(I hope its Ok to seek this sort of guidance here)
I have a couple of questions that are connected - is it better to ask them separately (which is more specific / focused), or together? Concerned asking them separately looks like gaming the system.
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1Depends on your take on "connected". Are you genuinely asking two different things in one question? That'd be room enough to ask two questions.– MakotoDec 14, 2013 at 22:55
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meta.stackexchange.com/questions/122174/…– randomDec 14, 2013 at 22:55
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3If in doubt, ask them separately. Multiple-questions-in-one aren't a good fit for the system.– PekkaDec 14, 2013 at 23:01
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Nice to see you back on SO @RFlack :) Once you have a repo of 15+ you can ask minor questions/doubts in chat instead. The chat is more friendly than the site (as it should be).– shad0w_wa1k3rDec 15, 2013 at 0:22
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2 Answers
Don't worry to much about gaming the system if your intentions are good. If your questions are individually well researched, composed and presented, then by all means post them separately. That way, if some are weaker than others, the weak ones don't drag the good ones down, you still have a chance of getting great answers for the great parts, and you get directed feedback on what isn't so great so you can improve it.
Just be sure each question stands on its own. If you have to add "table of contents" links to all the questions, you're probably doing it wrong. Take it slow, one step at a time.
I'd say that if you think it is useful for either you or other SO users to have one answered independently of the other, then separate them.
This could be the case, for example, if one has a straightforward answer and the other might not. Or if the comments and answers to one are more involved.
As @Makoto suggested, it depends on how coupled the questions --- or their answers --- are. Certainly, if you do separate them, and if each adds to the understanding of the other, then cross-reference between them.
If understanding either is improved by handling them together, then do that.
In sum, this cannot be answered well in the abstract. It all depends on the relations between the questions (including how connected they are), on their difficulty, and on what your goals are.
