where to get help

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Recently, I've had a surge of emails asking various questions about Team Foundation Server and how to do certain things.  While I always (eventually) respond, it can sometimes take me a while.  If you have questions about Team Foundation Server then the best place to go is the MSDN forums.  These forums are monitored by the VSTS team as well as by the Team System MVP's and other folks who know stuff about the product.  Unlike a lot of newsgroups, these forums are actually a very welcoming and friendly place to ask questions.  I personally hang out on the following forums:-

As well as the official MSDN forums, you can also try one of the community ones.  These don't tend to get the traffic from Team folks but are still good resources.  It's also a good place to ask questions that you might not want to ask on a Microsoft resource (such as how does TFS stack up against Product B) and get an answer from somebody who is not paid by Microsoft.

At Teamprise we also have our own forum and knowledge base that are worth checking out if the question is related to use of Team Foundation Server from Java or on the Unix / Mac / Linux platforms.

Before you ask the question, it is probably worth checking the MSDN documentation first or using your favorite search engine, but don't worry about asking if you can't find your answer - the folks on these forums are always happy to point you to the best resource.

You never know, if you ask a question on these forums then you might still get me answering it if you are unlucky enough.  By asking the question in a public forum you are doing a service for the next person that comes down the line with the same problem as they'll be able to see somebody else with the same issue and (hopefully) the answer.

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