You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on the actual problem you are facing. Chattering open-ended questions reduce the usefulness of the site and push other questions off the front page.

To prevent your questions from being flagged and possibly deleted, avoid asking subjective questions where ......

Every answer is equally valid: “What is your favorite ______?”

Your answer is provided along with the question and you want more answers: “I use ____________'s for ________, what do you use?”

There is no actual question to be addressed, “I'm curious if everyone else feels like I do.”

We're asked an open-ended, hypothetical question, “What if something happened to ______?”

Foul language disguised as a question, “______ sucks, right?”

If you fit one of these examples, or if your motivation for asking a question is “I'd like to participate in a discussion about ______,” then you should not ask your question here, but on our mailing list. However, if your motivation is “I want someone else to explain ______ to me”, then you might be good.

(The above section is adapted from Stackoverflow's FAQ.)

Also:

Responders should not add or extend questions. Unless the question can be edited or a question comment added.

Answers should not comment on other answers. Instead, a comment should be added under someone else's answer.

Answers should not just point to other questions. Instead, they should add a comment to the question indicating “possible duplicate ......” . However, it may contain links to other questions or answers that provide more information on the subject.

The response should not just provide a link to the solution. The text of the solution description should also be provided in the response, even if it is just copy/pasted text. Links are welcome, but should complement the response, thus citing sources or other reading material.

Responders should not add or extend questions. Questions can be edited or comments added.

Answers should not comment on other answers. Instead, they should add a comment under someone else's answer.

Answers should not just point to other questions. Instead, add a comment stating “Possible duplication...” . However, it is a good idea to include links to other questions or answers to provide relevant additional information.

The response should not only provide a link to the solution. The response should also provide the text of the solution statement, even if it is just copy/pasted text. Links are welcome, but they should complement the response by citing sources or other reading material.

Answers should not spark debateThis Community Q&A is not a discussion group. Please avoid debates in your answers, as they tend to dilute the essence of the questions and answers. For short discussions, please use the comment tool.

When a question or answer is liked, the user who posted it receives a number of points, called “karma points”. These points are a rough measure of the community's trust in him/her. Based on these points, various review tasks are gradually assigned to users.

For example, if you ask an interesting question or provide a helpful answer, the content you post will be positively reviewed. Conversely, if the answer is misleading, it will be rated negatively. Each positive comment is counted as 10 points, and each negative comment is deducted 2 points. You can accumulate up to 200 points per day for a question or answer. See the list at the end of this article for the minimum reputation points required for each type of moderator approval privilege.