Questions tagged [asking-questions]
This tag is for questions specifically about the process of asking questions on a Stack Exchange site.
2
votes
0answers
46 views
Don't show how to format code when I'm not on a programming site [duplicate]
Instructions on how to format code are the first thing you see under "How to Format" when asking a question, which is great, except when you're on a site that isn't about programming:
► create code ...
7
votes
0answers
55 views
Make error message if a new user removes or misplaces the mandatory header text of meta questions about their own post more clear
Currently, when a new user makes a meta question about their own post specifically, they are prompted to enter a link to their post, and then they are given access to the per-site meta's question ...
-11
votes
1answer
124 views
What to do when you put two days of formulating a question and it still gets downvoted? [duplicate]
I have spent hours reading, formulating practice questions, using grammar check, and studying research papers.
I have taken a break from Stack Exchange for probably 4 days, hoping that this will ...
4
votes
0answers
38 views
Guide new users away from Meta [duplicate]
There are a lot of blatantly off-topic posts put here on Meta. These are apparently people who somehow got to this site without realizing their questions about things like programming aren't supposed ...
7
votes
1answer
106 views
No “back” to translate
On the ask question page for the responsive view the word "back" is not available to translate for use on international sites. Here is the screenshot of English based site to clarify:
To see this ...
26
votes
1answer
210 views
The question wizard might be useful for Meta Stack Exchange too; should we give it a try?
tl;dr
Due to the special nature of Meta and the high rate of "lost souls", should we try out the Ask a Question Wizard here on Meta Stack Exchange too?
General idea
In case anyone doesn't know yet, ...
13
votes
2answers
198 views
Help new users with *effectively placed* guidance
(I wrote this and was pointed here to Meta.)
At Network Engineering we get very many questions which are off-topic, typically for being homework, repeats, or not fulfilling the non-obvious but quite ...
-6
votes
0answers
68 views
“You can only post once every 40 minutes”: Why is this timeout applied to a site *and* its meta? Should it be? [duplicate]
Just a few minutes ago, I went to post a question on the Android Enthusiasts meta, to ask them to make a tag for the model of phone I had just asked a question about, since it didn't exist and thus I ...
8
votes
1answer
85 views
The help center and sidebar on Meta don't indicate that site-specific questions are off-topic
On this site, we routinely get questions that are about one specific site. Oftentimes, it happens that users search for things related to their meta question, and end up discovering our site.
After ...
1
vote
1answer
116 views
Some guidance tips as a brand new user to Stack Exchange [duplicate]
I'm a brand new user to Stack Exchange and I was wondering if I could get some guidance on how this site works and how to ask questions. I have been told by my friends I need to be clear and ...
4
votes
2answers
204 views
A main-page question that can also be interpreted as a meta question. What to prepare before asking it?
(An alternative title for this question is: Is it fine to give meta advice on the main page?)
In one site, there is a question (let's call it question 1) in the form "how do I achieve X?". I give ...
-11
votes
1answer
88 views
Stack of questions to ask in future [duplicate]
Sometimes I have several questions simultaneously (for example, I'm reading a paragraph and I don't understand two parts of it) and I want to ask them in this site.
However, Stack Exchange just ...
0
votes
0answers
34 views
Page title while asking a question should be distinctive from already asked question after title has been entered
Before entering the question title↑, the page title was “Ask a Question - Meta Stack Exchange”
While asking this question, the page title adapts to what is written inside of the question title text ...
5
votes
1answer
77 views
Stats about askers and answerers in Stack Exchange
How can I get the statistics data of how many people ask questions and how many answer here? I'm curious about the distributions and seeing if more people ask than answer.
1
vote
0answers
26 views
The “suggested tags” and “similar questions” on ask question page doesn't disappear on clicking discard button
While posting a question by Ask Question, after filling title and body, based on the content there is a "suggested tags" which suggesting few tags related to the post.
In case if I want to remove the ...
0
votes
4answers
197 views
Can I ask a very specific question that can be answered with just “yes” or “no”? [duplicate]
Can I ask a very specific question whose answer only needs "yes" or "no"?
For example, I am learning a kind of knowledge, I find that there seems to be a mistake in the book (1+1=3), and I propose my ...
2
votes
1answer
71 views
Where should I post a Windows PowerShell question? [duplicate]
Should it ask it in StackOverflow, Superuser or any other site?
The question is related to how to find some files in the filesystem.
2
votes
1answer
121 views
What is the new 'Question Wizard'? [closed]
Today as I was posting a question on StackOverflow, and clicked on Ask Question, it redirected me to a 'Question Wizard'. This has never happened before. Is this new? If so, then why is it not ...
13
votes
1answer
121 views
Broken links (to meta instead of main) on meta Ask page for users under 5 reputation
Users with less than 5 reputation can only make posts on a site's meta if it's about one of their posts on that site. The Ask page displays a list of the user's most recent posts, so they can find the ...
11
votes
1answer
89 views
Please refocus on the Title field if there is an error there when asking
Over on Cryptography, I was wrapping up their recent election. When I got to the meta post announcement, it wasn't posting and I couldn't tell why:
Turns out there was already a 2018 Community ...
1
vote
0answers
50 views
Getting “You can only post once every 40 minutes.” on my first post of the day (to any SE site) [duplicate]
On my very first post to any SE site today, I was blocked by the "You can only post once every 40 minutes" message. I haven't posted to any SE site in at least 24 hours.
I have read "You can ...
2
votes
0answers
41 views
Add a reminder to search near the list of “Questions that may already have your answer”
We can often see that basically the same question is asked again and again. (Especially on bigger sites and most often by new inexperienced users.) This naturally leads to closing as duplicates, ...
11
votes
0answers
55 views
Can the advice page be customizable on each site?
The advice page seems like it could be a pretty powerful tool. When it is enabled (available by request), it is shown to new users. It also forces them to check a checkbox before proceeding (which you ...
4
votes
0answers
27 views
Minor alignment issue in the Ask Question page
In the bottom of the Ask Question page, there is a checkbox option as
Answer your own question – share your knowledge, Q&A-style
In the text content, the link "share your knowledge, Q&A-...
12
votes
0answers
143 views
Why is the “Ask a question” page still so unhelpful in 2018?
It seems to me that almost all of the drama on SO/SE is the result of "bad questions". Many thousands of programmer-hours, I'm sure, have been poured into moderation tools, voting tools, queues, tags, ...
2
votes
2answers
136 views
Pleading in the alternative when asking - Encouraged?
Before I came to SE, I haunted a more traditional, less strictly moderated forum in which it was common to plead in the alternative (if I may borrow a legal term) when asking questions. That is, ...
1
vote
2answers
132 views
If I enter the Stack Overflow site as a new person and I search for “How do I ask a question” that yields no real help in doing so
It might seem obvious to a new person to the Stack Overflow site to simply search for "How do I ask a question?" or "How do I ask a great question?" or "How do I use this site?" yet none of those ...
8
votes
1answer
113 views
No error handling for posting as a guest
Trying to post as a guest when all fields are empty shows me an error:
But if I fill at least one field (title, body, tags) I see no error message, but infinite processing indicator (I set only ...
-8
votes
1answer
163 views
Question ban algorithm formula [duplicate]
Recently we received new question about question ban: Не разблокируется возможность задавать вопросы
Member can't ask new questions, the system shows the message:
We are no longer accepting ...
3
votes
1answer
73 views
What should I do if I don't want a question to be associated with this account? [duplicate]
I have several questions that I want to ask that I don't want to be linked back to me by the people about whom I'm asking*, who might recognize my username. There are others that would require ...
-9
votes
1answer
112 views
Why won't people respond to their own answers? [closed]
I asked multiple questions on Stack Overflow and people comment on the questions, but are very vague about it, When I respond back (making sure to @ them) asking if they can give more detail or tell ...
0
votes
2answers
46 views
Where to ask for an explanation about a code puzzle answer? [closed]
Where can I ask for an explanation about this answer to a Code Golf puzzle? I understand what the code does, but I just cannot figure out the logic/reasoning behind it, despite having read several ...
1
vote
0answers
33 views
Countdown for the message “you can ask once in 40 minutes”
Instead of the static message, "you can ask only once in 40 minutes", maybe display a countdown?
40 minutes are quite long; what I do I left the tab open and retry submitting after a time I feel the ...
2
votes
0answers
32 views
Add feature to sort similar question suggestions by matching tags
Feature
On the 'Ask a question' pages, there should be a setting to the right of 'Questions that may already have your answer' that, when enabled (disabled by default), would sort the list based on ...
0
votes
2answers
122 views
As a new user on a site, what's the best way to ensure your question will be positively received?
I am primarily involved with Stack Overflow, but I occasionally need help with other things in my life and correspondingly ask questions on other sites in the Stack Exchange network.
However, the ...
4
votes
1answer
124 views
Unable to ask new questions or edit questions from Internet Explorer 11
A very recent change that has been deployed is preventing me from asking new questions or editing existing questions using Internet Explorer 11. (Yes, it is a supported browser.)
When asking a new ...
4
votes
1answer
46 views
Questionnaire for standard or common question types
I'm a core user on MusicFans, where we often get very low quality identification questions. We usually have to give the same comment over and over again, asking the querents to provide certain ...
2
votes
0answers
36 views
Saved draft of already-asked question staying in the 'ask a question' page
I had asked a question today around 8 PM (this one). After 4 hours, when I click on ask question from the Stack Overflow home page, I see my already-posted question still in the title and body input. ...
2
votes
2answers
93 views
Asking more concise questions?
I have a tendency (which I'm fighting now as we speak, but this whole parenthesis thing is a good example of it) try to way over explain myself when I ask or respond to anything pretty much. Online or ...
0
votes
2answers
236 views
“This looks like spam” error message when attempting to ask a non-spam question
I realize that similar questions have been asked, but through all of the ones I've seen, the answers seem to be specific, normally asking the author about the specific question.
I'm trying to ask in ...
6
votes
2answers
108 views
When should I avoid mentioning a seemingly relevant person or company by name?
The wording of this question on Cryptography Stack Exchange raises an interesting question on how to write questions (no pun intended):
[...] the manufacturer of a RSA key generation gizmo ...
-2
votes
2answers
174 views
Is an open-ended (but concrete) question OK? [duplicate]
Is it OK to ask a question on a Stack Exchange site that could have several different answers (like a brainstorm) or must all questions have a single, correct answer?
The help section said not to ask ...
0
votes
1answer
110 views
Cannot post another question after recently posting a question [duplicate]
I just posted a question on Stack Overflow dealing with a specific AWS Data Pipeline configuration question. I have a second unrelated AWS Data Pipeline question I also need help with, but when I ...
5
votes
1answer
39 views
Can I create two questions on a similar topic in a row?
I just created this question, asking basically for "How to do X in a table cell". I also would like to know, "How to do X in a table column". (Mentioned it in the comments)
The answers could be very ...
2
votes
1answer
38 views
What are the extraneous numbers appearing on the 'Questions that may already have your answer' feature?
When posting a new question, in the 'Questions that may already have your answer' section the question titles have an integer attached to the actual title.
I've attached screenshots to clarify:
...
1
vote
2answers
84 views
How to post a question when wanting to pass on information as opposed to ask a question?
When wanting to post on meta to facilitate communication for example:
Educating people to flag spam and not vote to close
It can be a challenge creating a question and in some instances, the answer ...
1
vote
0answers
30 views
Bug: Can't post or access my questions on Android Enthusiasts [duplicate]
So I asked a question on Android Enthusiasts and when it loaded, I had a different very long username, only on that site, and I am not the only one experiencing this bug, this is another one with the ...
0
votes
1answer
141 views
No button to ask a question on Stack Exchange?
I want to post a riddle (or rather, a paradox I cannot seem to explain) to Stack Exchange – yet, there is no button for me to ask a question:
This is by far not the first time posting anything ...
-11
votes
1answer
111 views
Would not the XY Problem be void for Feature-Request tagged questions?
I recently posted a question for a feature-request here on meta, in which I offered a possible solution to a problem (I've deleted the post, since I missed seeing a clear duplicate question). However, ...
-4
votes
2answers
92 views
Stack Exchange site for asking questions about how to do something?
Please suggest a Stack Exchange site where I can ask questions such as:
How do I install the Sublime Text editor from tar.bz2?
How do I run multiple commands at once in a Linux terminal?
I wish to ...
