Could someone explain the purpose for all (3?) and how they interrelate? Should I be expected to post in all three to get a reply on any question or comment I have for D&D Beyond? Is one preferred over the other so everyone can see, share, and learn jointly from each other?
D&D Beyond forums are the main way we discuss D&D Beyond and D&D together in a forum style. Discord is the same thing but is for immediate chat. Forum conversations are more linear and let people respond in their own time, be it hours, days or months. Discord conversations are chats, they are less linear but are faster.
ZenDesk is a separate site where a support team keeps updates. It's primary purpose is to facilitate Support Tickets. It is updated but is not as up-to-date as the forums and although it allows a forum-style conversation it is less monitored and used.
If you want active conversation head to Discord. If you want latest updates and less immediate but more linear conversation use the forums. If you need to raise a support ticket, use Zendesk.
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The forums are hosted and operated by D&D Beyond staff directly. Discord and Zendesk are separate, 3rd party services, that D&D Beyond are choosing to use. Neither Discord nor Zendesk are owned by Fandom (the company that owns D&D Beyond). They're services anyone can use. Because D&D Beyond, Discord and Zendesk are owned and run separately through different hosting services they will have separate logins. Fandom / D&D Beyond get no say in the matter, as they cannot tell Discord or Zendesk to change their login/account systems. The support staff on Zendesk are D&D Beyond staff however. D&D Beyond staff frequent the Discord chat and there are volunteer members of the community who are moderators in the chat. On the forums we may see posts by developers/admins who have Red usernames and also from forum moderators with names in Orange. The red devs are definitely D&D Beyond staff. I am unsure if the mods (orange) are employed staff or volunteer.
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I hope this answers your questions.
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
I recommend since the zendesk site is redundant with the D&D Beyond Forums that links to those pages should just get redirected to the forums. The support tickets from D&D Beyond likewise already are directed to the zendesk site -- just wouldn't need the zendesk threads because the forum already serves that purpose. The additional advantages from a user perspective is that only one login is needed between the two sites and the user experience is singular to the D&D Beyond site.
Is there a better place to recommend this UI/UX update?
There's the Feedback forum. However, since Zendesk is 3rd party and the forum part of it is integrated, it may be a non-optional component so there is probably nothing they can do.
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
I recommend since the zendesk site is redundant with the D&D Beyond Forums that links to those pages should just get redirected to the forums. The support tickets from D&D Beyond likewise already are directed to the zendesk site -- just wouldn't need the zendesk threads because the forum already serves that purpose. The additional advantages from a user perspective is that only one login is needed between the two sites and the user experience is singular to the D&D Beyond site.
Is there a better place to recommend this UI/UX update?
The zendesk portal exists for two reasons
t's a site designed for collation of support tickets and feedback requests, which the forum is not. For example, you don't want to use a publicly visible forum for a support ticket involving sensitive account information. The forum is intended to be a social space, not a customer support tool.
By customer support on a different service, with different login requirements, you allow people who have lost their in account access to submit support tickets. This would not be possible through the forums.
Anonymous bugs and issues resolutions can be posted in the forum for all to see (or a different part of the site) including items from the zendesk site and Discord. Direct support correspondence can still be sent to the requestor.
Zendesk appears to me to be more than a customer support tool -- it has threads for social/general information too. -- General Information -- Billing & Subscription Assistance -- Frequently Asked Questions -- Account Assistance -- Tools & Features -- Homebrew Content You can submit a support ticket without logging in from their link at the top -- Submit a request. Having a separate login is irrelevant unless you want to post/reply in their threads. https://dndbeyond.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=602788
Discord is on its own, but could have redundant help info posted by moderators (general, how tos, bugs and issues resolutions, ..) in different channels.
Just more of my thoughts as to why these three can be more closely integrated, .. and how .. -- Move zendesk threads over to D&D Beyond to create a singular forum, including a resolution thread -- Keep zendesk Submit a Request form link on the D&D Beyond site, but make it also prominent in the Forums with a similar site design -- Create support related channels in Discord to provide updated info on bugs and issues resolved from all three sources
Just more of my thoughts as to why these three can be more closely integrated, .. and how .. -- Move zendesk threads over to D&D Beyond to create a singular forum, including a resolution thread -- Keep zendesk Submit a Request form link on the D&D Beyond site, but make it also prominent in the Forums with a similar site design -- Create support related channels in Discord to provide updated info on bugs and issues resolved from all three sources
Zendesk and the forums are fundamentally different software platforms. Zendesk is not a forum, it's a request/response/feedback portal with an entirely different backend to a forum. It's an industry standard piece of software. The point of the zendesk portal is to better track requests without the prominent conversations, and also privately manage customer support tickets. The forum is a social space where people can discuss issues/bugs/feature requests. Also, as I mentioned, having a portal that doesn't use your account information is good for if your account information is lost/compromised. That's just good customer service.
And as for the discord, it has support related changes, there's one for feedback, one for help using the site, and one for urgent mod attention. Again, it's a discussion space not a customer support space.
Ultimately the discord and forums serve the same purpose at different paces; discussion, conversation and interaction. The zendesk is a formalised, professional portal specifically for feedback and support.
If you wanted to make this suggestion without it being open to discussion, and instead just be voted up based on the communities desire for it to be implemented, thus increasing it's visibility, you'd use zendesk. Zendesk doesn't raise visibility based on engagement, but community votes.
If you wanted to make this suggestion and have a discussion about it to get other options, but not in real time, you'd post it here. The forums raise visibility on engagement (most recently active threads at the top)
If you wanted to make this suggestion and have a real time discussion about it, you'd post in the discord.
If you want to just talk ideas or concepts, you have here for a more laid back pace, and the discord for real time.
If you have a serious customer service issue, say someone has compromised your account, you can use the zendesk; you don't need to be able to access your root account to get support, and its a secure, private portal so you can disclose account information safely. Zendesk is a customer support tool specially, the forums and discord are not.
tl;dr: Forums/discord are social, zendesk is customer support. Suggestions can go through all three depending on how you want your suggestion interacted with.
I'd add to Davedamon's response to say that while zendesk is the "official" support option, responses and resolution can take a while. Many people first post issues/support needs in these forums. A lot of the time, volunteers here can answer the question/suggest fixes more quickly than support staff can. Some things we can't handle, and then we encourage folks to use the support options on zendesk.
Ideally for me, I would like to go to one authoritative "site" referencing D&D Beyond Forums and Discussions.
There appears to be at least three:
1. Forums on D&D Beyond (here)
2. Discord for D&D Beyond (https://discord.com/channels/516367331358801950/520291181083754516)
3. Fandom Community Site for D&D Beyond (https://dndbeyond.zendesk.com/)
Could someone explain the purpose for all (3?) and how they interrelate? Should I be expected to post in all three to get a reply on any question or comment I have for D&D Beyond? Is one preferred over the other so everyone can see, share, and learn jointly from each other?
I did notice that support is the same on the D&D Beyond and related Fandom site -- https://dndbeyond.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=602788
Does the Discord site have something similar?
Lastly, is there a way to have only one login for the D&D Beyond, Fandom, and Discord?
Thanks in advance for your insights.
D&D Beyond forums are the main way we discuss D&D Beyond and D&D together in a forum style. Discord is the same thing but is for immediate chat. Forum conversations are more linear and let people respond in their own time, be it hours, days or months. Discord conversations are chats, they are less linear but are faster.
ZenDesk is a separate site where a support team keeps updates. It's primary purpose is to facilitate Support Tickets. It is updated but is not as up-to-date as the forums and although it allows a forum-style conversation it is less monitored and used.
If you want active conversation head to Discord. If you want latest updates and less immediate but more linear conversation use the forums. If you need to raise a support ticket, use Zendesk.
-
The forums are hosted and operated by D&D Beyond staff directly. Discord and Zendesk are separate, 3rd party services, that D&D Beyond are choosing to use. Neither Discord nor Zendesk are owned by Fandom (the company that owns D&D Beyond). They're services anyone can use. Because D&D Beyond, Discord and Zendesk are owned and run separately through different hosting services they will have separate logins. Fandom / D&D Beyond get no say in the matter, as they cannot tell Discord or Zendesk to change their login/account systems. The support staff on Zendesk are D&D Beyond staff however. D&D Beyond staff frequent the Discord chat and there are volunteer members of the community who are moderators in the chat. On the forums we may see posts by developers/admins who have Red usernames and also from forum moderators with names in Orange. The red devs are definitely D&D Beyond staff. I am unsure if the mods (orange) are employed staff or volunteer.
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I hope this answers your questions.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Thanks,
Your reply does make sense.
I recommend since the zendesk site is redundant with the D&D Beyond Forums that links to those pages should just get redirected to the forums. The support tickets from D&D Beyond likewise already are directed to the zendesk site -- just wouldn't need the zendesk threads because the forum already serves that purpose. The additional advantages from a user perspective is that only one login is needed between the two sites and the user experience is singular to the D&D Beyond site.
Is there a better place to recommend this UI/UX update?
There's the Feedback forum. However, since Zendesk is 3rd party and the forum part of it is integrated, it may be a non-optional component so there is probably nothing they can do.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
The zendesk portal exists for two reasons
Ultimately they break down as the following
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
I can understand that .. however ..
D&D Beyond Forum appears to me to be more than a social space -- it has threads for customer support items too ( for response by other users, moderators, or support -- albeit the Contact Us link in the footer goes to zendesk Submit a request form at https://dndbeyond.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=602788).
D&D Beyond Forums > D&D BEYOND GENERAL >
D&D Beyond Feedback
Have any feedback you want to share? This is the place!
-- Digital Dice Set Ideas
-- Digital Dice Feedback
-- Mobile Player App Feedback
-- Mobile Compendium App Feedback
-- Combat Tracker Feedback
-- Encounter Builder Feedback
-- et.al
Bugs & Support (which is the destination of the Support Forum link in the footer)
-- Mobile Beta Testing Bugs & Support
-- Mythic Odysseys of Theros - Issues and Support Thread
-- Player Character Hit Points Not Saving
-- D&D Beyond - Pricing & Purchase FAQ
-- et.al.
Anonymous bugs and issues resolutions can be posted in the forum for all to see (or a different part of the site) including items from the zendesk site and Discord. Direct support correspondence can still be sent to the requestor.
Zendesk appears to me to be more than a customer support tool -- it has threads for social/general information too.
-- General Information
-- Billing & Subscription Assistance
-- Frequently Asked Questions
-- Account Assistance
-- Tools & Features
-- Homebrew Content
You can submit a support ticket without logging in from their link at the top -- Submit a request. Having a separate login is irrelevant unless you want to post/reply in their threads.
https://dndbeyond.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=602788
Discord is on its own, but could have redundant help info posted by moderators (general, how tos, bugs and issues resolutions, ..) in different channels.
Just more of my thoughts as to why these three can be more closely integrated, .. and how ..
-- Move zendesk threads over to D&D Beyond to create a singular forum, including a resolution thread
-- Keep zendesk Submit a Request form link on the D&D Beyond site, but make it also prominent in the Forums with a similar site design
-- Create support related channels in Discord to provide updated info on bugs and issues resolved from all three sources
Zendesk and the forums are fundamentally different software platforms. Zendesk is not a forum, it's a request/response/feedback portal with an entirely different backend to a forum. It's an industry standard piece of software. The point of the zendesk portal is to better track requests without the prominent conversations, and also privately manage customer support tickets. The forum is a social space where people can discuss issues/bugs/feature requests. Also, as I mentioned, having a portal that doesn't use your account information is good for if your account information is lost/compromised. That's just good customer service.
And as for the discord, it has support related changes, there's one for feedback, one for help using the site, and one for urgent mod attention. Again, it's a discussion space not a customer support space.
Ultimately the discord and forums serve the same purpose at different paces; discussion, conversation and interaction. The zendesk is a formalised, professional portal specifically for feedback and support.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
Thanks,
Just not seeing it from my user perspective.
Let me put it this way:
If you want to just talk ideas or concepts, you have here for a more laid back pace, and the discord for real time.
If you have a serious customer service issue, say someone has compromised your account, you can use the zendesk; you don't need to be able to access your root account to get support, and its a secure, private portal so you can disclose account information safely. Zendesk is a customer support tool specially, the forums and discord are not.
tl;dr: Forums/discord are social, zendesk is customer support. Suggestions can go through all three depending on how you want your suggestion interacted with.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
I'd add to Davedamon's response to say that while zendesk is the "official" support option, responses and resolution can take a while. Many people first post issues/support needs in these forums. A lot of the time, volunteers here can answer the question/suggest fixes more quickly than support staff can. Some things we can't handle, and then we encourage folks to use the support options on zendesk.
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
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