Forum, Tickets, Or FAQ?

Carl Hancock who is part of the team behind GravityForms asked an interesting question on Twitter the other day.

What do you prefer for software support? A support forums or a good FAQ and a support ticket system?

I thought it would be nice to expand on the question so that we can answer it with more than 140 characters. In the past, I’ve really enjoyed working with software that has an in-depth FAQ because I enjoy solving my own problems. I think the more avenues for support, the better. However, if you are offering so many ways to receive support to the point where it’s decreasing the overall quality of support, then you introduce a new problem. I’d rather go to one place that I know is going to give great support and not spend time with four or five different methods that are sub par. There is no reason though why a good FAQ can’t compliment either a ticketing system or a forum, although one could argue that a forum fills both needs. I’d to hear what you think is the best method of support based on experience.

Last but not least, do not use the commenting form on a blog post to provide support. Nothing like traversing hundreds of comments to see if one is similar to the problem I’ve having.