26
votes
Accepted
Empathy for those who don't know LaTeX well
I'll take the opposite approach to the other answers (so far), addressing the question of empathy more broadly (rather than the specific 5 points), as I've been thinking about it for a while. I think ...
- 44.9k
25
votes
Empathy for those who don't know LaTeX well
Many of your sub-questions are addressed in other meta questions, but it's always good to have some further discussion. I'll post here some comments on each of them with links to the other discussions....
- 215k
24
votes
Accepted
Chat's etiquette regarding questions
It's OK to ask on chat but you should not expect an answer (although you may get one anyway).
The Q&A site is designed for asynchronous help, you ask a question and it stays visible and can be ...
- 741k
23
votes
Accepted
Etiquette for poorly researched questions?
Every so often this sort of question comes up, and although it gets posed usually as 'etiquette' it's often more about 'policing' or 'teaching people a lesson'. Personally I think such 'policing' ...
- 215k
21
votes
Accepted
Preferred way to answer own question that already has an answer
I don't know the details of the specific case you have in mind, but there are a few general principles that can guide you.
Do not answer your question in the question
Answering in the question is ...
- 173k
18
votes
Accepted
Asking existing questions differently to improve findability
Not being able to find something has its root with searching on the site. However, this itself provides a catch-22-type problem: You need to know what to and how to search properly in order to find ...
WernerMod
- 598k
17
votes
Accepted
Is it appropriate to include encouraging/positive motivational remarks in the factual answer to a question?
Very good and very careful thinking.
Written facts can be cold, and data doesn't build a community. We are humans and we enjoy a good conversation. And yes, for people coming here with a technical ...
- 229k
16
votes
Don't forget to vote
I also like it that TeX.SE is welcoming, and I would like it to stay that way. In my view the way of implementing friendliness is as follows:
don't downvote
post personalized, constructive, ...
- 36k
15
votes
Empathy for those who don't know LaTeX well
Taking the points separately..
1. MWE ... Isn't a mockup of the picture sufficient in such a case?
I would say here that a MWE is almost always an improvement, and should usually be asked for even ...
- 741k
10
votes
How to respond to an answer that ONLY works in the MWE and not generally?
A minimal example is intended to help debug an issue by making it clear where the problem lies. So if a 'MWE' is too small to show the issue in real use, I feel it's appropriate to go back and edit. I'...
- 257k
9
votes
A user never answers questions, only asks them
We like questions, especially if they're good. Poorly-formed questions1, not so much. In fact, we have more than 20k users2 (as of early 2022) that have only asked questions In general asking a good ...
WernerMod
- 598k
9
votes
Job advertising?
I just signed up for freelancer.ca (see edit below for more details) and basically you can look for freelancers in specific areas to do your "projects", including LaTeX. From what I can see, some of ...
- 457
9
votes
Chat's etiquette regarding questions
You're should feel free to use the platform the way you choose, whether it's for chatting about ducks, or whether it's asking questions. Those who are here to help will do exactly that. Others might ...
WernerMod
- 598k
8
votes
Empathy for those who don't know LaTeX well
This answer will only deal with the 5th point "Not answering the question" and might perhaps just be an extended comment instead of a full answer.
With that being said the following is what ...
- 57.8k
8
votes
When is (and isn't) it acceptable to edit?
Proposal for Acceptable:
Updating code in old answers following software updates (e.g., a new package version)
Provided that the original code is preserved, to facilitate users with older versions ...
6
votes
Don't forget to vote
Your gentle nudge has made me think. It has never occurred to me to upvote a question, although on the very rare occasion I have downvoted one or voted for closure. I will in future consider whether ...
- 27.8k
6
votes
Accepted
How to respond to an answer that ONLY works in the MWE and not generally?
The consensus on main meta seems to be that you can edit your question, unless it invalidates existing answers. See Doesn't the asker have the right to modify his question? and Edited question ...
- 36k
6
votes
Chat's etiquette regarding questions
If the other discussions are about ducks or food, please interfere! You'll make David happy!
However, I'd do as you described; in chat, it is better to ask:
simple things that on the main site would ...
- 61.3k
5
votes
Job advertising?
While it would be appreciated here, the proper place on stackoverflow would probably be careers.sx, although that's too expensive for only one job.
TUG has a jobboard, though.
- 15.1k
5
votes
Empathy for those who don't know LaTeX well
This is a much more complicated issue than it may appear, and by no means limited to SE or LaTeX.
I have seen many instances where someone has written "RTFM" and TFM actually does not contain the ...
- 1,409
4
votes
Empathy for those who don't know LaTeX well
As a person who asks questions on this site, part of the problem re trying to find answered questions is knowing what search text to use. For example, and obviously I'm not posting it here, I have a ...
- 517
3
votes
Asking existing questions differently to improve findability
An addition I just noticed: This behavior (asking a question and flagging it as a duplicate) is actually discouraged by the system since duplicate questions are counted as "bad questions" (see, e.g., ...
- 2,320
1
vote
Empathy for those who don't know LaTeX well
The subject is "Empathy for those who don't know LaTeX well". You find a list of five key points that answerers of questions at TeX LaTeX Stack Exchange are asked to consider.
I like this ...
- 27.5k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible