[R] draft of posting guide

[Mulholland, Tom]

I think there will always be disagreement when commenting about the
appropriateness of social behaviour. So I think we will do well to
understand the purpose of any proposed posting guide. It is not clear to
me where the list is going with regards to this topic. If the aim is to
produce a comprehensive posting guide to sit with other R documents, I
wish the list well and will check on progress some time in the future. I
can't see some points being reconciled quickly.

If we are talking about something else, I have previously suggested a
short monthly reminder, then it may be possible to make some progress.
Frank Harrell noted that "with some prompting, new users can ask
questions better."  If we focus on the mechanics of question asking
rather than on the social aspects we may find it easier to produce
something. I guess I'm asking the question "What are the prompts?"

If I were to make a checklist it would be

Before asking the question
  Have you read the FAQs?

  If you use windows, have you read the Windows FAQ?

  Have you searched the R-help archives?

  Have you read the online help for relevant functions?

  Have you checked to see if the answer is in one of the reference
manuals, supplementary documents or Newsletters?

  Do you have the latest version of R?

  Is this an R question?

Once you need to ask the question
  Do you need to include a workable example so people understand your
problem?

  Do you need to include details about your operating system?

  Do you need to include which version of R are you using?

This obviously would need something else as some of the questions beg
questions themselves. It is however moving towards what I had in my mind
when I first suggested the monthly reminder.

Tom

_________________________________________________
 
Tom Mulholland
Senior Policy Officer
WA Country Health Service
Tel: (08) 9222 4062
 
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