What should our FAQ contain?

Question

To quote the 7 essential meta questions:

Much of the FAQ will be somewhat boilerplate: “be nice,” “how to create an account,” “how to ask questions” — it’s all pretty static. Even the sections about “what kind of questions should I (not) ask here?” comes primarily from the Definition phase of Area 51.

Yes, I think we may actually need a whole page dedicated to how to create an account (cheap shot :)

Aside from this, what do people think we should add to our FAQ?

Answer 1

Questions I can think of are below; these are based on reviewing the FAQs at several (almost 50) other SE sites just now. Note that some of these MAY be part of boilerplate, but they're not on all the sites I checked, so i have no idea. These are in no particular order, and on many of them I've simply handwaved at an answer.

Also, best question/answer I saw: "Where's the rule about not wearing pants?" I'd like to hork this question and answer entirely from their FAQ, with attribution.

• Question: Who can/should participate in the EE site?
  • Answer: enthusiasts, developers, n00bs, whoever has a question.
• Why is there a separate EE site (rather than being part of the main SO site)? Who are you people anyway?
  • Answer: Reader's Digest version of the community initiative
• Is there a way to get more attention on my question? I REALLY need an answer right away!
  • Answer: put a bounty on it.
• Can I cross-post questions to several SE sites if I'm not sure where they go?
  • Answer: argh, please don't do this. Post once, and it will get moved if it's in the wrong place.
• Question: Do I have to create an account to use the site?
  • Answer: No; you can ask questions, answer, and vote anonymously. However, some things are restricted to registered users; also, if you register you can get rep bonuses from other SE sites. (Note: this may not be true for us; some sites seem to allow anon, some don't, and I don't know how to make us one way or the other!)
• Question: What symbols/shorthand/abbreviations are used here that I might need help understanding?
  • Answer: a list of common abbreviations and jargon we use, like EL for EllisLab, etc.
• Question: Are support questions/questions about third-party addons okay? (Basically, a second, more detailed section AFTER "what kinds of questions are okay to ask here?")
  • Answer: yes, with whatever caveats we've decided on for that.
• Question: I'm an add-on developer; can I ask questions about add-on development/programming/etc. here?
  • Answer: yes, as long as those questions are directly related to EE (and/or CI) development, and not general programming questions.
• Question: can I request a list of resources on a topic?
  • Answer: this is discouraged by the rules of StackOverflow in general. However, we have created a single List of Resources question with a Community Wiki answer; feel free to add resources there.
• Question: How do I get/use an OpenID/StackExchange account?
  • Answer: the basic answer, with some links to troubleshooting and/or harass the SE tech support people, given the amount of trouble folks have been having.
• Question: What's this "community wiki" checkbox I see as an option on my answer?
  • Answer: it's for stuff that might be borderline according to the 'official rules', but is unequivocally helpful. http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/08/the-future-of-community-wiki/ is a helpful resource.
• Question: Where can I find answers to "101-type" questions? Should I look somewhere else before asking those? Also, where should I ask [type of off-topic question]?
  • Answer: check the tag wikis for any tags related to your question. Also check [list of external resources]. If your question is off-topic for this site, it might be on-topic at one of [list of relevant sister sites].
• (Applicable during beta only) Question: Why does the site look so damn boring? Aren't there any designers around here?
  • Answer: Yes, there are, but until the site leaves beta we don't get to change the look and feel.
• Question: what should I make sure to include in my question to get better answers?
  • Answer: it depends, but in general: your actual version of EE; any information that might be relevant about your server settings; addons you've got running; stuff you've already tried. Also, most good questions will include at least one code/template sample!
• Question: how do I use tags?
  • Answer: everything has to have at least one tag. Here are some guidelines about tagging, with examples.
• Question: what license is my content under?
  • Answer: everything is cc-wiki/cc-by-sa licensed. You own the copyright on all of your own content, and by posting it you grant SE a license to use it under cc-wiki/cc-by-sa. Likewise, if you quote someone else's content, either here or elsewhere, make sure you follow the attribution and ShareAlike rules!
• Question: can somebody write an add-on for me?
  • Answer: this is not an appropriate question for this venue. Try the Twitter hashtag or the EE jobs board. [add links to those]

Answer 2

Where to buy add-ons? answer: Devotee for most and if not there they will list it with a link on where to buy (re: solspace and a select other few)

What is the difference between a snippet, a global variable and how do the various addons such as republic variables and low variables fit into this. (not enough time to write an answer right now)

that's just to start.