Asking for help and study groups
Nobody learns alone. This page shows where learners ask, how to ask well, and how to study in a group.
Contents
Look it up first
From Getting support, in this order:
- This help, with its search.
- The documentation website, exponential.doc.exponential.earth.
- eZpedia, ezpedia.exponential.earth, the community wiki.
- The articles on Share Exponential, share.exponential.earth/learn.
Also search the issue trackers for the exact error message.
Where to ask
The free channels the project's support page names (Getting support):
| Channel | Good for | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Share Exponential forums | Questions that need a longer answer, that others will search for later | https://share.exponential.earth/forums |
| Telegram | Quick questions in real time | https://t.me/exponentialcms |
| Discord | Chat with the community, development talk | https://discord.gg/zXzGMgfzej |
| Slack | Chat, especially about development | https://exponentialcms.slack.com/ |
Community help has no promised response time: the developers "are not obligated to provide free support" (Support levels and response times). Be patient and kind. More places: Community channels.
How to ask
From Getting support:
- Say what you run: Exponential version, PHP version, web server, database. Setup > System information gives a summary to copy, without passwords, keys or server paths.
- Say what you did, what you expected and what happened, with the exact message.
- Show what you tried and what you already read.
- Report back when you solved it, so the next person finds the answer.
A template:
I am learning Exponential (<release>, PHP <x>, <web server>, SQLite).
I am doing <page or project>, step <n>.
I ran / clicked: <...>
I expected: <...>
I got: <exact message>
I already tried: <...> and read <page>.What never to post
Passwords, keys, session cookies, database addresses, or personal data of anyone. Security problems go privately to
the address in SECURITY.md, never into a channel (Bugs you find while learning).
Study groups
A group of three to six learners works well:
| Role | Rotates weekly |
|---|---|
| Host | Picks the page or project, keeps time |
| Driver | Shares the screen and types; others guide |
| Scribe | Writes the group's notes and open questions |
| Checker | Compares each result with the page's "Expected" |
A 90-minute session:
- 10 minutes: each person says what they did since last time.
- 50 minutes: one project or learning path step, together.
- 20 minutes: open questions; decide which to ask in the community, and who asks.
- 10 minutes: plan the next session.
Every member works on their own study site; a shared site needs care (Sharing one study site with a class). Peer review of study projects is described in Grading your own work.
Giving back
When you know the answer to someone else's question, answer it, with a link to the help page. Answering is one of the ways to support the project (Helping others in the community), and it shows you what you have really understood.
Related pages
- Getting support: free help and paid help
- Community channels
- Student level or free community: what to choose
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
Become an Exponential Partner
Partners share their information, provide funding, contribute back and develop the products with us, and that is how Exponential grows. A partner website and dashboard are planned for mid-2027: please become a partner today to speed up our growth rate and land new features faster.