How to Ask Smart Questions on Forums
23 Jan 2019
How to Ask Smart Questions on Forums
As a budding programmer, undoubtly there have been times when you get stuck on a couple of lines of code and you simply cannot figure out for the life of you what is wrong. So what can you do? Ask for help! To take to the internet and ask everyone what you have to do to fix this issue. Recently I have read an instruction manual (actually just an essay) on how to ask questions effectively on forums, called “How To Ask Questions The Smart Way” by Eric Steven Raymond. From this essay I have learned what it takes to solve a problem using assistance and how to let that assistance do its magic.
One of the simplest yet most important realizations that I have come to is that you are asking real people for help on your forums, and that they answer questions on their own volition. These people kindly take time out of their day to answer such questions and when it comes down to it, they don’t want to feel like the time that they spent answering a question would be wasted. Now if they have to give up time to answer questions, why would they do it voluntarily? Well, it turns out that more knowledgeable people enjoy a little intellectual challenge, and also they feel satisfaction in the idea that they are helping someone learn. They would feel like they would be wasting their time if they feel like their solution would only fix a temporary problem for someone else, meaning, if they just fix a problem but don’t teach the person how to avoid this mistake in the future, not much would result from their solution.
Don’t look like a waste of time
One way that lets eager answerers know that you aren’t worth answering is to see a lack of motivation. If someone is not internally motivated to fix their mistake, they are unlikely to take each problem as a learning experience. To prove your motivation, you should show that you have already tried everything you could think of. Not only does this prove that you tried, but is still stuck on this problem, it also gives the answerer an idea of what doesn’t work. Raymond recommended to always do certain things before confirming that you need to ask the internet for an answer, such as reading any manual you can, searching the internet for existing answers, asking someone you know for help, but of course, the first thing you should try is to really look at your problem and try anything you think could work. The reason why asking someone you know is more likely to be helpful in certain situations is because they are more likely to be involved with the same program and either got stuck on a similar problem or already knows a solution and has a better judgement on what you should know.
How to ask a question the “smart” way
Raymond also noted that you should be conscious of where you post a potential question. It would be more likely answered if you ask a community in a that is involved with your issue. He also compels the reader to search for the answer before asking yourself. It would give you an answer quicker than waiting for a response and to an answerer, it is frustrating to see a question when the question has already been asked, answered, and posted on the internet.
Now onto how to format a “smart” question. You have to ask a question that someone can answer, by that I mean, you have to give enough information for someone to answer. Before asking your question, they have no idea what you are trying to do and to them, this question is almost like a riddle, being given bits and pieces to an answer that they have to put together, but you want them to get it right. Make it the easiest riddle you can for them then they can help you. To make sure that they can understand what you are asking of them, make sure you give an specific question, you might catch yourself talking about a problem, but if you don’t ask an actual question, the forum user won’t know what to answer. Make sure that when you ask a question, ask a the answerer to fill a gap in your understanding rather than to just do the entire thing. Asking specific questions are easier to answer if they are clear.
To explain to the reader what your situation is, detail the symptoms of your problem. Do not just write your own guesses of what is going on without telling the reader exactly what is happening otherwise. Explain anything you think that could be helpful, but make sure you still keep things easily followable or concise. Also, explain things in chronological order, when problems started occurring and what kinds of things you tried when. If you detail things chronologically, there is a chance that a forum user could pick out the exact moment where the problem started and what caused it.
You would increase your chances of having your question read if you have a good title. Preferably, the title gives some insight on the problem or pose a question. A good title has a certain level of depth. This one is a little tough to explain but I think it would be easier to explain what not to do. For example, don’t make a vague title, having a vague title shows that you don’t have an unclear and difficult question to answer. A relatively detailed title brings people in because if they see details in the title with things they are familiar with, they feel like they could be capable of answering the question.
It is also beneficial if you compose yourself well. It is easier to respect your efforts if you have good grammar, if you are polite, and if you are not desperate. If you have good grammar, it shows that you put effort into asking the question and care enough about asking the question to present it well. Being polite is much the same way. As for seeming desperate, begging doesn’t help your readers answer your question, it can get distracting and if you don’t compose yourself, it would be easy for you to leave out details or ask for a question that is way too broad or vague.
If your question is answered, make sure you follow up on it. If someone’s solution didn’t work, give a reply, someone else will probably give your question another try. But even if it did work, make sure you say so, and thank the person. It would prevent future unnecessary answers and it would tell people with the same question that this solution does work.
Examples:
Good example This is a good question since the user asks a clear question and explains his situation very well. He explains what he wants to accomplish. He shows that he put effort in trying to reach his own conclusion and in his explanation.
Meh example This is an example of a bad question because he is essentially asking “how do you do the whole thing,” indicating that he hasn’t put much effort and didn’t make any headway to finding his own answer. Since his answer has a broad scale, it makes the question vague.