We try to provide support for most OS repositories registered on Github, however divided into two categories. If the project has registered on our platform, the support is more extensive, as this means we have established a connection directly to the core team of the project. For the unregistered proejcts, the support is more limited, due to lack of such connection. Users are encouraged to request a core team connection for any OS project they want help for. It is completely free for them to do so, and done from the support landing page of the repository in question. In the same way, helpers are encouraged to request validation for any OS project they have expertise within.
It is recommend that you have a Discord account, as we try to use your Discord online status to see whether you are available for tasks. You will then get notifications about new tickets, in the helper channel(s) you will be added to. If the repository is registered and has an active Discord server, the channel will be at the repository´s Discord server. If not, it could be created a channel at Githelp´s server.
You will find information on how to use the service both on our website and in this documentation. If you have any additional questions or struggles, we are avilable and ready to help out with any assistance.
When you have registered, and is validated for at least one repository, you can start to accept any incoming tickets. Githelp will then coordinate everything related to scheduling, payments and ticket details for you.
A person in need of support submits a ticket, by using the the support landing page of the OS project in question, or by interacting with the Githelp support assistant at the project´s Discord server, if it is installed there.
When a ticket is submitted, all helpers approved by the repository are notified in the Discord helper channel and/or email. This could be only yourself, or a group of people that is validated. The first one to claim the ticket is assigned to it. This is done by either tapping “Claim ticket” in the Discord helper channel, or by being the first person who responds to the email. Make sure to only claim tickets that suits your comptence and experience.
The helper who claims the ticket follow the instructions given by Githelp. A link to connect the person who asked for help with the helper is provided as a part of this process. If the person in need of help asked for instant support, the helper who claimed the ticket should access the link within 3 minutes after the ticket was claimed. The help is given by either text chat, voice or video, based on the helpee´s preferences.
Upon entering the link that connects the helper with the person in need of help, help/support is given. You are encoruaged to be as service-minded and helpful as possible, as we want to give every user a good experience and make them return to the service for future issues.
Registering for Githelp is completely free for both individual users and businesses/organizations. An invoice is only shared, if an individual - privately or through their employer - has engaged an expert in helping with a particular issue. There are no other costs for them related to using the service.
Community help and AI-support through the Githelp assistant, are services that are free to use. There are no costs associated with using these functionalities.
As a helper, your compensation stems from any support you provide. All fees paid for expert help is split between the helper who gave the support, the OS project and Githelp. In addition all fees come with a transaction fee from Stripe, equivalent to the cost we have of making the transaction. The compensation to the helper always makes up anywhere from 73-98% of the paid amount. The compensation rate for each OS project will be transparent to you.
As mentioned in the previous section, if a user creates a ticket and actively engages an expert, the user is charged a fee when someone claims their ticket and help is initiated. The fee paid is the basis for the helper´s compensation.
The compensation rate is mainly dependent on two factors; First, if it is the first 5000 USD worth of support for a particular repository, Githelp takes no fee, making the amount split between the repository and the helper larger. And second, the rate the repository decides to take for itself. The repository is eligble to set aside anything between 0-15% of any transaction as a part of their own commission and funding. The chosen rate can vary from repository to repository. This gives us the following splitting of the fee:
Helper - 73-98% (depending on what share the specific repository takes, and whether it is the first 5000 USD of support, without any Githelp fee)
Repository - 0-15% (depending on what share the specific repository takes)
Stripe - 2% (estimated transaction fee)
Githelp - 0-10% (depending on whether it is the first 5000 USD of support or not for a specific repository)
All compensations are processed through Stripe, and is currently paid out after each completed ticket. In time this will be done on a monthly basis in order to limit the administration. When processing any payouts, Githelp also shares documentation for the payout in question, as well as a monthly payout report for all payouts within a calandar month.
Registering for Githelp is completely free. The only costs related to Githelp for you as a helper are the commission Githelp takes when coordinating a support ticket that surpasses 5,000 USD in total transactions for a specific repository (10%), any commission taken by the repository itself, and the Stripe transaction fee (2%).
Githelp is currently at an early stage, but we have great plans for the coming months. We hope that our platform can grow and evolve with the community and its users.
On a high level, we are planning for the following development and feature introductions:
Slack-assistant - Assistant that can be installed in your own Slack - November 27, 2024
Statistics dashboard that you can log into - November 27, 2024
VS Code GPT extension - Githelp available as a part of the GPT-service in VS Code - November 27, 2024
If you have other ideas on what we should focus on, let us know. We appreciate any engagement from the community. Also thoughts related to the already listed features are highly appreciated.
If there are any particular features you are extra interested in, and want to be an early tester/user of, let us know. We will in that case put you on the list of early notifications.