Before You Ask
[How To Ask Questions The Smart Way](<http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html)
Before asking a technical question in our channels, please do the following:
- Try to find an answer by searching the archives of the forum
- Try to find an answer by searching the Web
- Try to find an answer by reading the manual
- Try to find an answer by reading the FAQ
- Try to find an answer by inspection or experimentation.
- Try to find an answer by asking a skilled friend.
- If you're a programmer, try to find an answer by reading the source code
When you ask your question, display the fact that you have done these things first; this will help establish that you're not being a lazy sponge and wasting people's time. Better yet, display what you have learned from doing these things. We like answering questions for people who have demonstrated they can learn from the answers.