Getting answers to your questions

Last updated on
23 September 2020

Asking questions

The motto for Drupal chat is "Don't ask to ask, just ask." All you need to do is start asking. Please be aware that answers are provided on a voluntary basis. If someone is available to answer your question and has knowledge about your issue, they will do the best they can in assisting you. Here are a few tips for asking good questions ("good" meaning questions that will get answers faster):

  • Vague questions with vague language will almost never get a response. You know the details about your issue right down to the letter but other people do not.
  • Writing a paragraph to describe your problem is okay.
  • Have some patience.
  • Make sure the channel you are in is appropriate

See also this page on workaround.org about asking chat questions.

Getting Answers

There are answers that you will get that are de facto in nature. What is meant by this is that many questions will get the same (initial) answer. So, to avoid losing patience, here is what you may receive initially:

  1. "There is a module that will do this for you. It is called <module name here>" More often than not, there is a module that will do what you want. Please skim over the module list and try some modules out before asking for help.
  2. "That type of functionality requires a custom module" If you need a very specific functionality, but cannot find a sufficient module, you will more than likely need to create the module yourself. If this is the case, you must know how to create modules.

As is often the case, doing a bit of research before hand will get you your answers. Asking questions that have simple answers - though valid - can be somewhat annoying to people trying help you. Again, do some research, use the search function (or through Google by using site:drupal.org <your search terms here> if drupal.org searching is disabled), and look through the module list before asking for help.

If you are asking a question about a specific third party module or theme, please realize that the likelihood of getting an answer depends on whether someone who can provide support for that specific project has actually joined the channel, isn't idle and is able to help. It is valid to ask questions about third party modules, but you may have better luck posting your question on the issue queue for that module.

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