Asking for Help Without Being Ignored

❌ "Help with database"
✅ "Why does user_id column return NULL in 
   user_profile query on lines 42-45?"

❌ "It doesn't work"
✅ "I tried [approach A], which gave error [X].
   Then I tried [approach B], which gave error [Y].
   I looked at [file Z] and don't understand why..."

❌ "How do I make this work?"
✅ "Should I use connection pooling or 
   handle reconnection in middleware?"

The failing code:
​```python
user = db.query(User).filter(...).first()
print(user.profile.bio)  # Returns None
​```
 
Error: AttributeError: 'NoneType' object...

Getting ignored? Wrong channel!

README → check docs
Beginner question → Discussions
Bug report → Issues
Architecture question → PR/discussion
General help → Discord/Slack community channel

You ask → 0 hours (You wait)
Maintainer responds → 24-72 hours
You get answer → Happy!

Don't repost after 2 hours thinking it was ignored.

❌ BAD:
Title: "Django setup not working"
Body: "When I follow the README, I get an error.
       Can someone help?"

Maintainer's thought:
"What error? What step? What did you try?
I can't help without details."

Response: Usually ignored.

---

✓ GOOD:
Title: "ModuleNotFoundError when running setup.py"
Body: "I followed README section 3.2 (Database Setup).

Steps I took:
1. python -m venv venv
2. source venv/bin/activate
3. pip install -r requirements.txt
4. python setup.py runserver

Error message:
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'psycopg2'

I already tried:
- pip install psycopg2
- pip install psycopg2-binary

Both gave the same error.

My setup:
- Python 3.11
- macOS Sonoma
- Using virtual environment as shown

What am I missing?"

Maintainer's thought:
"Clear problem, clear steps, clear research.
I know exactly what's wrong: psycopg2 dependency issue.
Worth my time to answer."

Response: Usually answered within 24 hours.

❌ BAD:
Comment on PR: "Is this the right approach?"

Maintainer's thought:
"What are the alternatives?
What were the tradeoffs?
Why are you unsure?
This is too vague."

Response: Dismissive feedback or ignored.

---

✓ GOOD:
Comment on PR: 
"I implemented caching two ways:

Approach 1 (current): In-memory cache
- Fast: O(1) lookup
- Problem: Doesn't survive server restart
- Scales to: ~1K users

Approach 2 (alternative): Redis cache
- Slower: Network latency
- Survives: Server restart
- Scales to: 1M users

Given that we expect 10K users next month,
should we go with Approach 2 now?
Or is in-memory fine for current scale?"

Maintainer's thought:
"This person understands the tradeoffs.
They're asking for architecture guidance.
This is exactly what code review is for."

Response: Thoughtful answer within hours.

❌ BAD:
Title: "Image upload is broken"
Body: "When I try to upload an image, it fails.
       Please fix."

Maintainer's thought:
"How does it fail? What's the error?
What image format? What size?
This is completely unhelpful."

Response: Usually closed as "Need more info"

---

✓ GOOD:
Title: "Image upload fails with 413 error for PNG > 5MB"
Body: "Trying to upload a PNG image larger than 5MB.

Reproduction:
1. Go to /upload page
2. Select any PNG > 5MB (I tested with 8MB)
3. Click upload
4. Error 413: Request entity too large

Expected: Image should upload (other formats do)
Actual: Fails with 413

System info:
- Browser: Chrome 120
- OS: Windows 11
- Image: PNG, 8MB, 3000x2000px

Related to issue #234?
(I saw that was about image resize)"

Maintainer's thought:
"Perfect reproduction. Clear error.
Shows they searched existing issues.
This is a legit bug I can fix.
Worth my time."

Response: Acknowledged and fixed within days.

❌ Bad: "This doesn't work"
✓ Good: "I tried X, got error Y, checked Z, found..."

❌ Bad: "How do I do this?"
✓ Good: "I attempted A and B, wondering if C is right?"

❌ Bad: "This is broken"
✓ Good: "Expected X, but got Y. Here's reproduction: ..."

Pattern: Show that you RESEARCHED first.

"How do I get started?"
→ /discussions, /docs, /README

"I found a bug"
→ /issues with reproduction

"How should I approach this?"
→ /discussions or comment in related issue

"My setup is broken"
→ /discussions or /slack community

"I have a feature idea"
→ /discussions or feature request template

"My PR is stuck"
→ Comment in the PR asking for guidance

Pick the right channel → 80% faster response.

Always:
"Thanks for your time!" or 
"Appreciate you looking at this!"

Because they're volunteers.