- Have you tried stopping your server and starting it? This fixes many problems and may fix yours!
- If you're getting a NoMethodError which ends in "The error occured when evaluating nil.method" this means you're trying to call a method on a nil object! Check the object that you're calling that method on and make sure that it actually is set!
- Google the error message. If you're getting "undefined method `blah`", try googling just "undefined method". Never ask a question without googling first.
- State your problem clearly. Never, ever say "I have a problem plzzzz help me !!!1!" or " is not working" or something to that effect. Say, for example, that you're getting an undefined method. Type "pastie: hi" into the channel and the pastie bot will send you a link via private message where you can show us your code, stack trace and error. Giving all three will provide us 99% of the time with the information we need to help you solve your problem.
- Don't use dummy examples. An example would be asking a question like "How does A relate to B?" when asking "How does a blog relate to comment?".
- Don't ask "can you do <thing> with Rails?", because the most often answer is "Yes". Ask rather "How can you do <thing> with Rails?"
- Don't ask to ask, just ask.
- Paste anything over 3 lines of code using the pastie service (type "pastie: hello") into the channel and the pastie bot will send you a link via private message where you can put your code.
- Don't ask "Has anybody used <thing>?" rather state your problem that you're having with <thing> and somebody may be able to help you. See #2.
- Don't prefix your question with a statement or another question. For example just write your problem rather than prefixing it with something like "Can anyone help me with this? <problem>" or "I am a noob help me with <problem>" or "I have a problem... <problem>" it's a waste of your time typing it out and a waste of our time reading it.
- Computers never lie.
- Don't ask subjective questions. "Subjective" means a question that's answer is entirely opinion based, such as questions like "What is the best text editor?" or "What is the best testing framework?"