-43

In the 19 questions I asked on Stack Overflow, I came across a lot of problems.

There are/were so many things I had to look at that I sometimes even forgot what I wanted to ask. When I remembered my question, it seemed like I asked it totally wrong. Of course I got some edits, some flag-downs. And whatever vote ups and downs. Some badges here and there.

And then there's the language barrier, the typos. Did the guy who asked the question ever go to school? Does he have the money to buy all these books that should be read first? Does everyone here have the time to study?

Prejudice: many people do here, yes it gives another +1 or sometimes +4, whatever.

Not everyone here is as skilled as you, and not all will follow what you expect of someone else.

Come on people, do something about that. Give others the chance to contribute their way and don't give someone this feeling of being guilty of something.

Give the question asker some sort of preview before it goes live.

And when he thinks it is all right, and maybe with some help, post it as a live question.

This would give a more honest credit system.

I can make a much more clear "question", but I refuse; why not simply take some effort and read? And if you don't understand, simply leave. You don't have to vote. Just let it be.

13
  • 20
    Seriously, though, if you can't find the time or effort to compose a lucid sentence, the SE network may not be for you. There are plenty of other places on the Internet that are more tolerant of your need to express yourself this way.
    – user102937
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 23:45
  • 7
    Well, there is the preview pane that shows the formatted question on the "Ask Question" page... Beyond that, I have no idea what you're trying to say.
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 23:46
  • 16
    -1 for "i can make a much more clearer "question" but i refuse". Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 23:50
  • 2
    I think you're proposing a system where a question (optionally?) starts in some sort of temporary preview mode, where others can help you improve it before it goes "live". That's pretty much what posting does. If you've made some effort, other users will do what they can to help you improve it (by editing it), or to help you improve it yourself (by posting comments). (Unless of course you boast about your refusal to make yourself clear.) And no, we don't have to vote, but why on Earth shouldn't we? Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 23:54
  • 1
    Al the comments above are what i expected,and give the downvotes i expected.And all based couse of mis communication , and mostly of not can express themself in a foreign language.That there is a preview i'm aware.What i initialy ment was a system to give the OP a sign that his question is given a "green light" to be as a public question where can everyone earn his credits.
    – wHiTeHaT
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 0:00
  • 5
    If your position was that you are having difficulty regardless of your best effort, I might be more sympathetic. But by your own admission you state that you don't want to make the effort, so why should we?
    – user102937
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 0:05
  • 5
    He's basically looking for a way to find out how a question will be received before it's posted (and indicating that because of language issues, the reception is usually not positive, despite his best efforts). Granted, it's a little bit of a crystal ball request and a rant, but he's trying to be a productive member when it's obvious that English not his primary language. Unfortunately, he's right to some degree, while we can't translate for him, most people on Stack Exchange do not edit for clarity (or other reasons) even though they are perfectly capable of doing so.
    – casperOne Mod
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 0:06
  • @casperOne , in all my efford and try to understand all.i can say , you understand me.look how the comment on how i am called a troll is upvoted.This also happens when a user is editing his question,unfortunaly to late sometimes.
    – wHiTeHaT
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 0:10
  • @wHiTeHaT I can understand why you would want this. However, the community needs to put time into the question twice if there is some sort of preview system in place. There is currently a "review" system in place which lets users see a user's first posts; from there, some users are more keen on helping improve questions.
    – user176326
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 0:18
  • Not totaly true,you can put a marker to the question and let after if someone up or downvoted for that question,send the voter a message to review his vote (when it got the green light),that way you simpathize the voters credits.It would give the voter a much more serious personality. ;)
    – wHiTeHaT
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 0:23
  • @wHiTeHaT If you don't ping me I won't necessarily know you replied. The "review" of a vote can be in comments--not every user leaves one, but many do.
    – user176326
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 0:25
  • @AnnaLear thank you,sorry i cant follow this discussion at the moment anymore.i must get up soon.I work as a metalsheet-worker and i'm not a professional coder.i do this as a hobby and want to keep it fun.I dont think any of the community "owners" dont want to spoil someones fun in a hobby.couse of theire own creation.
    – wHiTeHaT
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 0:30
  • 3
    @casperOne I posted a question inspired by your comment.
    – yannis
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 0:42

3 Answers 3

15

Give the question asker some sort of preview before go live

We already have this feature, see the preview down below?

enter image description here

You can also edit when you don't notice straight away, such as I did with the quote block in this post - meaning you can possibly salvage your posts. And it's a two-way street: if people are going to take the time to even analyse your problem, not to mention aid in solving it, then they expect you to place some effort in composing it.

1
  • 2
    I believe the OP (somewhere in the middle of the great wall of text), was looking for something like the guided tour of emacs or vim (vimtutor), where you learn basic movements by using the guide to make your way through the document. Commented Feb 5, 2012 at 13:16
12

There is only one think in your question that I feel confident I understand correctly:

i can make a much more clearer "question" but i refuse,why not simply take some efford,and read. And if you dont understand,simply leave,you dont have to vote,just let it.

It doesn't work like that. When you are asking a question, you are asking for help, and the burden to clear up your question is solely up to you. Think about it, someone who reads your question is quite possibly someone who could answer it and help you solve whatever challenge you are facing. Do you want him/her to waste time trying to decipher your post? Wouldn't you much rather prefer it if (s)he invested that time in giving you a great answer?

Also, please don't take down votes personally. It's just how the system works, they say nothing about you personally. We use them to indicate that a post has quality problems, to the best of our ability. Down voted posts get more attention from higher rep users and moderators, and it's quite common for them to step up, clean up and salvage the question. Down votes, in that sense, are a force of good (imho). Please note how another user already cleaned up this question.

Every aspect of the system can be and is abused, from time to time, but generally speaking abuse is quickly identified and resolved, mostly by peer reviewing.

4
  • 5
    Ironically, your user name is probably more professional than the OP's
    – user102937
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 0:02
  • @RobertHarvey Well, I don't know about that, combined with my avatar where I'm headbanging in a Prodigy concert wearing a π t-shirt (how nerd cliche), I think it's equally juvenile :P But I like it!
    – yannis
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 0:08
  • it is translated from my native (dialect) language to english.
    – wHiTeHaT
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 0:13
  • 3
    Coincidentally, wHiTeHaT's SO profile had 42 views when I took a look at it just now. =D Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 0:41
4

Your question is a bit of a rant IMHO, but I want to pick up one one point (emphasis mine):

Give the question asker some sort of preview before it goes live

And when he thinks it is all right, and maybe with some help, post it as a live question.

This would give a more honest credit system.

I can make a much more clear "question" but I refuse, why not simply take some effort and read. And if you don't understand, simply leave, you dont have to vote, just let it be.

The points you get/lose from votes on Stack Overflow aren't credits - they're reputation, and to me there's a fundamental semantic difference. Reputation is a measure of how much the community trusts you and your questions and answers. You can't buy it: it's won or lost through the quality of your contribution, both in terms of question/answer content, and the effort you're perceived to put in.

Bluntly put, if you can't put a clear question together, or refuse (refuse!?) to do so and would rather put the burden of making your question clear and useful on the rest of the community, then the voting system means that your reputation will correctly reflect your ability and your attitude relative to the reputation of someone who has the ability to do so or can at least be bothered to try.

In that sense, reputation is perfectly named, and works very well.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .