5

I've already seen it on StackOverflow where someone just wants to know the best practice for something vague and that person gets publicly shamed for asking a subjective question.

Much of what EE newcomers will want to learn about relates to best practices that are not available in the EE user guide. Which add-on should I use for this type of shopping cart? What's the best way to prevent spam comments? Should I use native EE templates or Structure or something else to build my site? And so on.

Are we interested in allowing more subjective, best practice type questions? Or will the StackOverflow style of asking about a specific problem be the way we want to go? Do we even have a say?

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
7

So long as they are answerable questions that would be of broad benefit to the EE community, I say yes.

Example:

I'm building a website the requires the sale of magazine subscriptions. Subscribers will have to be rebilled automatically. Does anyone have any experience doing this with EE? If so, which of the three popular e-commerce add-ons would serve me best in this case?

However "questions" which are entirely subjective and tend towards discussion on such broad topics should be down-voted and discouraged.

Example:

What's the best e-commerce add-on for ExpressionEngine?

1
  • It's also usually helpful to encourage answers that explain why. So "which of the three addons should I use" becomes "which addon should I use and what makes it better than others for my specific needs". That tends to steer recommendation questions in a more constructive and objectively helpful direction.
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Commented Dec 17, 2012 at 20:55
1

Overly broad "anything that can help me" questions are not generally considered an ideal fit for this type of Q&A. It's better to ask about specific problems you have encountered. Where is it specifically are you trying to improve?

You should read Good Subjective, Bad Subjective. Questions soliciting best practices, lists of books, web sites, tutorials, etc, inevitably means that everyone can start piling on the answers regardless… until all sense of specific expertise is lost.

It's not that best practices question are inherently bad. They're interesting if they represent an actual problem that can be solved. They're interesting if asked in the context of "What have you tried?" Intriguing questions come from those you encounter in your day-to-day work. If you have a question about best practices, get really specific about what you are doing and what it is you are trying to accomplish.

At least be sure folks aren't left guessing what will actually help you.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .