Title clean-up (Phase 4: Time for Title Ban)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

8:59 PM

@Dam This is my draft up to now. I'm going to sleep, and will continue tomorrow:

> Titles give a first impression of your post. **Good titles** bring positive attention to your question, and you will get it answered sooner; more upvotes will follow etc. **Bad titles** don't allow your question to get the attention it deserves. (Less upvotes, less likelihood of getting an answer etc.) **Very bad titles** might get you lots of attention, but they're not likely to get a positive response from the community. (If not edited soon enough, downvotes will pile up etc.)

Writing a good title is an art. The best titles don't abide by a prescriptive and arbitrary set of rules, but …

@Stoney I suddenly got infuriated of the crappy title problem in ELL, and I wanna write a "how to write a good title" post.

StoneyB

<s>are never abiding by</> don't adhere to

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Right.

Edited.

StoneyB

I hope you get this one in: Don't describe the answer (Which of these is grammatical?), describe the problem (A gerund or an infinitive with "suggest"?).

Catija

@StoneyB I think that's the better way of explaining "Identical titles".

tchrist

Don't ask for a boolean response.

StoneyB

9:04 PM

It also lets users search on suggest.

tchrist

A single bit of information in the strictest possible sense is unlikely to help future visitors.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@Catija I want it to be more easily digestive.

StoneyB

Digestible. 'Digestive' is a kind of cookie.

Catija

Sure, but "identical titles", to me, doesn't imply what you're saying... perhaps "generic" ?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@StoneyB It's the TM name for a drug too.

"Don't describe the answer, but the problem" is harder to follow for querents.

I was being punnily funny.

@Catija Sure, I will change it. I wrote that much in a hurry 'cause Win8 is likely to crash any minute.

Catija

9:07 PM

Generic, non-descriptive... either works.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

It's just incomplete. Of course worst or bad practices don't boil down to those.

Then we'll prolly have a chat event or meta post for burning down bad titles . . . Then we'll discourage stupid titles with a pop-up . . . Then . . . Oooh I have so many devilish plans . . . >:D

Catija

You may also see greater success if you choose to frame things positively. Instead of explaining what not to do, consider explaining what you should do...

StoneyB

"Done is better than good".

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@Catija That's after the section "bad practices".

I still have to jot 'em down and brainstorm to see how many sections we'll have.

Catija

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M But you're starting with the bad practices... or at least that's how it seems.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

9:11 PM

@Catija I can't tell that by looking at the draft. I dunno if I have written the beginning, the middle or the end.

StoneyB

@Catija Da. Give em a principle to follow, then give bad examples rewritten to conform to the principle.