Volunteer Help Desk

A small help desk where community volunteers answer in public, escalate to staff, and train the next helpers.

5 categories
19 channels
7 roles
Small

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Server structure

Channels

READ FIRST

desk-rules
Be patient, be specific, say thanks. The full rules are pinned.
how-to-ask
What a good question includes: what you did, what you expected, what happened, a screenshot.
desk-news
Changes to the desk, new helpers and known problems.

HELP FLOOR

ask-here
One thread per question. A helper will tag it as they work on it.
quick-questions5s slowmode
One-liners that do not need a thread.
private-help
Account details or anything personal. Open a ticket from the panel.
Help Desk Voice

LOUNGE

lounge
Everything that is not a question. Keep the Help Floor for help.
AFK

HELPER ROOM

helper-lounge
Helpers only. Who is covering the floor, what keeps coming up.
volunteer-codeHidden from @everyone
What helpers commit to: accuracy over speed, escalate when unsure, never guess about accounts.
helper-trainingHidden from @everyone
Guides for common problems and the answers we give. Staff maintain it.
escalationsHidden from @everyone
Thread link plus one line on what was tried. Staff reply in the thread.
trainee-questions
Not sure about an answer? Ask here before you post it.
Helper Huddle

STAFF DESK

staff-desk
Staff only. Escalated cases, policy and who is on the desk.
helper-applicationsHidden from @everyone
Vetox posts Helper applications here.
helper-reviews
One thread per trainee: what they answered well, what to work on, when to promote.
staff-logHidden from @everyone
Vetox posts moderation and role logs here.

Roles

Desk LeadAdministrator
StaffModerator
Senior HelperModerator
Helper
Trainee Helper
Muted

Overview

A help desk for a community that answers its own questions: the users of an app, a hobby with a steep learning curve, a language-learning group or a modding scene. Volunteers do the answering in public, staff step in only when a volunteer asks them to, and the structure keeps those two layers distinct. Help Floor is where a member arrives: #how-to-ask explains what a good question includes, #ask-here is a forum tagged Open, Being answered, Answered and Needs staff so a volunteer can see at a glance what still needs a reply, and #quick-questions takes the one-liners that do not deserve a thread. The Help Desk Voice room is for the walkthroughs that are faster to show than to type. Helper Room is hidden from members: #escalations is where a Helper hands a case to staff, #helper-training holds the guides new helpers read, and #trainee-questions is where a Trainee Helper asks without looking unsure in front of the person they are helping. Staff have a small hidden desk with #helper-applications for Applications submissions and #helper-reviews for deciding who gets promoted.

When to use it

Your community has a handful of regulars who answer everyone's questions for free, and they are burning out because nothing distinguishes them from the crowd, staff only hear about a problem when it has already gone wrong, and new volunteers learn by guessing. This layout gives helpers a room of their own, a clear channel to escalate in, a training shelf and a trainee stage, so helping becomes a role people grow into rather than a habit they quietly drop.

What makes it different

#ask-here is a forum whose tags show which questions are Open, Being answered, Answered or Needs staff.
#escalations is Helper-only: a volunteer hands a case to staff without the member ever seeing the handover.
#trainee-questions lets Trainee Helpers ask other helpers before they answer a member.
The Help Desk Voice room exists for the walkthroughs that are faster to show than to type.

Recommended Vetox setup

Applications
Create a Helper application form whose submissions land in #helper-applications, so staff review candidates in one place before granting Trainee Helper.
Tickets
Keep one ticket panel in #private-help for questions that involve an account or a personal detail; everything else stays public in #ask-here.
Reminders
Post a weekly Reminder in #helper-lounge asking who is covering the Help Floor this week, so escalations never wait on a helper who is away.
Leveling
Use a Leveling threshold as the floor for who may apply to be a Helper; a level earned on the Help Floor proves presence before staff read the application.

Questions

What can a Helper do that a member cannot?

See the Helper Room, post in #escalations and #helper-lounge, and read #helper-training. Helpers keep member permissions on the Help Floor; the Senior Helper role adds message management and thread control there so a stale thread can be closed.

How does a case reach staff?

A Helper posts the thread link in #escalations with one line on what has been tried. Staff answer in that thread, or move it to a ticket from #private-help if it involves account details. The member is told in their own thread that staff have it.

Do I need the trainee stage at all?

Only if you promote volunteers regularly. If your helpers are three long-time regulars, delete Trainee Helper and #trainee-questions and the rest of the layout works unchanged.

Common mistakes

Giving volunteers moderator powers because they answer a lot of questions; helping and moderating are different jobs, and Helper stays a member role here.
Letting the Help Floor become general chat, which buries the questions helpers are meant to find.

Consider instead

Product Support Hub Your support is staffed by a paid team with tickets as the main channel, rather than volunteers answering in public.

Do you have any doubts?

Our team is there for you

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