Asking a good question
The people who answer in the forums and chats give their own time. A question that contains everything needed gets answered sooner and better, and helps the next person who searches for the same thing.
Contents
Before you ask
- Search the help in your administration (the "?") and this documentation.
- Search the forums, the documentation and eZpedia; the help lists these sources under "Asking for help" in When something goes wrong.
- Check that it is a question, not a bug. If the software clearly does something wrong, report it instead (Filing a bug).
- Check that it is not a security problem. Those go privately to [email protected] (
SECURITY.md).
What to include
| Part | Why |
|---|---|
| The goal: what you are trying to achieve | Often there is a better way than the one you are stuck on |
| What you did, step by step | So someone can repeat it |
| What you expected and what happened, with the exact message | An exact message can be searched in the code |
| The environment: Exponential version, PHP version, web server or engine, database, design | Many answers depend on them |
| What you already tried | Saves everyone a round |
| Relevant settings or template code, shortened | Only the part that matters, without passwords |
Getting the environment
You do not need to collect the environment by hand:
- In the administration, Setup > System information has Copy report as text.
- On the command line,
./console exp:info --plain --no-logoprints a summary that "never prints a password, key, token, database user or full database address, so you can paste it as it is" (When something goes wrong, The system card).
A template
Goal: <what you want to achieve>
Steps: 1. ... 2. ... 3. ...
Expected: <...>
Happened: <...> (exact message: "...")
Environment: <paste of exp:info --plain, or version / PHP / engine / database>
Tried: <...>Choose a title that names the problem: "Multilingual URL aliases missing after adding a language" is answered sooner than "Help please".
After the answer
- Say whether it worked. A thread without an ending leaves the next reader guessing.
- Post your own solution if you found it elsewhere.
- Thank the people who helped.
- Write it up on eZpedia or in a forum post if the answer was hard to find (Writing tutorials and posts).
Related pages
- Joining the community
- Getting help step by step
- When something goes wrong
- Answering questions
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
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