How to effectively get your questions answered

[glc]

This is "borrowed" from the latest Expert's Exchange newsletter.

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The key to getting your questions answered in any type of Internet forum, newsgroup, or mailing list is to phrase your question in such a way that will make those you're asking WANT to answer your question. Even on Experts Exchange, the experts themselves receive almost nothing for answering your question, beyond the satisfaction of helping someone else out and the mental challenge of a new or particularly sticky problem. However, if you, the asker, have not taken the time to try to answer the question yourself, or to think through the problem with just basic problem-solving skills, we as the experts see red flags of a lengthy and time-consuming answer, and will often as not skip your question in favor of someone else who has exhibited those qualities.

The key: Do your homework to make it EASY for us to help you.

Think through your problem. If you haven't even tried to answer your own question, we'll be able to see it right away. This is one of the first questions to get skipped, because it's guaranteed to be be the tip of a large follow-up-question iceberg.
Search First. If I can find the answer in five minutes using nothing but Google, you haven't done your homework, and are a waste of my time. And when you have searched the Web, read the PAQ, and read the manual, mention it in your post. That lets us know you did your homework, and are not just a mindless newbie, expecting to be spoon-fed.
Try to remove all your assumptions before asking. "How do I get Windows to run Linux?" is a bad question, because chances are pretty good you don't want to use Windows to run Linux. Apparently, what you want is to run Linux. The assumption of starting with Windows is most likely a faulty one. Tell us what you are trying to accomplish, and what limitations you have. Don't assume you're on the right track.
Ask in the right forum and only one forum. Don't ask a question about Javascript in an ASP.NET forum or a Windows question in a C++ forum. If you haven't at least narrowed down the specific area or technology in which the problem occurs, it's pretty much a sure thing you haven't done #1.
Reduce your code to the simplist possible configuration that still presents the problem. This helps two ways. First, just doing this often helps the problem area to present itself, and your question will be answered before you ask it; and second, we do not want to read through 200 lines of irrelevant code to find the three lines of code that are actually the problem.
Specify the problem exactly. Start with a short description, followed by exact steps to recreate the problem, what the expected result was, and what the actual result or error was ("It didn't work" doesn't help much). Be sure to include exactly what software or languages you're using. If the problem is intermittent, specify what causes the problem to come and go (as well as you can), or mention that you can't figure out what causes the discrepancy.
Briefly (!) describe what solutions you've already tried. This lets us know you've put some effort into it, and also gives greater clues as to what the problem might be.
Read your own post - carefully! Make sure you post is spelling- and grammatically-correct. Leave your l33t-speak for your teen-age friends on IM. Make sure you've said exactly what you needed to say, and remove anything that doesn't relate to the question at hand. If we can't understand what you're asking, chances are pretty low you'll get an answer.
Write a message subject that reflects your question or at least the topic. Subjects of HELP!!!! or URGENT!!!! are useless. Your subject line is your first chance to engage our interest. Don't waste it.
Describe the raw symptoms, not your conclusions. You're asking for help, so obviously you don't know what the problem is. List symptoms in the order they occured. The only exception is listing possible conclusions that you have tried and eliminated.
Ask a question, don't make a statement. You'd think this was obvious, but apparently not. Wrong: "I can't get this code to work." Right: "My code is throwing error 33, but I don't have any files involved. Does anyone know another reason error 33 would show up?"
Think about what answer you want to receive. Don't ask a yes-or-no question unless you want a yes-or-no answer. Don't assume the answerer will want to expound, or be able to read your mind as to which area you want them to expound into. Wrong: "Is it possible to create a mortgage calculator in Coldfusion?" (Answer:yes) Right: "What's a good algorithm for calculating variable-rate mortgages?"
Assume you're the one doing something wrong, and take a humble, courteous attitude. Even if you secretly think the error is someone else's, it's better to be proven right, and get an apology from the person in the wrong, than to be arrogant and rude, and have to be the one to apologize if you're wrong.
Avoid the "Can I...?" question. For example, "Can I pass in a boolean to the DeleteTree() function?" Try it. Did it work? Then the answer is "yes." If not, the answer is "no." Don't bother us with this.
Avoid large-scale "How do I..." questions. "How do I?" questions are very often violations of rule #1 to begin with. But large scale ones are impossible to answer. This medium is not appropriate for long discourse. If we can't answer your question in a paragraph or two, we won't answer it. Wrong: "How do I make an e-commerce site?" Right:"What are the advantages of Motley's Paradigm over RFT-format (or vice-versa) when creating an e-commerce site in PHP?"
*
After you've asked your initial question:
*
If you don't understand a response, or have a follow-up question, use the same techniques you did in asking your question - search for the answer first, read the manuals for clues, etc. Don't assume that because someone already took the time to answer your question, they are now personally devoted to seeing you succeed.
Say Thank you. Chances are you'll have another question sometime in the future. If you "Pay" the answerer with additional satisfaction from knowing they helped someone, they'll be more likely remember your name and be eager to answer you in the future.
If you find the answer to your own question, post the results so future people can find it.

[edfair]

how about sticky?

[Panama Red]

Let's see, 1) Make this part of the Forum Rules 2) Make this a Bold Sticky at the top of each Forum 3) Make this a "Must Read and Hit Accept Button" before posting a new thread. Or, in some cases, permanently burn an image in their monitor!! Excellent find, g!

[freakitchen]

Some great points there, would certainly serve its purpose as a sticky/bold-sticky/must read. I do feel it labours the point in some places though, and could perhaps be trimmed for ease of reading, yet keeping the same message. How about this for a slightly more succinct version...

The key to getting your questions answered in any type of Internet forum, newsgroup, or mailing list is to phrase your question in such a way that will make those you're asking WANT to answer your question. Even on Experts Exchange, the experts themselves receive almost nothing for answering your question, beyond the satisfaction of helping someone else out and the mental challenge of a new or particularly sticky problem. However, if you, the asker, have not taken the time to try to answer the question yourself, or to think through the problem with just basic problem-solving skills, we as the experts see red flags of a lengthy and time-consuming answer, and will often as not skip your question in favor of someone else who has exhibited those qualities. The key: Do your homework to make it EASY for us to help you.

Think through your problem. If you haven't even tried to answer your own question, we'll be able to see it right away. This is one of the first questions to get skipped, because it's guaranteed to be be the tip of a large follow-up-question iceberg. Search First. If I can find the answer in five minutes using nothing but Google, you haven't done your homework, and are a waste of my time. And when you have searched the Web, read the PAQ, and read the manual, mention it in your post. That lets us know you did your homework, and are not just a mindless newbie, expecting to be spoon-fed. Try to remove all your assumptions before asking. "How do I get Windows to run Linux?" is a bad question, because chances are pretty good you don't want to use Windows to run Linux. Apparently, what you want is to run Linux. The assumption of starting with Windows is most likely a faulty one. Tell us what you are trying to accomplish, and what limitations you have. Don't assume you're on the right track.

Start with a short description, followed by exact steps to recreate the problem, what the expected result was, and what the actual result or error was ("It didn't work" doesn't help much). Be sure to include exactly what software or languages you're using. If the problem is intermittent, specify what causes the problem to come and go (as well as you can), or mention that you can't figure out what causes the discrepancy. Briefly (!) describe what solutions you've already tried. This lets us know you've put some effort into it, and also gives greater clues as to what the problem might be. Read your own post - carefully! Make sure you post is spelling- and grammatically-correct. Leave your l33t-speak for your teen-age friends on IM. Make sure you've said exactly what you needed to say, and remove anything that doesn't relate to the question at hand. If we can't understand what you're asking, chances are pretty low you'll get an answer. Write a message subject that reflects your question or at least the topic. Subjects of HELP!!!! or URGENT!!!! are useless. Your subject line is your first chance to engage our interest. Don't waste it. Describe the raw symptoms, not your conclusions. You're asking for help, so obviously you don't know what the problem is. List symptoms in the order they occured. The only exception is listing possible conclusions that you have tried and eliminated.

After you've asked your initial question: * If you don't understand a response, or have a follow-up question, use the same techniques you did in asking your question - search for the answer first, read the manuals for clues, etc. Don't assume that because someone already took the time to answer your question, they are now personally devoted to seeing you succeed. Say Thank you. Chances are you'll have another question sometime in the future. If you "Pay" the answerer with additional satisfaction from knowing they helped someone, they'll be more likely remember your name and be eager to answer you in the future. If you find the answer to your own question, post the results so future people can find it.

I think that cuts some of the code-specific points out of there, amongst other things...but it's merely a suggestion! Might also be worth conversion to bullet points rather than continuous prose for ease of comprehension.

FK

EDIT: On an unrelated note, any reason why you appear to have lost your 45,000+ posts, GLC???

[glc]

It's stickied for now. It was bulleted, but the bullets didn't come across in the copy/paste. We can certainly work on editing it to customize it for here. This in no way is meant to discourage newbies or technical illiterates from posting here, but part of the learning process is to try to help yourself, not be spoon fed everything. Another thing I might add - how many people realize we have a complete site here other than just the forums? PCMech.com has a whole bunch of articles that go into "how to's" in depth, I encourage everyone to take a gander sometime. The site is being redone as we speak to make things easier to find.

On the unrelated note, who gives a fat rat's butt about post count?

[mouse1]

Originally Posted by Panama Red Let's see, 1) Make this part of the Forum Rules 2) Make this a Bold Sticky at the top of each Forum 3) Make this a "Must Read and Hit Accept Button" before posting a new thread. Or, in some cases, permanently burn an image in their monitor!! Excellent find, g!

I totally agree...

[hmsatropos]

Those who need to hear it in the first place probably need to hear it in detail and at length.
Most of the good info I have picked up here I have gotten without even logging on. What little humility I have hasn't gotten in the way of learning new things in a good many years now.