[tor-project] ebanam's monthly status report and user support report for October 2023

[ebanam]

Hello everyone!

With three stable Tor Browser releases (two for desktop, one for
Android), much of my work focussed on user support around these
releases. Prior to the release of Tor Browser 13, I worked to review and
update our user-facing documentation on Tor Browser User Manual[0].

I also handled some tickets from users reaching out for support and
questions about Tor in light of the launch of the year-end campaign[1].
The questions range from, "where can I download Tor Browser from?", "I
can't reach xyz.com", "this particular onion service isn't
working","apart from donating, can I contribute with
ideas/suggestions?", etc.

In October, we closed many tickets that were already resolved, but they
were in the 'open' queue. We also had some private bridge "country code"
requests that ended up being basic troubleshooting problem. And finally,
many tickets were created by a few users trying to get new bridges. So
each ticket that we closed was marked as 'resolved' hence showing up in
the numbers although counted just once in the breakdown.

Following is a thorough breakdown of tickets our user support team
handled in October:

# Frontdesk (email support channel)

* 965(↑) RT tickets created
* 1280(↑) RT tickets resolved

Tickets by numbers:

1. 204(↓) RT tickets: private bridge requests from Chinese speaking users.
2. 174(↓) RT tickets: circumventing censorship in Russian speaking countries.
3. 27 RT tickets: user support and common Tor questions in aftermath of launch of YEC.
4.  9(↑) RT tickets: circumventing censorship with Tor in Farsi.
5.  8(↑) RT tickets: help with installing and troubleshooting Tor Browser on Linux.
6.  4 RT tickets: All saved passwords lost after updating to Tor Browser 13.0.[2]
7.  3 RT tickets: Tor Browser 13 (lyrebird) not working with Windows 7.[3]
8.  3 RT tickets: Questions about internships and volunteering with Tor.[4]
9.  1 RT ticket: Tor Browser empties clipboard while shutting down.[5]
10. 1 RT ticket: Tor Browser detected as malware on Windows.[6]

# Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal Support channel

*  681(↑) tickets resolved

Breakdown:

* 633(↑) tickets on Telegram
* 34(↑) tickets on WhatsApp
* 14(↑) tickets on Signal

Tickets by numbers:

1. 370(↑) tickets: circumventing censorship in Russian speaking
countries.
2. 37(↑) tickets: circumventing censorship with Tor in Farsi.
3. 30(↑) tickets: private bridge requests from Chinese speaking users.
4. 3(↓) tickets: Tor Browser detected as malware on Windows

# Highlights from the Tor Forum

1. Call for testers: Webtunnel, a new way to bypass censorship with Tor
Browser.[7]
2. PSA: Updated Tor User Support office hours (2023)[8]
3. Tor Browser no longer flagged by Windows Defender[6]

Thanks!
e.

Note: (↑), (↓) and (-) are indicative if the number of tickets we
received for these topics have been increasing, decreasing or have been
the same from the previous month respectively.

[0]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/web/manual/-/issues/150
[1]: https://blog.torproject.org/2023-fundraiser-make-a-donation-to-Tor/
[2]: https://forum.torproject.org/t/saved-passwords-gone-after-upgrade-to-tor-browser-13-0/9715
[3]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42179
[4]: https://community.torproject.org/
[5]: https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/issues/42154
[6]: https://forum.torproject.org/t/torbrowser-12-5-6-no-longer-flagged-by-windows-defender/9522
[7]: https://forum.torproject.org/t/call-for-testers-webtunnel-a-new-way-to-bypass-censorship-with-tor-browser/9855
[8]: https://forum.torproject.org/t/psa-updated-tor-user-support-office-hours-2023/9926