As someone who regularly advises new users to read the minimum complete verifiable example (MCVE) doc [1], both with review flags and in comments, I really thin

As someone who regularly advises new users to read the minimum complete verifiable example (MCVE) doc [1], both with review flags and in comments, I really think you should! Unlike most manuals, it's a fairly short and incredibly well written document. Anyone who reads and follows most of it will be a very valuable user to the community. In fact, following it's process might lead you to figuring out your own questions before you submit sometimes, at least that's how it's worked for me. Sure, it requires effort, but it makes for a better experience all around. [Many questions that I see get downvoted are authors that make no attempt to follow the guidelines, or have asked a question easily answerable in the standards docs for that language or library. Still, I often answer these personally to provide a bit of hand-holding because what's obvious to someone who's been working with a language for 5 years might not be to someone who's been with it for 1. It's hard to draw a line around obviousness. In any case, if you follow the guidelines you're likely to receive help.] [1]: http://stackoverflow.com/help/mcve http://stackoverflow.com/help/mcve