Answer the beginner's question kindly
The tone of the first reply someone gets determines whether they ask a second question, ever.
The BeingKind editorsPublished How this is written
Why it lands
Communities lose newcomers at the point of first contact, and almost always to tone rather than content. An answer that is technically correct and faintly contemptuous teaches someone that this is a place where asking is risky, and they leave — taking with them everyone they would have told. The kind version costs nothing extra and is the entire difference between a community that grows and one that ossifies.
How
Answer the question actually asked before suggesting they should have asked a different one. Skip “just” and “simply”, which both imply the difficulty was imaginary. Link the documentation and summarize the relevant part, rather than only linking it.
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