cole_walker26•11d agoProlific Poster

Pro tip: The best way to ask a question here is to just be specific

I was scrolling through this forum last night and noticed something that made a huge difference in the answers people got. Posts that just said 'thoughts?' or 'what do you think about this?' got maybe one or two vague replies. But the ones where the person gave a real situation, like 'My car makes a clicking noise when I turn left, it's a 2012 Honda Civic, what could it be?' got tons of helpful, detailed answers right away. It seems obvious, but a lot of people skip the details. I tried it myself when I asked about fixing a squeaky floorboard in my old house. I said it was in the hallway, it's an oak floor from the 1950s, and the squeak happens right by the door. I got five different solid fixes to try in under an hour. So my hack is, don't just ask 'anything', give us the 'anything' with some meat on the bones. What's the most specific, weird question you've ever had answered here?

2 comments

2 Comments

stellac9711d ago

Did you also think vague questions were fine until you saw this work?

samward11d ago

Yeah, I used to write project briefs with stuff like "make it pop" and then wondered why the first draft was always wrong. Seeing a clear example with actual goals and numbers changes everything. I had a client last month who finally gave me a page count and target audience, and it was the smoothest job ever. Now I send that example to anyone who sends me a vague email.