What is the question/answer etiquette?

I definitely think an official ettiquette should be established. Building on Germs and oblix's responses (and collecting them into a list), my suggested rules are as follows:

1) If آپ know the answer to the question, don't ask. This should be fairly clear already, but جوابات are for سوالات آپ NEED ANSWERING, not ones that آپ already know and want to کوئز others. In fact, believe it یا not, we already have a place where آپ can do that! It's called the "quiz" section.

2) If you're asking an opinion, make a pick instead. I've already seen some opinion related "Answers" questions. I'm not talking about, "What's the best way to make mac and cheese" kind of opinions (those can be "Answers" questions), I'm talking, "Did آپ know that the actress who plays Sharon appears in two episodes after her character's death?" These are not "Answers" سوالات because there is no سوال being asked. All a پرستار can do is say, "Yeah, I noticed," یا "No, I didn't." This is probably better served as a pick question, when there aren't multiple جوابات یا explanations that can be employed.

3) If آپ don't know the answer, don't answer the question. Responding just to say, "Oooh, I was wondering that, too!" یا "Oh, I don't know, but I hope آپ figure it out" are not helpful to the asker, یا anyone else for that matter. Either add your own answer to the question, یا add on to what someone has previously said.

4) If it's been said, don't be a broken record. If a سوال has been sufficiently answered, and آپ agree with that answer, instead of answering again, VOTE FOR THAT AS THE BEST ANSWER. Makes sense, doesn't it? آپ agree, and it probably is the best answer. Don't be a glory whore and repeat what someone's already said.

5) If آپ think someone has it wrong, correct them. Just because a سوال has been answered several times doesn't mean it's necessarily been CORRECTLY answered. Feel free to add on to other people's جوابات (like I'm adding on to germs and oblix's right now) یا to correct someone whose answered incorrectly. It's OK to politely say, "Actually, the film was released in June, not October." People won't beat آپ with a stick.

And if anyone wants to add to these rules, سے طرف کی all means do so.

EDIT: At germs' urging, I link.

First of all, there needs to be a term to distinguish the سوالات آپ ask as part of the جوابات feature from all the other سوالات we can ask on the site. Talking it over with others, the best I've seen so far is Answer Requests (AR).

As for using the feature, there are a few ground rules, in two parts.

Asking a question:

* Ask سوالات that have multiple correct answers.
* Ask سوالات which will have جوابات that are at least partially based on fact یا process, rather than opinion.
* Ask سوالات for which آپ don't already know the answer.
* Ask سوالات that require جوابات of at least a couple of sentences. Simple سوالات with "yes/no" answers, یا جوابات of a person's name, are a waste of the feature.
* Ask سوالات that haven't been asked already.
* The سوال should be general. Keep the specifics in the "additional info" field. Other people who have similar سوالات will be looking to read the جوابات to your requests, and that will be a lot مزید useful with a سوال like "Which dentists are good in Birmingham?" rather than "I have a lot of cavities and I'm in a lot of pain. My last dentist was terrible with root canals, and I may have got a crown I didn't actually need. I live in Birmingham. Can آپ suggest a good dentist?"

Providing an answer:
* Answer the question.
* Do not respond to other answers. If آپ want to respond to other answers, use the تبصرہ feature. سے طرف کی now users should have noticed that جوابات get shuffled around nearly each time the page is loaded, so there is no "thread" of conversation to follow. If آپ respond to another's answer in your answer, آپ will look like an idiot.
* Do not answer a سوال if آپ do not have an answer.
* Do not answer a سوال if your answer is not substantially different from an already-posted answer.
* Try to answer completely and thoroughly.
* Provide an answer in that location; do not only post a link to something آپ wrote elsewhere (or, worse, something someone else wrote). People looking for جوابات don't want to and shouldn't have to look in still other places for their information.
* If آپ don't answer, vote for the "best answer".
* Answer in complete sentences and proper spelling/grammar. Nothing diminishes the perceived quality of an answer like using sentence fragments filled with chat speak.
* Answer in the same language used in the Answer Request.

Edited to accommodate the fact that we now CAN تبصرہ on answers.

i think the etiquette still needs to be established. i wrote in the "suggestions" فورم already because it seems pointless to me to answer سوالات a number of times if the answer is something like "it was season 2". the person who گیا کیا پوسٹ the سوال should be able to mark a سوال as answered and then its like a closed pick, still viewable but آپ cant vote anymore.
i think "i dont know" responses should be reported and removed.
also i think the "Answers" shouldnt be used for quizzes- just because youre bored and want to ask something :S

No,because people just think the same and people sometimes it's too hard and they can't answer it.

well i dont know..

my answer is, i think that it's dumb for people with the response 'i don't know' because i'm fairly sure جوابات will help towards تمغے and best جوابات will too.

so etiquettes hmm , No un-useful responses?
(which so i think i'm breaking my own etiquettes in this reply rely)