I received an email today that some folks might have been upset to get. It was one of those, “Do you know you have something in your teeth?” moments. Only this note was about a web site.
It was brief and to the point. I don’t think I know the person. They had discovered that some images on one of my web sites isn’t rendering properly. It’s my first attempt at table-less CSS and indeed, there is an issue with some photos and how they “sit” inside the content. The writer noted the issue, took a snapshot with arrows to show what the trouble was and then, gave me a suggestion for the solution!
Sure. It was unsolicited. I could have been snotty and deleted it. I get lots of junk in my in-box. But this email was short, polite, helpful and didn’t ask me for anything in return.
I replied with my thanks.
This is an example of how we can “talk” on the Internet. Be polite. Be unattached to the outcome. Be helpful. Be brief.
This is how it’s done.
Indeed, that sort of email truly is rare!
FYI – if you’re still sorting out your new layout, MS has a free program that lets you preview in multiple versions of IE. I can’t remember what it was called at the moment, but if you want to know, I’ll see if I can find it.
An absolutely perfect example of how to communicate well with someone you’ve never met and extend a helping hand even when they didn’t ask for it…and perhaps didn’t even know they needed it.
Our virtual world would be a much better place if this happened more often.
You should have offered thanks in return by grabbing their twitter/website/anything else and offering them a link on this post! “Give.. and get back.”
I do that occasionally when I find something wrong on a site I like and I’d hope that someone would do it on my site. It doesn’t take long and it feels good to do something without expecting anything in return.
Hmm, internet karma.