How to ask questions

Every now and then you will need help. And it's great, that's what we are here for.

There is a number of ways you can ensure your question is answered quickly and precisely and everyone benefits from it.

Make notes

Whatever you do, make notes. We all change things here and there, sometimes it may be difficult to provide a way to reproduce an issue. Having notes makes it easier to describe what was done, what was expected and what the result was. This can come extremely helpful when you find a bug as you'll provide a perfect bug report.

Search

There are chances your question has already been asked and answered. Use search in this service and in the AWS DeepRacer Community Slack to look for similar questions. The greatest benefit is that you will save a lot of time waiting for an answer.

Read the resources

Read this wiki, but also wikis and readmes in projects. For instance the log analysis project comes with a README.md file. Chris' deepracer project has many things described in the wiki on GitHub. If you find a resource that helps you, make sure you add it to an appropriate page in this service.

See also:

• Category:Troubleshooting
• Category:FAQ

Keep your questions clean

When you ask a question, make sure you make it in one message so that answer can be written in its thread. If you have unrelated questions, ask them in separate messages. Respond within the thread to keep the whole conversation in one place.

To provide logs/code use one of two solutions: code blocks or snippets. This way you make sure they are available in a searchable form which will make others' lives easier. Do not attach screenshots of the terminal```

Code blocks are provided as follows: ``` preformatted text ``` With the most recent editor from slack you can use the icon which looks like a square with a </> over it. If you start typing ```, it will automatically expand to a preformatted block.

You can add a snipped by clicking the paperclip icon and select Create new... -> Code or text snippet

Do attach pictures of observed misbehaviour in simulation and things like that.

Ask in the right channel

There are many channels to ask in. If you are trying to run a local training, possibly #local-training-setup will be a good place to ask, but #training-log-analysis - not really. Have a look at all the channels out there and place your questions in the right place.

It pretty much every case asking through a Direct Message is a wrong place. In public you will make sure you can get response as fast as someone with enough experience/knowledge reads it and you guarantee that others can benefit from it.

What if my question is not good?

The only bad question is the one not asked. If it requires any improvement, you will be asked to improve. It is fine.

Remember to answer questions

Even as a beginner you may know something others don't. Do your best to respond to others' questions.