my 0.02 - We can abstract this advice beyond stack overflow et al.

And apply this advice in the offline world (e.g. workplace).

tl;dr

- Be resourceful (explain what have you tried? What are your expected vs. actual results?)

- Say what (not how) you're trying to do

- Realize you might be asking the question to the wrong place (or person)

- For code, and this is me personally, but I look at _why_ one method may is preferred over another.

- Basic respect (don't flag it urgent), and don't complain

- For example: I forgot my password is urgent for you vs. a system shutdown urgency for sysdmins

- Answers take a while to get. Respect people's time.

- If people don't understand your problem, you may not be describing it properly.