I love answering questions about SQL

My forum of choice is dba.stackexchange.com because I find the voting and point system with badges for being a decent internet person addictive.

If you like more traditional forums, SQLServerCentral.com has a lot of really smart people on it as well.

When I post questions or answers, I try to make them at least vaguely entertaining. Sometimes it works better than others, and I’m sure the way I write annoys some people who prefer more dry Q&A. I just have a hard time not having a good time.

After all, no one likes a finger-wagger.

Personality Plus

Because we send people over to dba.se so often, Brent used his magic internet power to make the company Twitter account send out a link to our answers. Why? So you know that when we send you there, we’re not just punting you off to someone else for help. We really do answer questions all the time.

If you’re going to post a question, make sure to include as much detail as possible. Error messages, query plans, example data, and this one is really important: if you’re going to ask for help with code, make sure you post what you’ve tried, or where you’ve gotten stuck.

The fates are cruel to those who don’t.

And remember! It’s not just SQL Server questions. Folks over there use Oracle, Postgres (the vegan version of Oracle), and even… MySQL. Weird.

Style Guide

If you’re an aspiring blogger, questions on sites like this can be great inspiration for posts.

Heck, doing Q&A is a great way to get comfortable blogging, because it gets you somewhat used to writing, formatting, adding in pictures and links, and all that fun stuff.

It can be a little intimidating getting over the fact that your questions and answers will be scrutinized by millions of strangers, so pick a topic that you’re comfortable with or that you’re interested in, and wait for a question to come along that’s in your wheelhouse.

I promise I’ll upvote you.

Probably.

But I still can’t answer your PowerShell questions.

Thanks for reading!

Brent says: for years, I’ve refused to answer questions privately for free because it just doesn’t help anybody. Post your answers in public, let other folks improve ’em, and let everyone find good answers for free, fast. Seriously, I read some of Erik’s answers just for entertainment purposes. Upvoting means laughter.