8
votes
Criteria you should mention in your question, for each type of software
Guidelines for ALL questions: What is required for a question to contain “enough information”?
Desktop software
Is a graphical interface (GUI) mandatory, or are command-line (CLI) solutions also ...
7
votes
Accepted
Is my question bad or off topic?
Glad you brought this topic to Meta, sameer – that's the best place to seek clarification of this kind!
Downvoters should have commented and give you hints why they downvoted. But unfortunately, they ...
IzzyMod
- 18.5k
7
votes
Accepted
Is asking for an extension on any browser too broad?
I don’t think that such a question would be necessarily too broad.
Deciding if it’s too broad would depend on the given requirements, so there’s really no difference between questions restricting it ...
- 7,779
4
votes
Let's reword our intro at the Ask Question Wizard
Great idea, Nicolas!
Here is my first second draft:
The Software Recommendations community welcomes questions to help you determine what particular software is fit for a specific purpose.
Tip: ...
- 6,146
4
votes
How can we encourage people to stop asking these 'dump it here without research' questions?
You can't.
As a rule, people who don't do any research into their problem also don't do any research into the site where they're posting. So it's impossible to educate them before they post: posting ...
3
votes
What if we don't know exactly what we want?
If you don't know what you want (but have at least a vague idea), then this guide will help you find out what questions you should ask yourself, leading to a great question with enough requirements:
...
- 18.8k
3
votes
Would a more rigid question template help achieve a consistent quality?
I would rather not see this type of pre-populated template in the Question box.
By auto-entering a pre-populated template into the Question box, you are essentially forcing all the questions to look ...
2
votes
Would a more rigid question template help achieve a consistent quality?
Following @Izzy's comment (that it might not be feasible to adjust the number of input boxes etc) I thought I'd suggest a simple text template (I'm guessing that this would be easier to implement). I'...
- 135
2
votes
How to ask for an alternative to some software
If your question got closed because it was asking for an alternative, please don't give up, your question can probably be transformed into a great question and reopened. Here is a sure way to get your ...
- 18.8k
2
votes
Is it acceptable to use 'best' in a question?
I would avoid using "best" unless it can be objectively measured - examples of what I mean:
Good use of "best":
Q:Which is the best linux OS for installing in the smallest footprint possible?
A: ...
- 999
2
votes
Let's reword our intro at the Ask Question Wizard
I came over here after seeing this question.
What about this possible wording for the Tip portion of the text?
Tip Make sure you tell us about all of your requirements. Try not to leave anything ...
- 101
2
votes
Let's reword our intro at the Ask Question Wizard
After looking at the messages of each of the wizard's options, it appears that:
There is a short custom message for:
"I have a question about some code"
"I need help with a homework problem"
"Other" ...
- 18.8k
2
votes
How we should deal with seemingly easy questions
My own answer to this question is based on Alecos Papadopoulos' answer to a similar issue on Economics SE.
Such questions:
a) Can very easily come out as "too broad", and for this matter should be ...
- 1,124
2
votes
How can we encourage people to stop asking these 'dump it here without research' questions?
Do what the handbook says: Leave a friendly and welcoming comment and a Closevote.
Recently I interacted with a similar question (1) and did what the handbook said.
The user reacted in one of the ...
- 3,020
2
votes
Let's reword our intro at the Ask Question Wizard
To kick off the brainstorming, here are some random thoughts:
Space is limited.
The tone must be welcoming.
Most Stack Overflow users are not native English speakers, so we must use easy-to-...
- 18.8k
1
vote
Why do my questions not get views/answers?
I would advise to make your question titles a bit more self-explaining.
Look at a few of your titles:
Local “Sandbox” Browser
Local 'Instagram' for parenthood
iOS Web Application
While these titles ...
- 18.8k
1
vote
Why do my questions not get views/answers?
It's always helpful (and encouraged!) if folks can suggest ways to improve an author's posts; but that aside…
Your questions are not receiving unusually low view counts relative to this site. ...
- 150
1
vote
Quality guidelines for software identification questions/answers?
I think we should just close software identifications questions. Here's why:
They don't have requirements
There can only be 1 correct answer
Answers which suggest similar software will just be ...
- 6,690
1
vote
How to phrase a question about jRPG replacement (e.g game like Final Fantasy II) better?
Yes: The question seems to be phrased good enough. You should post it.
- 3,020
1
vote
How to ask for an alternative to some software
I think there are two types of OPs who are looking for alternatives:
The architects
The gardeners
The architects plan everything ahead, they have imagined everything about what sort of final ...
- 111
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