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how-to-answer-a-question.md

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How to answer questions

Thank you for wanting to answer questions! This is how we grow as a community :)

  1. Make sure the question follows the "how-to-ask-a-good-question" guide
  2. Make sure your answer unblocks the user
  3. Remember, this is living documentation!
  4. Format your answers, like in the how-to-ask-a-question guide.

1. Make sure the question follows the "how-to-ask-a-good-question" guide

  • If the question is poorly formatted and you know how to reformat it reformat it and ask them next time to format their code.

  • If the question is posted in the wrong place (like a theoretical question posted on stackoverflow) kindly let them know that it's in the wrong place.

  • If the question has already been asked and answered, answer with a link to the question that has already been asked and answered and ask if that solves the problem.

  • If the problem has a poor title, doesn't make sense to others, etc, feel free to edit the question to what does if you can understand it. If not, you can answer by saying "I don't quite understand what you're asking, could you reformat your question following the "how to ask a question" guide?

  • If they used screenshots, feel free to ask them to copy-paste the code.

  • Or, feel free to ignore it. This is a community run forum and no one is "entitled to" answers! Be nice, be respectful, and have fun. But if you do know how to help someone, a little "could you please refactor your question" can go a long way!

Don't feel obliged to help right away if they are not asking well-formatted questions. Make them ask a well-formatted question first before you answer!

But don't be a jerk about it. If they just need a little formatting touch up, just touch up their question for them.

2. Make sure your answer unblocks them

  • Often times, people will ask questions where the answer might be X, but they are trying to do Y. Try to anticipate what people are trying to do. Answer the question at face value, and then maybe give more information on where to go next.

  • Often, giving a summary of your answer at the top with copy pasteable code, and then a "more information" is a best practice.

3. Remember this is living documentation!

Treat it as such. Go back and update answers if you find them!

4. Format your answers, like in the how-to-ask-a-question guide.

See that guide for more information.