{"id":6561,"date":"2026-08-28T19:47:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T19:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/webdev\/?page_id=6561"},"modified":"2026-08-28T19:49:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T19:49:57","slug":"help2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/webdev\/help2\/","title":{"rendered":"Help"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Neon
Photo by Jonas Jacobsson<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We all need a little help sometimes. This page is here to help you ask for help effectively in this course. The first step?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help yourself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned elsewhere<\/a>, first, see if some sustained reflection (a couple of minutes) brings clarity. Talk out loud to yourself, or experiment with a few potential options, in the style of an artist\u2019s study<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, if the answer doesn\u2019t come to you on your own, Google effectively (see \u201cBe Precise\u201d below). Be excited if you see results from MDN<\/a>, w3schools<\/a>, or CSS Tricks<\/a>. Stack Overflow<\/a> can be incredibly helpful, but approach answers skeptically. Develop a sixth sense for distinguishing between useful sites and opinionated pompous nonsense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, ask for help sooner than you think: if you\u2019ve been trying on your own to overcome a problem for more than fifteen minutes or so, chances are you\u2019ll be stuck for a long time. Who might you ask? Well, you could\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phone a friend<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t hesitate to ask the people you\u2019re in class with for help. Remember, asking somebody for something will make them like you<\/a>! (Also: helping each other out is the right thing to do, etc. etc.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, your classmates may be more helpful than your instructor or an online authority. Why? Because they\u2019re in the same place in their learning as you. They haven\u2019t yet been cursed with knowledge<\/a>, so they very well may better understand the ways in which you\u2019re stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, there\u2019s also a good chance that your classmates are just as stuck as you. So, don\u2019t hesitate to ask your instructor, and never apologize for doing so! Helping students is literally our job<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best place<\/em> to get help, in any case, is your class\u2019s Slack channel\u2014it\u2019ll definitely get you the fastest response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of who you ask\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be Precise<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you\u2019re looking for assistance, the more detail and precision, the better. Whenever possible, refer to a specific error message or code verbatim. This works wonders when Googling for problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If something\u2019s wrong with a page on your site or a FreeCodeCamp exercise, share the exact URL. It might also be helpful to share what hardware, operating system version, and application versions your using.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if your problem isn\u2019t an error message but rather a difficulty in a project that spans multiple files\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zip it<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you need help with a project that consists of multiple files, share a .zip of your entire project folder with your instructor along with precise instructions about what\u2019s wrong and where they might want to begin looking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how to make a .zip file on a Mac<\/a> and on a PC<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if your problem isn\u2019t code, but rather something visual\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A screenshot is worth a thousand words<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sharing a screenshot can be remarkably helpful for troubleshooting. Instead of being a newbie and sharing a picture of your computer screen taken with your phone, share a proper screenshot. How?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On macOS, consult this guide<\/a> on how to take both screenshots and screen recordings. On Windows and other platforms, consult this guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just remember to double-check your screenshots to make sure you aren\u2019t sharing anything private. This advice holds doubly true when you need to\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hey! An Easter egg! If you read this far send me a DM in Slack with a screenshot of an image of your favorite type of candy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Call in backup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If all of the above fails, it might be helpful to share a complete view of what\u2019s going on with your computer. In our course Slack, we\u2019ve added an integration with the voice \/ video \/ screen sharing app Zoom<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To set up a screen sharing call, DM your instructor letting them know you\u2019d like to set up a call and a handful of times that you\u2019re available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the agreed-upon time, you\u2019ll see a message like this from your instructor:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Slack<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Click the green \u201cJoin\u201d button. If you already have the Zoom app installed, you should be good to go! If not, you\u2019ll be prompted to download the Zoom app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might be prompted to sign in with a Zoom account. You should be able to skip this step, but you\u2019re welcome to sign in with your existing Zoom account, or to click \u201cLog In With SSO\u201d, enter uga.zoom.us<\/a><\/code> as the domain, and enter your UGA MyID and password.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019re in a meeting, to share your screen, click this icon at the bottom of the screen:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Zoom<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And choose to share either your entire desktop or just a specific window. On macOS, you might be asked to give permission to Zoom to share your screen by visiting System Preferences > Security and Privacy > Privacy > Screen Sharing and checking the box next to Zoom:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Also, another great tool Zoom provides is to allow an instructor (temporary) remote control of your laptop. If you and your instructor decide this is a good idea, you\u2019ll see a popup in your Zoom window saying that your instructor would like to remotely control your machine. Click Accept, and Zoom will prompt you for permission, bringing you to System Preferences > Security and Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Screenshot<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This enables an experience pretty close to having your instructor sitting side-by-side with you in a lab!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, this short article at The Wirecutter is pretty handy: 7 Tips for How to Use Zoom Like a Pro<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s it! Hopefully, one or more of these steps has helped you find a solution to your predicament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. If an instructor makes you feel bad for asking for help, something\u2019s wrong with them, not you.\u21a9<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. You can also try\u00a0#slack-overflow<\/code>, though it\u2019s been a bit of a ghost town so far. Maybe you\u2019re the one to change that?\u21a9<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. You might have to click the lock icon in the lower-left corner and enter your password to do so\u21a9<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Where you might have to again click the lock icon in the lower-left corner and enter your password to do so\u21a9<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    We all need a little help sometimes. This page is here to help you ask for help effectively in this course. The first step? Help yourself As mentioned elsewhere, first, see if some sustained reflection (a couple of minutes) brings clarity. Talk out loud to yourself, or experiment with a few potential options, in the style […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6561","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6561"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6564,"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6561\/revisions\/6564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmi.cool\/webdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}