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J (Men in Black) said: You know the difference between you and me? I make this look good. 
*flash*
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I'm going to term it the JSOP filter.
There's a lot of developers / learners that seem to struggle with posting a question and not showing sufficient detail to prove to us that it's not homework or laziness. I would imagine that for some of our more esteemed members, visiting these areas on a daily basis in the hope of offering some help that it gets quite frustrating and difficult to distinguish the honest from the lazy.
When creating a new Q&A post, how about a checkbox or radiogroup that offers some very general options as to what you're trying to ask. On checking/selecting the option, a basic template is populated in the textbox that they can fill out, ie.
Hi All,
I have the following code/problem;
<ADD YOUR QUESTION/PROBLEM HERE>
I've tried to write this myself;
<YOUR CODE SO FAR>
But I've not had much luck in getting this to work.
<ADD YOUR ACTUAL QUESTION/PROBLEM HERE>
Thank-you for your time
I understand that sometimes, English is the barrier, but maybe if the guidance is there some people won't have to be schooled on how to ask a question. I was thinking of making this a comical suggestion in the Lounge for JSOPs benefit, but I actually think this is worthy of bringing up.
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Keep the title brief
Keep the question as brief as possible.
If you have to include code, include the smallest snippet of code you can.
Do you expect this to stimulate good questions? I copied it verbatim from the legend on the "Ask a Question" page.
IMO changing the legend (to something more in line with the stickies on programming forums) is the first step.
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I don't know about stimulating good questions. It's clear that some people just don't read the BIG notices or the subtle comments. Maybe being asked to enter their question following a guideline would at least help those that genuinely struggle to compose their question stand out from the lazy.
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I admire your optimism that offenders will take the time to read those posts.
It is misguided, though. Sorry.
cheers,
Chris Maunder
The Code Project | Co-founder
Microsoft C++ MVP
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I am fully aware not everyone is reading the instructions. That is however no excuse for providing poor instructions. Not in the forums, and not in Q&A.
When questions can't be answered by lack of information, do you expect us to keep asking for more explanation, more contextual information, more code, while the instructions point in the other direction?
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The instructions are there specifically to stop people dumping their entire code file into a forum, or worse, their entire homework question.
For Q&A we're thinking a wizard interface may be better. For forums: I'm loathe to put in custom code to pre-populate with a template just for questions, just in the programming fora. What about if someone asks a question in the lounge, or an article?
cheers,
Chris Maunder
The Code Project | Co-founder
Microsoft C++ MVP
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For Q&A, there is a big gap between "as brief as possible. If you have to ..., the smallest snippet of code you can" and "don't dump all of it here". You make it sound as if every word is costing money, and code snippets are to be avoided. Do you really want to turn this site in codetwitter?
I made it a habit to limit the length of my replies to the length of the question, When essential information is missing, I'm not elaborating "if you meant A, then do this; if you meant B, then do that; otherwise, try yet something else. Maybe ..." So shorter questions, shorter and less useful answers, fewer satisfied users. And with the absence of a descent dialogue possibility (a forum to each answer, still in the works?) it does not work well at all.
For the forums, I don't have such problem. The instructions are worded much better, plus people are more used to the way they are supposed to operate. Furthermore the layout is better overall: one sees example threads before setting out to ask a question, and as a potential replier one has a better view of what others have already replied.
PS: I don't think there is anything new in the above, I summarized my comments on Q&A six months ago, and nothing much has changed since.
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Luc Pattyn wrote: You make it sound as if every word is costing money
I think that's an unfair assessment, and there is, as you put it, a big gap between "every word" and "1000 lines of code".
You're unique, Luc, and the message in the forums and Q&A is not directed at you.
I stand by my claim that those who abuse the goodwill of the community will not bother reading - let alone abising by - guidelines, and that the best way to couter this is to allow the community to neaten things up a little, or at worst, remove or hide anything written by someone clearly not interested in making it easy for others to help them.
cheers,
Chris Maunder
The Code Project | Co-founder
Microsoft C++ MVP
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yes, the community can neaten things up, and/or remove something; I fail to see how they can add relevant but missing information when the OP is instructed to be as brief as possible.
For those who don't read instructions, it does not matter what is in them; for those who do, I would like the instructions to be fairly accurate.
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Luc Pattyn wrote: IMO changing the legend is the first step.
But that's assuming I want to change...
.45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001
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Obviously I meant changing for the better, so it doesn't apply to you. 
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I'm curious to know if this information is available to the person being downvoted.
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In articles, yes: a message will be posted.
For others, not yet.
cheers,
Chris Maunder
The Code Project | Co-founder
Microsoft C++ MVP
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I have wondered that myself.
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you never get down-voted? where are your articles? 
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No articles.  I was agreeing that it would be nice to know why, as I have been down voted for things that were not even worth voting on.
[tongue in cheek] May be there should be a tracker that if you down vote more that 50% of the time you automatically get points removed.[/tongue in cheek]
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I have always advocated a system where one has to earn a voting budget, maybe by writing articles, posting replies, or voting a range of different values; IMO people should not be allowed to vote 1 (or 5) all the time.
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Actually most of my votes are 5 as I usually do not vote when I feel it is below that. I do once in a great while vote 1 but try not to do that.
I normally hang around the lounge and you do not need to be an expert to vote.
I did just vote a five for a quick answer, again since I am not an expert I try and only vote on things I am somewhat sure about.
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Is the big green button marked "Accept Answer" not enough? Is the wording of that button ambiguous or unclear? any suggestions?
cheers,
Chris Maunder
The Code Project | Co-founder
Microsoft C++ MVP
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Sorry Chris, the poster said he couldn't do it, and I definitly didn't think I could.
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I just confirmed you can't - which makes no sense because going through the code it seems you definitely have the rights to do this.
I'm adding this as a bug.
cheers,
Chris Maunder
The Code Project | Co-founder
Microsoft C++ MVP
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Seems to be server bound
I reply'd in the lounge and pasted 2 links they appeared as plain text in the edit box (I had to select the link and click the 'link' or 'link[^]' buttons)
But when I went to edit the message (to test it)
the links got auto formated (like they should) on pasting
Fortunately I checked the server when the auto formating didn't work
Web20 is in need of a good kicking
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