[Community] How to ask a good question?

Question

How do I ask a good question?

We’d love to help you. To improve your chances of getting an answer, here are some tips:

Search, and research first

Even if you don't find a useful answer elsewhere on the site, including links to related questions that haven't helped can help others in understanding how your question is different from the rest.

Write a title that summarizes the specific problem

The title is the first thing potential answerers will see, and if your title isn't interesting, they won't read the rest. So make it count:

• Pretend you're talking to a busy colleague and have to sum up your entire question in one sentence: what details can you include that will help someone identify and solve your problem? Include any error messages, what plugins/theme are you using if necessary, or unusual circumstances that make your question different from similar questions already on the site.
   
• Spelling, grammar and punctuation are important! Remember, this is the first part of your question others will see - you want to make a good impression. If you're not comfortable writing in English, ask a friend to proof-read it for you.
   
• If you're having trouble summarizing the problem, write the title last - sometimes writing the rest of the question first can make it easier to describe the problem.

 Examples:

• Bad: Can't I use HTML??
• Good: How can I use HTML on Comments to insert images?
• Bad: [php] privileges doubt
• Good: How can I show Select Answer button to different users based on their user privileges?
• Bad: Plugin mobile problems
• Good: On-Site-Notifications plugin is not working with SnowFlat theme on mobile devices. How to fix it?

Introduce the problem before you post any code

In the body of your question, start by expanding on the summary you put in the title. Explain how you encountered the problem you're trying to solve, and any difficulties that have prevented you from solving it yourself. The first paragraph in your question is the second thing most readers will see, so make it as engaging and informative as possible.

Help others reproduce the problem

Not all questions benefit from including code. But if your problem is with plugins, a theme, or code you've written, you should include some. But don't just copy in your entire program! Not only is this likely to get you in trouble if you're posting your premium plugin, theme or employer's code, it likely includes a lot of irrelevant details that readers will need to ignore when trying to reproduce the problem. Here are some guidelines:

• Include just enough code (or theme and plugins) to allow others to reproduce the problem.
   
• If it is possible to view a live example of the problem, include a link where this is happening on your Q2A community.
   
• DO NOT post images of code, data, error messages, etc. - copy or type the text into the question. Please reserve the use of images for diagrams or demonstrating rendering bugs, things that are impossible to describe accurately via text.

Include all relevant tags

Try to include a tag for the problem, plugin, theme, and specific topic your question relates to. If you start typing in the tags field, the system will suggest tags that match what you've typed - be sure to make sure they're relevant to the question you're asking! See also: What are tags, and how should I use them?

Proof-read before posting!

Now that you're ready to ask your question, take a deep breath and read through it from start to finish. Pretend you're seeing it for the first time: does it make sense? Try reproducing the problem yourself, in a fresh environment and make sure you can do so using only the information included in your question. Add any details you missed and read through it again. Now is a good time to make sure that your title still describes the problem!

Post the question and respond to feedback

After you post, leave the question open in your browser for a bit, and see if anyone comments. If you missed an obvious piece of information, be ready to respond by editing your question to include it. If someone posts an answer, be ready to try it out and provide feedback!

Look for help asking for help

In spite of all your efforts, you may find your questions poorly-received. Don't despair! Learning to ask a good question is a worthy pursuit, and not one you'll master overnight. Here are some additional resources that you may find useful:

How to debug plugin conflicts
Meta discussions on asking questions

Answer 1

Old Notice regarding uprising spam bots

With the uprising state of spam bots on the Q2A community, I feel it's time to create this post so we can all better manage this community. 

Every since I started helping managing the community, I've noticed an increase on spam bots coming up with smarter ways to bypass Moderation and the New Posts Review Page trying to pass as a person.
They'll gather key words from a page, and auto generate an answer or a question based on those key words and topics. Sometimes it's hard to tell if it's a bot or a real person, but usually the question appears to be broad and doesn't really make sense. 
Here's an example of these types of questions:

Robots.txt file can not be modified or removed
How you realize these things and put Uncompromised Robots.txt into practice you not only set yourself up to have the necessary help around when you require it.

Sometimes they come with random links and they're easy to spot, but sometimes they make it hard to spot. They might look plausible at first, but if you pay close attention you will notice the diference and a pattern emerges, as you review dozens of these type of questions everyday.

So help us make this a better community, follow the steps above on "How do I ask a good question?" so we can have a better, cleaner community and keep helping you with your Q2A related questions. And if you bump into one of these, please flag it for moderation, or link this post as a comment, if you think their question is too broad/unclear.