2022-09-19 08:38:08 +02:00
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# Asking great questions
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A well-formed question helps you learn, respects the person answering, and makes
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efficient use of time for everyone involved. Asking the right question, to the
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right person, in the right way, at the right time, is a skill which requires a
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lifetime of fine-tuning. This page offers some guidelines and resources that the
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[Zulip community](https://zulip.com/development-community/) has found helpful in this pursuit.
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## Where to ask your question
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It is almost always best to ask questions and have a conversation in a public
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2023-06-16 00:55:22 +02:00
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stream, rather than in direct messages. You’ll get better and faster answers
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2022-09-19 08:38:08 +02:00
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since many people can help, and it makes it possible for others to benefit from
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the discussion.
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The [Zulip community
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guide](https://zulip.com/development-community/#where-do-i-send-my-message)
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offers guidelines on how the major public streams in the community are used.
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Don’t stress too much about picking the right place if you’re not sure, as
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moderators can [move your question thread to a different
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stream](https://zulip.com/help/move-content-to-another-stream) if needed.
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## How to ask a great question
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Spending some extra time and effort to carefully formulate your question is well
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worthwhile, as it makes it much more likely that you'll get the information you
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need to move forward. There are a few wonderfully thoughtful blog posts that
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explain what it means to ask a good question:
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- [Try, Then Ask](https://www.mattringel.com/2013/09/30/you-must-try-and-then-you-must-ask/)
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- [We Aren’t Just Making Code, We’re Making History](https://www.harihareswara.net/sumana/2016/10/12/0)
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- [How to Ask Good Questions](https://jvns.ca/blog/good-questions/)
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In brief, to formulate a great question, you should:
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- Try to solve your own problem first, including reading through relevant
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documentation and code.
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- Identify the precise point on which you feel stuck.
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- Formulate a clear question, which includes an appropriate amount of context
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and a specific request for help.
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When your question is answered, follow through on the advice you receive, and (when
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appropriate) summarize the resolution of your problem so that others can learn
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from your experience.
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You can find additional helpful tips in our guide to [what makes a great Zulip
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contributor](contributing.md#what-makes-a-great-zulip-contributor).
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## Follow the community guidelines
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As always, be sure to follow the [Zulip community
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norms](https://zulip.com/development-community/). In particular, check out [the
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section on getting help](https://zulip.com/development-community/#getting-help)
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before you post.
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