Recently there have been lots and lots of posts of people with questionable knowledge about technical IT stuff. I don’t want to blame anyone here but maybe just go through the main page with all sections and browse through a few topics.
Maybe it would be a good idea to formulate a general “code of conduct” or anything like this that specifies what is definitely needed to get help and of what form this community help generally is. Things that now come to my mind are for example:
Post log/debug output and the exact statement you called
Include any Infos about your environment, chef-server/chef-zero
Do not expect to get a ready made solution for your problem. Just read the docs/links that are referenced and ask if something is unclear.
Use correct formatting for code and logs you post
I think this could really help the people new to Chef, especially if it documents in a simple way how to get the necessary resources. And for the community here it could be polite way to tell newbies what they need to do to get reasonable help.
The Community Guidelines are our Code of Conduct. What you’re suggesting sounds like an FAQ entry on how to get help. The pinned welcome post could use an update, you could work on making suggestions to @coderanger for that.
I understand your desire to have new users present questions in a form that is easier to help and welcome improvements there. But I also think the lesson of Eric Raymond’s Asking Smart Questions is that no amount of documentation for new users will remove the need for us to “be welcoming, inclusive, friendly, and patient.” Which happens to be our first community guideline.
Providing additional guidance for how to ask questions is in-line with being welcoming, inclusive, friendly, and patient. I’m working with the discourse community advocates on a post that will outline some suggestions as well.