xem technical issues - where to go?

[bitPotato44]

Hi, I am trying to get a better understanding of xem since I have had 3 transactions dissappear on me.
I tried joining https://forum.nem.io/ but was rejected because of my IP. I am in Canada btw.
Where should I go to get technical answers to my questions?

[cryptodagger]

Maybe your ip address is blacklisted in their website,did you contact their customer support? i personally dont believe in NEM but you are not the first person complaint about this coin,

[manoj6233]

NEM charts look set up to shoot higher on a technical breakout! NEM's XEM coin tested it's historical all-time high resistance price of $0.30 in mid August and finally broke through at the end of the month. XEM has since retraced back to its 23.6% Fibonacci level, also at $0.30, which is calculated off the previous lows and tested support price of $0.10 earlier this summer
Following market turmoil, ICO bans and broad Alt-coin selloffs this past week, XEM found support from its recent upward trend and is looking poised to breakout again to retest the highs near $36.
NEM is an interesting project has been growing rapidly in popularity, particularly with it's multi-signature contract capability and proof of importance "harvesting" method of delegating coin for rewards.

[bitPotato44]

I doubt I am blacklisted, I have never been to their site and have not been on many forums, and have had no history of getting even argumentative on the net.

Yes, I am becoming very disenchanted with this coin. I have had no real issues with other coins and I have used many, but this one keeps bringing up big problems for me.

Maybe someone here could answer a few questions for me.

1) Where do I check to see if the XEM network is overloaded?

2) Where do I check to see if the transaction has been confirmed?
I am just posting this as an example.
http://chain.nem.ninja/#/transfer/1df15e0eba31468038b8866cc6fdfe43a53738ad065a633c534c292321dbbd2b

3) If an exchange does not specify if the message should be encrypted, should I assume yes?

4) In that case, if I did not encrypt it would the transaction fail? And would the exchange still have my funds?

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!