Introducing yourself is fine and requires no question. Post in this subcategory, describe the context that matters for why you are here, and lurk for a bit before posting technical questions. That order works well.
28 likes 19d
Topic summary
Which categories are strict and which are relaxed, honestly
This is a generated summary. It shows the 8 most-liked posts from a topic of 54, in their original order, with the accepted answer included where one exists. It is a reading aid and it will miss nuance — the full topic is the record.
ms_holloway, post #4: Picking up post #3: that is the part I would want checked first. Marked solutions are the site's way of saying that someone asked a good question and someone else gave an answer that actually worked. It is not a competition and it does not appear on your record — it is just how the site learns which topics stay useful six months later. Go to post
I read post #5 twice before replying, because I had assumed the opposite.
Welcome. The orientation materials are pinned at the top of this category and they take about an hour. They answer most of the questions a new member has and they save time in the longer run.
On post #5 — agreed on the reasoning, with one qualification.
On the reading order question specifically: start with the how-to-ask materials in this category, then read the one to three subcategories where your main questions live. The rest will be discoverable by tag once you understand the structure.
29 likes 16d
Picking up post #14: that is the part I would want checked first.
Introducing yourself is fine and requires no question. Post in this subcategory, describe the context that matters for why you are here, and lurk for a bit before posting technical questions. That order works well.
26 likes 13d
post #25 is right about the mechanism and I think understates the practical bit.
The FAQ link in the sidebar is maintained and worth ten hours of forum browsing. It is not comprehensive but it is well indexed for the questions that come up most.
26 likes 10d
Welcome. The orientation materials are pinned at the top of this category and they take about an hour. They answer most of the questions a new member has and they save time in the longer run.
28 likes 6d
Picking up post #36: that is the part I would want checked first.
Marked solutions are the site's way of saying that someone asked a good question and someone else gave an answer that actually worked. It is not a competition and it does not appear on your record — it is just how the site learns which topics stay useful six months later.
29 likes 6d
Marked solutions are the site's way of saying that someone asked a good question and someone else gave an answer that actually worked. It is not a competition and it does not appear on your record — it is just how the site learns which topics stay useful six months later.
31 likes 3d
Read the full topic (54 posts)
This topic was referenced in
- What this community means by "a source", in practical termsStart Here › Welcome · 122 replies
- A newcomer's list of things that confused me, and the fixesStart Here › Welcome · 13 replies
- [2026 update] Are there stupid questions here? A staff answer, at lengthStart Here › Welcome · 40 replies
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