Questions tagged [help]
THIS IS NOT A GENERAL TAG FOR ASKING FOR HELP! Use this tag for questions about how help and information is provided to users.
57 questions
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Introducing a brand new, consolidated, Help Center
UPDATE: This is now live on all Stack Exchange sites. You can access it at /help or by clicking the "help" link in the top nav or footer of any page.
We can all agree that Stack Exchange is a ...
- 24.2k
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A guide to moderating chat
Chat is an offshoot of the main site, and using it is a privilege users earn early on during their time here. Chat is our place for:
Real-time collaboration
Meeting fellow members of the ...
325
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36
answers
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Toward a philosophy of Chat
TL;DR: The Problem
This keeps happening in chat:
Surprise at flags on vulgar messages. Language that would invariably get your comments deleted on the main site occasionally gets flagged and deleted ...
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Where's the summary of your own suggested edits?
Where can I find my pending/approved/rejected suggested edits? (a bit like the Flagging Summary page)
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Remove the suggestion to post a new question from the closed questions post notices
Some user posted a question on IPS twice the past 2 days, and then was rude about the closure of both and the request to edit instead of reposting a slightly recomposed version with the same ...
- 41.2k
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What are the most effective ways to guide new users?
New users' first contributions to a site, by their nature, often require improvement. There are different methods of dealing with this, and I am looking for evidence that would help understand which ...
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What advice would you give beginners joining a Stack Exchange site?
Here's my reason for this question: I'm fairly new to these sites and have had good and bad experiences. I've seen very useful answers to my questions and I think I have helped some people with my ...
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How does the system guide new users?
There are several questions here on meta about "How to guide new users" and in particular "How to educate new users about accepting answers" (see 1, 2, 3, 4). A common approach seems to be to comment ...
- 3,623
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Can we have a markdown help button for comments?
I've been reading discussions about editing and previewing comments.
Why do I want this? If I get wrong some of the syntax in a comment, it becomes infuriating to try to guess at it, when the only ...
- 40.7k
4
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1
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SEDE FAQ - small discrepancy - update day
According to this https://data.stackexchange.com/help, SEDE is updated every Monday morning around 3:00 UTC. However, it is showing that it was last updated around Sunday morning around 3:00 UTC. And ...
- 13.5k
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Add code search syntax to search tips
After Search just code we now have a way to search code, so something like code:"-->" searches for the infamous --> "operator". (Protip: it's not an operator, it's two)
Could this be added to ...
- 33.1k
11
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Advanced search help should be available by the search box
At SO I'd like to use the advanced search but I can't find the proper advanced search page with help (seems to be hidden somewhere). I would be happy if you put a small icon (like question mark) to ...
- 8,855
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Addition to faq or /ask: Stick around
I think this should be added to the faq and/or on the /ask page:
Advice to stick around for about 15 minutes after posting. Often this is the time when the fate of a question (or answer) is decided (...
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1
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Could the <kbd> tag be added to the editing help?
I happen to like the <kbd> tag for showing when keys should be pressed, but I can never remember it on the very few occasions that it would actually be useful. Having it in the help file would ...
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Stack Exchange should show rules on the right side when making post to help users follow the rules
When making posts on Stack Overflow or Stack Exchange, you can see on the right side "Draft Your Question" and "Helpful Links." While the latter contains links for asking good ...
- 541
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Give the "about" and "help" pages a more prominent location for anonymous users
It seems to me that two of the most helpful pages for introducing new visitors to the StackExchange network and methodology are the respective about and help pages of any StackExchange site.
However, ...
- 1,630
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Collapse/show more does not work in chat faq when linked to a specific section
If I go to this page: https://chat.stackexchange.com/faq I can see show more under each section. After expanding I can then also choose to collapse the section back.
For example, if I look at "...
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Help>Merge is asking for something impossible
From https://meta.stackoverflow.com/help/user-merge:
If you have lost access to your duplicate account, please click here to fill out the form.
If you click, you see this:
If someone has lost ...
- 79.3k
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2
answers
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Stack Overflow Needs Mentors [closed]
There is a gap between the online help available on stack overflow and the offline help of real-world mentors, this is my modest proposal to correct that.
Here is a link to my original article: http:...
- 141
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1
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Add "what's this?" links to "user was removed" and "serial upvoting" in reputation history
Another day, another user confused by one of these contextless messages. Losing rep is scary and without a good explanation these users end up both confused and asking yet another duplicate question ...
- 33.1k
19
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Do we need the here's-how-it-works-banner on the help center for experienced users?
In the new Help Center, we have a banner which is the same as the banner we already had on the homepage for users that weren't logged in. This is the homepage:
And this is the help center:
I'm going ...
- 9,854
16
votes
5
answers
637
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How to educate new users about accepting answers
I just had a pretty heated discussion - at least on my side - with the moderator casperOne about a comment to one of my own answers asking the user to accept my answer. My answer was the only one to ...
- 1,486
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Add help link to FAQ
For some reason there is not a link to help in the FAQ. I think a link to it should be added to the What if I need more help? section of the FAQ on every Stack Exchange site.
The said section ...
- 331
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How do I "Show total up and down vote counts" since I'm at 1K rep? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Confused about the thing you get at 1000 rep.
I'm supposed to be able to see the total up/down votes, but I'm way above 1K rep and I still don't see any of these.
So how do I ...
- 1,657
3
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4
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Is there some way to better explain the operation of *overflow to new users?
I have noticed that as more new users are finding and using StackOverflow, there are more questions which do not get flagged as being answered, even though there are sometimes multiple working answers....
- 143
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3
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How should this 15 year old poster be helped? [duplicate]
I am concerned about how the poster of this question has been treated.
The guy is 15, and has been treated appallingly. Is this how our SO community wants to be seen?
His questions as stated don't ...
- 638
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2
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How can I write better questions? / Get more answers? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to review? Can we agree on a review 'policy'?
Agreed Duplicate
Can we agree on a review 'policy'?
This is a proposed reference question / help page / ...
- 3,469
-10
votes
3
answers
250
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I'm having problems finding answers and my posts are getting marked duplicate, what do I do?
Question: What problems exist in the search engine user interface?
Question: What procedure should I follow when using search to avoid problems in the search UI?
NOT a feature / change request
I was ...
- 441
19
votes
7
answers
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Is there a way to prevent Stack Overflow from becoming a code generator?
Stack Overflow is actually a great source of sharing and helping each others. It's even a addiction in some way... but a good one as a developer.
But I think there is maybe a dark side effect: the ...
- 677
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Make “how to tag” actually helpful for new users
When you ask a new question (or edit one whithout having the edit privilege) and edit the tag field, a help box with the following appears on the right:
How to Tag
A tag is a keyword or label that ...
- 28.3k
11
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3
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Is it okay to use comments to guide new users into proper usage of the site?
I provided one of two answers to a question of a new user. A day later, the user had written a "Thanks!" comment to both answers, and accepted the other answer.
From there, I ended up in a meta-...
- 3,623
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0
answers
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Markdown help page should include information on how to resize images in a post
In all of the communities, there's a similar Markdown help page. I'm in particular interested in the images section.
Very often when writing Q&As, especially from mobile, users take advantage of ...
- 566
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1
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Can we get the MathJax reference link fixed?
The MathJax reference that is linked in the help box below a new answer is broken.
How can that be fixed?
Should electronics meta have a tutorial like the math meta tutorial or perhaps link there ...
- 211
10
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1
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Provide more in-line guidance to suggested edit reviewers
In relation with What guidance should be given when edits are rejected?, it occurs to me that we aren't providing much guidance to reviewers regarding when they should approve edits.
“Approve edits ...
10
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1
answer
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Note on "What should I do when someone answers my question?" page that upvoting requires 15 reputation
The help page What should I do when someone answers my question? says:
The first thing you should do when someone answers your question is vote on it, like any other user does.
However, new users (...
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How to inform people to be considerate because OP has mental health disorders
I have been having a lot of trouble on SO lately because I suffer from an array of mental health conditions. I am open about my conditions and don't mind telling people. But I can imagine the backlash ...
- 256
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5
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What's the most useful thing to say/link to when a user doesn't escape inputs in their example? (or other common pitfalls)
It's not too uncommon to see poor code examples in questions where a user hasn't escaped their user inputs in one way or another.
For Example:
mysql_query("INSERT INTO foo VALUES ($_POST['bar'], $...
- 1,504
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2
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What is the ``` (3 x backquote) markdown used for?
I looked over https://meta.stackoverflow.com/editing-help#code but could not find what the Github-style code block markdown is used for on SE websites.
I see that they generate a <code> element ...
- 463
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Add a "before you ask" section to tag wikis
Quite often, I'd like to comment on a question with some "before asking a question about tag you should..." direct link.
For example, to point out that the OP should try to use a debugger first.
...
- 171
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Could an in page table of contents and/or anchors be added to the legal pages? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Please add deep-linking to stackexchange.com/legal sections
I referred to the legal pages occasionally already, specifically the trademark guidance for Stack Apps to provide ...
- 2,219
6
votes
1
answer
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Can we auto-show commenting help for new users? [duplicate]
I'm seeing a lot of new users on StackOverflow who are replying to me in comments after a question, either without mentioning my @handle, or by using my handle without the at-symbol, or who put a ...
- 2,652
4
votes
2
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Automatic bounty award rules - please fix the help to leave no open questions
I read the rules of implicit bounty award in the help:
If you do not award your bounty within 7 days (plus the grace period),
the highest voted answer created after the bounty started with at
...
- 8,855
3
votes
1
answer
144
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Rewarding a positive user experience
In my place of employment, if someone goes above and beyond to help you, you can nominate them for an award. That award comes with a plaque, as well as a bonus check. It really promotes a positive ...
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Add tag referencing to Editing Help page
I've seen questions that have properly-styled links to tags on their respective SE site (see this question for an example), but I have no idea how to do this myself.
Should these instructions be ...
- 399
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How to cancel a flagged post? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Cancel misclicked flags
While reading the question that was downvoted to -3 I decided to flag it. By that time the question got edited and answers got provided already.
Can ...
- 129
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1
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Add information about backticks to comment help
I suggest to add information about backticks to the comment help.
They can be used to mark code in comments too (in case some one does not know ;o)).
Update:
Uh, I should go to bed.... it's already ...
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Click does not work for Stack Exchange pages [duplicate]
I usually use the Mathematics and TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange sites. From today, the usual mouse-click suddenly started not to work for these sites. For example, I found a useful code in this page, so ...
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Is using Stack Overflow as a mentoring resource an appropriate use? [closed]
Where I work, I'm probably the one with the most experience designing and developing large, complex systems. The unfortunate thing is I'm only a few years out of college and I often have a whole lot ...
- 133
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1
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How can I re-ask a question from a different Stack Exchange site?
How can I ask a question on Super User if I have already asked it on Stack Overflow?
- 201
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1
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Should unearnable Badges been shown under unearned?
Should unearnable Badges been shown under unearned?
[Beta] Actively participated in the private beta (if the site is not anymore beta)
[Precognitive] Followed the Area 51 proposal for this site ...
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