Asking to Ask

Frequently in chats, whether telegram, IRC, slack, or discord, someone says something like this:

<AnonOtter> Anyone know python? Having an issue.

Unfortunately that tends to be read as:

<AnonOtter> Can someone with experience in python speak up and volunteer to help me solve my problem, without knowing how long it'll take, what the actual problem is, what tool or library you need to be familiar with, or if it's even truly a python problem?

Hopefully it's clear why questions like this rarely result in direct answers.

• There are very few people who could be called experts in every part of the topic (in this example, python)
• Imposter syndrome is common, so even experienced people often won't respond
• Most people won't write that blank check for time/help commitment

Instead, as applicable, share:

• The goal - "I'm trying to query for a list of tags on a post"
  See The XY Problem. Someone might have a different way to accomplish your goal that's easier.
• The expectation - "It should output '3d art, crowbar, gordon freeman'"
• The reality - "… but instead I'm just getting the numbers 0 to 23??"
  Expectation vs reality is often the easiest way to understand what the problem is.
• Your code or a simplified example, if possible and applicable.
  A playground site is best,
  • C/C++ → Godbolt Compiler Explorer
  • HTML/CSS/JS → JSFiddle
  • JQ → JQ Playground
  • PHP → 3v4l ("eval")
  • Rust → Rust Playground
  otherwise a paste site (e.g. privatebin.at, paste.debian.net, paste.ubuntu.com, gist.github.com) or your code forge (e.g. Codeberg, GitHub, GitLab, self-hosted Forgejo) repository.
• Any context or previous research you've done.
  This can skip some back-and-forth, and helps everyone get up to speed faster.
• What you've already tried.
  This skips a lot of back-and-forth, and it shows that you've put effort in before asking.

Offering the relevant information up-front allows more people to try to help. They can ask clarifying questions or offer suggestions without committing to anything more, people who don't know the specific languages or libraries you're using can offer insight, and busy experts can peek and reply without needing to tease the details out of you first. At minimum, you might get an idea for something you haven't tried yet. Often you'll end up solving the problem yourself while narrowing down the simplest test case!

Lastly, don't snark at well-intentioned answers. It's rude and discourages everyone from trying to help.