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I have a piece of software that I would like to recommend as a solution to problems. I'm trying to avoid answering with "link only" answers, and so I need help on how I can answer valid questions with software that I know will help the OP.

We do not advocate users asking for software recommendations. However, there are times that an answer will recommend a piece of software. These are the answers we're addressing here.

If you're looking to ask a question that may involve recommending software or tools, please first read "How do I ask a question that may require recommending software?".

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Here are some general rules that should be followed.

Follow this general outline:

  1. Title the product with a link to the download/main page
  2. Quote the site's product summary
  3. Add any pictures that are relevant to the question
  4. If it's not installed using a normal installation file, or package manager, then give instructions on how to install.
  5. Depending on the question, also give a brief overview of HOW to use the product OR in cases where it's too long, link to the product's manual pages.
  6. Give any other personalized information to the OP regarding how the recommendation solves his/her question.

Things NOT to DO:

  • Post only a link to the site
  • Recommend software that you haven't used personally (there MAY be rare occasions where this is valid, BUT you must let the OP know this)
  • Answer questions that are simply asking "What's the best XX software" or "I need something that does XX"

An example answer should look like this:

I believe that NotePad++ should be able to do the things that you're looking for. Here's an overview from their own site:

Notepad++ is a free (as in "free speech" and also as in "free beer") source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. Running in the MS Windows environment, its use is governed by GPL License.

enter image description here

It has the following relevant features:

  • Syntax Highlighting and Syntax Folding

  • User Defined Syntax Highlighting and Folding

  • PCRE (Perl Compatible Regular Expression) Search/Replace

  • Document Map

  • Auto-completion

  • Multi-Document (Tab interface)

  • Multi-View

  • WYSIWYG (Printing)

  • Zoom in and zoom out

  • Multi-Language environment supported

  • Bookmark

  • Macro recording and playback

It has great documentation, and support on the SourceForge forums. It's also compatible with a large amount of languages. I personally use it on an everyday basis

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I consider 1, 5 and 6 to be far more important than the others. Given a useful website, 2, 3 (general screenshots, not part of instructions), and most of the time, 4, are pretty redundant. It doesn't make it a link-only answer, as you're still expected to explain how to software solves the problem, and when the linked site goes down or the software becomes unavailable, installation instructions and such are useless anyway. – Daniel Beck♦ Jul 29 '12 at 11:19
@DanielBeck I meant to make this answer CW, but apparently forgot to check it :P Feel free to edit, highlight, or add anything that you feel should be done. This was meant to be a community driven answer. – KronoS Jul 29 '12 at 16:17

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