FAQ: What makes a good post?

Question

Lets have some examples of what goes into a good post. Both question and answer here. This will become the community standard that we can point users to in the future when we have low quality entries or posts that need a bit of work.

Answer 1

Example Question:

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Title: How can I publish an item programatically?

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Body:

I have a custom import job that takes data from a CSV file and imports them into an Item Bucket.

When the job ends, I need to publish all the items that have been created.

What I have so far:

Here is the code that I use to import:

public class CsvImport() 
{
    public void Process(string csvPath)
    {
        var data = ReadCsvFile(csvPath);
        var importedItems = new List<Item>();

        foreach(var row in data)
        {
            var newItem = ImportRow(row);
        }

        // TODO: Publish those items that are imported:
    }

    private List<IRow> ReadCsvFile(string csvPath)
    {
        //....
    }

    private List<Item> ImportItem(IRow row)
    {
        //....
    }
}

What is the best option here? Should I use PublishManager or another method?

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What Makes This Good?

• The title contains a simple to the point question
• The body adds detail to the question in the title
• There is an example of what the OP has tried
• Code examples have syntax highlighting enabled (How to add Syntax Highlighting)
• Class names, variables etc... in the body of the text have been marked as a Code Block
• There are headings for important things

Answer 2

I'm a fan of the best practices tag/style questions, but they're difficult to frame and can quickly get away from objective to subjective. That said, some do's/don'ts for best practices items (Mods, please edit and revise as appropriate)

• Don't ask for general opinions about a product, feature or facet. ie -- "Is TDS any good?".
• Do give specific details around why you're considering a certain feature. ie -- "I have a project trying to accomplish ____ while following Helix practices. How should I structure this feature?"
• Do ask for opinions on this or that comparisons, but only if you've given enough context to have the community help steer you in an objective direction. ie -- "What build system should I use if I want to build non-Sitecore projects along side my Sitecore projects?"
• Do describe any due diligence you've already done, why something you already tried didn't work, and the like.

There are probably more things we can all think of to help shape these kinds of questions to be more helpful! These are the ones that I had on the top of mind.

Answer 3

Use of images

Think carefully about how much your image really improves the question / answer.

Images should be cropped to just show as much information as required. Full-browser screenshots should not be necessary unless it's important to the issue at hand.

If the image is being used to show an error message, then the body of the question should still include the error text itself. This not only makes it more readable, it will greatly improve the searchability of the question and help other users to find it.

Images of generic errors, such as the ASP.NET Yellow Screen Of Death, should not be included as the image offers no information that couldn't be conveyed by text.

Answer 4

Since the beta, we have been trying to keep the questions and answers cleanly formatted. This includes the syntax highlighting. It is crucial that we all make an effort to keep this going.

One of the things people with questions should do is to up vote appropriate answers and definitely come back and mark the answer on the question even if they found the solution.