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When I make fillable form using hyperref package, I face many problems and I sometimes don't get wanted features.

So, then I ask a question in this site for this feature. When someone give the answer then I implement that. After some time I face another problem for another feature.

Example
I asked question on <,> problem on using hyperref package. One give the answer. Now, I want to get the clickable option of ChoiceMenu before the field.

Now, should I edit the previous asked question with new required feature or ask a new question?

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  • 9
    Asking a lot of questions in single post is strongly discouraged. Not every request might be fulfilled in a possible answer
    – user31729
    Oct 3, 2017 at 13:38
  • 8
    Ask a new question! You could also add the link to the previous one, if it's useful or you would like to highlight it is a follow-up question.
    – CarLaTeX
    Oct 3, 2017 at 16:15
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    I strongly agree with the other two comments: Please make sure to only ask one thing per question. That way you don't discourage people that only know the answer to one of your questions from helping you. And it allows other people with a similar problem to find the answer more easily. It might appear to you that asking 'too many questions' is bad, but really if you have sever interesting, clear and overall good questions everybody benefits. (Check that your question is not an obvious duplicate before posting, do a bit of research.)
    – moewe
    Oct 3, 2017 at 18:14
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    You also ask about editing a question that has already received an answer. I would also like to recommend you don't do that. I'm sure this has been touched upon on meta, but I can't find the relevant questions now. You should not change the (spirit of) the question after you have received an answer. You can clarify things that were ambiguous, but it would be 'unfair' to those answering your question to change the requirements or add additional desiderata. If you have not yet received an answer, you can make bolder changes to your question.
    – moewe
    Oct 3, 2017 at 20:42
  • 1
    Related: When is it Kosher to edit one’s own question?
    – moewe
    Oct 3, 2017 at 20:47
  • 1
    Related: I've just been told I have to post a follow-up question, why and how?
    – Werner Mod
    Oct 4, 2017 at 4:20
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    i think you should consider whether the multiple points are intimately linked. if more than one condition does depend on another, then an answer that doesn't take into account the interactions may not be at all helpful, and indeed a waste of time for the person who's trying to answer. at the very least, it's necessary to know what document class is being used (what works with article may not work with beamer or memoir). so before narrowing your question to a single small point, please think about this.
    – barbara beeton
    Oct 5, 2017 at 19:41
  • There's a difference between "one question with many requirements" (could be ok) and "edit the previous asked question with new required feature", especially when that new feature is unrelated to the original question. The only commonality in your questions seems to be that they're using hyperref.
    – Teepeemm
    Oct 8, 2017 at 16:53
  • @barbarabeeton Yes, but that would not call for editing an existing question with an answer. It might require including the need for that earlier question to still be addressed by any answer to the new one.
    – cfr
    Oct 16, 2017 at 4:47
  • @cfr -- i wasn't suggesting editing an existing question, but carefully considering while writing the original question what are the necessary conditions. that saves everybody time in the long run.
    – barbara beeton
    Oct 16, 2017 at 13:52
  • @barbarabeeton Oh, I see. I definitely agree there. But I had the impression that the desire to edit for a new issue was a while later, so the OP didn't have the second question when asking the first. (However, I didn't read it very carefully, I don't think.)
    – cfr
    Oct 17, 2017 at 2:36

1 Answer 1

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You should ask only one question per question.

This helps everyone involved.

  • You are more likely to receive an answer if you ask one thing, because you don't discourage people who know the answer to only one of several questions you have from answering.
  • Those answering your question don't get tangled up in the details of several tangentially related requests and can focus on one specific issue.
  • People with a similar problem will have a better chance to find the answer that helps them quickly and efficiently if they don't have to dissect an answer that addresses several points at once.

The point of a Q&A site is that you ask one clearly defined, abstract question that is useful for a wider audience.

I know it is tempting to stuff several requests into one question, because they seem related and it is easier to have to click the 'Ask Question' button and paste a code example once. And eventually someone who can answer all of your question might come along to answer all of your questions at once, and you will only have to copy and paste the code and you'll be good to go. Even though it might seem easer for you, for others this will mean more work, and it might even prevent you from getting good help quickly.

I don't think you can ask too many separate questions (even though some automatic quality contol system might disagree with me here) as long as they are good questions. Interesting, clear and overall good questions benefit everyone on this site. Take some time to describe the problem you have as precisely as possible, do some research, add an MWE, and try to make your question useful to others, give it a good title, ....

You also raise the point about editing questions after they have been answered. There was a similar question a while ago: When is it Kosher to edit one’s own question?

I agree with the sentiment of both answers and would like to draw attention to egreg's distinction between answered and unanswered questions.

It is fine to edit unanswered questions with additional information. I would even go so far as to say that you could change the question (other people may feel differently), in that case make sure that title and tagging is still appropriate. If no one has yet invested their time to answer your question, then no harm is done (of course you can't really know if people have played around with your question a bit, then realised they couldn't help you, and consequently didn't post an answer).

If you have already received an answer, you should be very careful to edit your question. If you edit at all, you should make sure that your edit does not invalidate the answers you got. You should not change the essence of the question, you should not add additional requirements and desiderata (unless clarification is specifically requested). Even seemingly minor details can require drastic changes to answers; that does not mean that minor edits are absolutely verboten, but it might be nice touch to comment on the answers first and be prepared to be asked to ask a follow-up question. You should definitely not edit your question if you only realised after asking or after seeing the answers that you actually wanted something different (XY-problem-like).

In the specific case you ask about you should definitely ask a new question. The first question was about < and > in \ChoiceMenu. The second question is about the layout of \ChoiceMenu. So while both things have to do with \ChoiceMenu they are so fundamentally different that a new question is warranted here.

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