{"id":16587310,"url":"https://github.com/wieerd/questionable","last_synced_at":"2026-03-07T08:01:43.582Z","repository":{"id":153972899,"uuid":"631174840","full_name":"WieeRd/questionable","owner":"WieeRd","description":"How do I ask a good question?","archived":false,"fork":false,"pushed_at":"2024-01-06T10:05:52.000Z","size":41,"stargazers_count":51,"open_issues_count":0,"forks_count":2,"subscribers_count":1,"default_branch":"master","last_synced_at":"2025-01-16T19:50:24.071Z","etag":null,"topics":["documentation","guide","guidelines","question","questions"],"latest_commit_sha":null,"homepage":"","language":null,"has_issues":true,"has_wiki":null,"has_pages":null,"mirror_url":null,"source_name":null,"license":"cc-by-sa-4.0","status":null,"scm":"git","pull_requests_enabled":true,"icon_url":"https://github.com/WieeRd.png","metadata":{"files":{"readme":"README.md","changelog":null,"contributing":"CONTRIBUTING.md","funding":null,"license":"LICENSE","code_of_conduct":null,"threat_model":null,"audit":null,"citation":null,"codeowners":null,"security":null,"support":null,"governance":null,"roadmap":null,"authors":null}},"created_at":"2023-04-22T07:04:14.000Z","updated_at":"2024-07-08T05:14:19.000Z","dependencies_parsed_at":"2024-01-06T11:22:59.212Z","dependency_job_id":null,"html_url":"https://github.com/WieeRd/questionable","commit_stats":{"total_commits":38,"total_committers":3,"mean_commits":"12.666666666666666","dds":"0.26315789473684215","last_synced_commit":"a622603116a3f3541c3d7532eea4b53395429ec8"},"previous_names":[],"tags_count":0,"template":false,"template_full_name":null,"repository_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/WieeRd%2Fquestionable","tags_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/WieeRd%2Fquestionable/tags","releases_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/WieeRd%2Fquestionable/releases","manifests_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories/WieeRd%2Fquestionable/manifests","owner_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/owners/WieeRd","download_url":"https://codeload.github.com/WieeRd/questionable/tar.gz/refs/heads/master","host":{"name":"GitHub","url":"https://github.com","kind":"github","repositories_count":242179179,"owners_count":20084939,"icon_url":"https://github.com/github.png","version":null,"created_at":"2022-05-30T11:31:42.601Z","updated_at":"2022-07-04T15:15:14.044Z","host_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub","repositories_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repositories","repository_names_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/repository_names","owners_url":"https://repos.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/hosts/GitHub/owners"}},"keywords":["documentation","guide","guidelines","question","questions"],"created_at":"2024-10-11T22:53:53.529Z","updated_at":"2026-03-07T08:01:38.520Z","avatar_url":"https://github.com/WieeRd.png","language":null,"funding_links":[],"categories":[],"sub_categories":[],"readme":"# Questionable\n\n\u003e How do I ask a good question?\n\n**That is a great question!**\n\n[[English](https://github.com/WieeRd/questionable)]\n[[한국어](/i18n/ko.md)]\n\n## TL;DR\n\nUse this copypasta to answer every *questionable* question.  \nMake sure to include the source when quoting this guide :)\n\n```markdown\n\u003e How do I ask a good question?\n\n## \"Can anyone help me with ABC?\"\n- Don't ask if you can ask, just ask.\n- Ask for an answer, not 'someone who can help'.\n\n## You have problem X, you tried Y.\n- How do I make Y work? (X)\n- How do I solve X? I tried Y. (O)\n\n## \"It doesn't work\" just doesn't work.\n- What's the goal?\n- What have you tried?\n- What's wrong with the current behavior?\n\n## Read the damn error message. Seriously.\n- 90% of the time it tells you exactly where and what is wrong.\n- Tip: Read the top and bottom part of the error message first.\n\nLearn more at \u003chttps://github.com/WieeRd/questionable\u003e\n```\n\n## 1. Don't Ask for Help, Ask a Question\n\n\u003e Can anyone help me with ABC?  \n\u003e Is there anyone who uses ABC?\n\nYou're wasting time. Just ask the question.  \nThis also implies that you're asking for \"someone who can help\";  \nexpecting someone else to solve the problem for you.  \nDon't. Write a proper question and ask for an *answer*.\n\nLearn more at \u003chttps://dontasktoask.com/\u003e\n\n## 2. Describe the Goal, Not the Solution\n\nYou have problem X, your solution Y failed.\n\n- How do I make Y work? (X)\n- How do I solve X? I tried Y. (O)\n\n**What if Y was a wrong approach in the first place?**  \nIt can end up wasting both you and the answerer's time with confusion.  \nRemember that the real goal is to solve X, not fixing Y.\n\nLearn more at \u003chttps://xyproblem.info/\u003e\n\n## 3. Provide Enough Information\n\n\u003e It doesn't work.\n\nThat is not a question, that's a complaint.  \nWhat is \"it\"? How exactly is it \"not working\"?\n\n### What's the Goal?\n\nDescribe the problem in terms of:\n\n- Expected **input**\n- Desired **output** / behavior\n- **Relationship** between the input \u0026 output\n\n### What Have You Tried?\n\nDescribe your attempt in detail, with the used code.  \nExtract the relevant part to eliminate unnecessary details.  \nIdeally, make the extracted code [executable by itself][MRE].\n\n[MRE]: https://stackoverflow.com/help/minimal-reproducible-example\n\n### What's Wrong?\n\nDescribe the current behavior and compare it with the expectation.  \nAlways provide the *full* error message. Not just the error code.\n\n```text\nI want my program to {expected output} upon {expected input}.\nI tried {code example} but it produces {error | output example}.\nThis is not what I intended because {reason}.\n```\n\n## 4. Read the Damn Error Message\n\n\u003e (screenshot) Why am I getting this error?\n\nErrors are not just scary wall of text meant to frustrate us.  \nWith the exact line number and brief description of the cause,  \n90% of the time they are more than enough to solve the problem.\n\n**Before you ask, please *read*, and not just *see*, the error message.**\n\nTip: Read the top and bottom part of the error message first.\n\n## Learn More\n\nThis guide is meant to be absolutely minimal for fast and easy read.  \nIf you're looking for more detailed resources for a further reading,  \nHere are some of the most useful and well known resources.\n\n- \u003chttps://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-ask\u003e\n- \u003chttps://stackoverflow.com/help/minimal-reproducible-example\u003e\n- \u003chttp://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html\u003e\n- \u003chttps://codeblog.jonskeet.uk/2010/08/29/writing-the-perfect-question/\u003e\n- \u003chttps://codeblog.jonskeet.uk/2012/11/24/stack-overflow-question-checklist/\u003e\n\n## About\n\nHi! I'm [@WieeRd](https://github.com/WieeRd), the author of this guide.  \nAfter roaming around various communities and help channels for few years,  \nI decided to write a guide by putting together most frequently seen mistakes.\n\nThis guide is not meant to be comprehensive or detailed.  \nThe resources listed above already do a great job of that.  \nRather, it's meant to be used as:\n\n- A cheat-sheet to refer to before asking questions\n- A copypasta that can be quoted when someone asks a \"questionable\" question\n\nWhether you are a curious beginner full of questions, or a veteran  \nwho got tired of manually guiding beginners to improve their questions,  \nI hope this guide continues to help you on your journey.  \nHappy Hacking!\n\n## Contributing\n\nWant to help out improving and translating this guide?  \nSee [CONTRIBUTING.md](/CONTRIBUTING.md)\n","project_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/projects/github.com%2Fwieerd%2Fquestionable","html_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/projects/github.com%2Fwieerd%2Fquestionable","lists_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/projects/github.com%2Fwieerd%2Fquestionable/lists"}