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32 changes: 16 additions & 16 deletions how-to-answer-a-question.md
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Expand Up @@ -5,37 +5,37 @@ Thank you for wanting to answer questions! This is how we grow as a community :)
1. Make sure the question follows the "how-to-ask-a-good-question" guide
2. Make sure your answer unblocks the user
3. Remember, this is living documentation!
4. Format your answers, like in the `how-to-ask-a-question` guide.

4. Format your answers, like in the `how-to-ask-a-question` guide.

# 1. Make sure the question follows the "how-to-ask-a-good-question" guide

If the question is poorly formatted and you know how to reformat it reformat it and ask them next time to format their code.
If the question is poorly formatted and you know how to reformat it, then go ahead and reformat it. Then, politely ask the person to format their code properly in future questions.

If the question is posted in the wrong place (like a theoretical question posted on stackoverflow) kindly let them know that it's in the wrong place.
If a question is posted in the wrong place, such as a theoretical question posted on Stack Overflow, please kindly inform the poster that it's in the wrong place.

If the question has already been asked and answered, answer with a link to the question that has already been asked and answered and ask if that solves the problem.
If a question has already been asked and answered, please provide a link to the original question and answer, and ask if that solves the problem.

If the problem has a poor title, doesn't make sense to others, etc, feel free to edit the question to what does if you can understand it. If not, you can answer saying "I don't quite understand what you're asking, could you reformat your question following the "how to ask a question" guide?
If a question has a poor title or doesn't make sense to others, feel free to edit it to something that you can understand. If you cannot understand it, you can answer by saying, "I don't quite understand what you're asking. Could you reformat your question following the 'how to ask a question' guide?"

If they used screenshots, feel free to ask them to copy-paste the code.
If the question includes screenshots, kindly ask them to provide the code in a copy-pasteable format.

Or, feel free to ignore it. This is a community run forum and no one is "entitled to" answers! Be nice, be respectful, and have fun. But if you do know how to help someone, a little "could you please refactor your question" can go a long way!
However, it's also okay to ignore it. This is a community-run forum, and no one is "entitled to" answers. Please remember to be respectful and nice to others. If you do know how to help someone, a little "could you please reformat your question" can go a long way!

### Don't feel obliged to help right away if they are not asking well-formatted questions. Make them ask a well-formatted question first before you answer!
### If someone is not asking a well-formatted question, don't feel obliged to help them right away. Encourage them to ask a well-formatted question first before answering

But don't be a jerk about it. If they just need a little formatting touch up, just touch up their question for them.
However, please remember to be respectful and polite when doing so. If their question just needs a little formatting touch-up, you can kindly touch up their question for them.

# 2. Make sure your answer unblocks them
# 2. Ensure your answer helps them

Often times, people will ask questions where the answer might be X, but they are trying to do Y. Try to anticipate what people are trying to do. Answer the question at face value, and then maybe give more information on where to go next.
Sometimes, people ask questions where they might be trying to do something different than what they're asking. In such cases, try to anticipate what they're trying to achieve. Answer the question at face value and then provide additional information on where to go next.

Often, giving a summary of your answer at the top with copy pasteable code, and then a "more information" is a best practice.
It's often helpful to provide a summary of your answer at the top along with copy-pasteable code. You can also add a "more information" section to your answer to provide additional details.

# 3. Remember this is living documentation!

Treat it as such. Go back and update answers if you find them!
Keep in mind that this documentation is dynamic!
Treat it as a living document and revisit your answers to update them as needed."

# 4. Format your answers, like in the `how-to-ask-a-question` guide.
# 4. Format your answers, like in the `how-to-ask-a-question` guide.

See that guide for more information.
See that guide for more information.
44 changes: 22 additions & 22 deletions how-to-ask-a-question.md
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@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
# How to ask a question
# How to ask a question

> Note: Before reading this, you might want to read my guide on [top 6 tips to solve any software engineering error](https://medium.com/better-programming/top-6-tips-to-solve-any-software-engineering-error-a794a162fcaf).

Also note, take this pledge: "I solemnly swear that after asking a question I will spend at least 5 minutes trying to answer someone else's question. I will consult the 'How to answer a question' page before I do so. "

The internet is our documentation, and we want to treat is as such. **Every** *specific* question we have *should* be able to be found by typing it into a web search bar.
The internet is our documentation, and we want to treat is as such. **Every** _specific_ question we have _should_ be able to be found by typing it into a web search bar.

Now, there are no "bad" questions, but there are poorly-formatted questions. A poorly formatted question has a low chance of being answered, poor chance of being discovered, and can "clutter up" forums and discussion boards. So let's make sure we strive for well-formatted questions!

Expand All @@ -20,24 +20,23 @@ Here are the steps to ask a well-formatted question:
6. Make sure you copy paste your code instead of using screenshots
7. Make sure your code is a minimal example


# 1. Search to see if the question has already been asked

## Do not skip this step!

We should think of the internet as one giant document. If a question has already been asked and you can find it on the first page of your search engine, it's good! Don't ask the question again!
We should consider the internet as one giant document. If a question has already been asked and you can find the answer on the first page of your search engine, that's great! There's no need to ask the question again.

And if it's not on the first page of your search results, then **yes, you should 100% ask the question on a forum even if you know the answer.**
However, if the answer is not on the first page of your search results, then **you should definitely ask the question on a forum, even if you know the answer.**

We want every tech question ever to be:
Our goal is to have every tech question to be :

1. Indexed by search engines
2. Easy to find
3. Easy to reproduce
3. Easy to reproduce.

So that in 6 months when you forget the answer, you can just google it and it'll show up!
This way, if you forget the answer in 6 months, you can simply search for it on Google and it will appear.

We don't want there to be multiple questions, because that can fragment where people look! We want to add answers, comments, etc all in one place
We don't want multiple questions about the same topic, as it can scatter information across different sources. Rather, we want to consolidate all answers, comments, and discussions in one place.

# 2. Know where to post your question

Expand All @@ -53,11 +52,11 @@ These are what we strive for. These are reproducible questions that help the wor

- The "Q&A" discussions section of this course
- stackoverflow
- stack exchange ETH.
- stack exchange ETH.

These are questions that typically can have a "right" or "many right answers". Generally, these are not very opinionated questions.
These are questions that typically can have a "right" or "many right answers". Generally, these are not very opinionated questions.

These are questions like "How to convert bytes32 to uint256".
These are questions like "How to convert bytes32 to uint256".

## Generic Theoretical Questions

Expand All @@ -77,34 +76,39 @@ These are very specific use cases and 99% of your questions will not be these ki
- Email
- etc

And should be used *very* sparingly.
And should be used _very_ sparingly.

# 3. Make a title that summarizes the problem

It should be minimal, searchable, indexable (by search engines).

## Examples:

Bad:

- I'm stuck, please help

Good:

- Could Not Detect Network using WSL & Ganache

Bad:

- hardhat error

Good:

- TypeError: Cannot read property 'length' of undefined - when deploying contract

# 4. Introduce the problem before writing any code

In the body of the question, say what you're trying to do, what you've done, and give a summary of your problem.
When asking a question, it's important to provide details about what you're trying to do, what you've done so far, and a brief summary of the problem you're facing.

With this course in the discussions tab, you may also give a timestamp of where you're getting the issue (in fact, please give a timestamp with a link to the location in the video).
If you're asking a question related to a specific course, you can also include a timestamp in the discussions tab to indicate where you're experiencing the issue. Please include a link to the location in the video as well."

# 5. Make sure you format code using backticks (```) and a language tag

You'll want to format your question so it's as easy as possible to read! Especially with your code snippets.
To ensure your question is easy to read, it's important to format it properly, especially when including code snippets.

Your code should show up like this:

Expand All @@ -120,13 +124,12 @@ In your question, you'll type it like this:
```
````

If it doesn't get formatted, you can edit your question (usually, you can click the three little dots at the top right of your question) to make it formatted nicely.
If your question isn't formatted properly, you can edit it to make it more readable. Usually, you can do this by clicking on the three dots located at the top-right corner of your question and formatting it nicely.

# 6. Make sure you copy paste your code instead of using screenshots

We want web crawlers to index every word you write, so even copy paste errors (and format them with 3 backticks!)


# 7. Make sure your code is a minimal example

There are two types of code questions:
Expand All @@ -149,11 +152,8 @@ Hi I'm confused my code isn't working here is all my code
I'm getting `error x` on line 42 of my code:

```javascript
const some_var = "dog"
const some_var = "dog";
// this is the line that is erroring
```

[More information on reproducible code.](https://stackoverflow.com/help/minimal-reproducible-example)