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I tried to find instructions on how to make a good title for a question. There is informations in the help center on how to ask question and how to use the tags, but nothing specific on the title. Hope I didn't overlook anything. I think the title should at least reflecting the specification of the question because by reading the title should enable you to decide if you should click on it.

So if the question is "how to set a static IP on a NIC in windows 7" a title like "networkcard and static IP" is a bad title. I would argue that the question itself should be the title. Is that a correct assessment?

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  • I would agree with that.
    – Burgi
    Commented Jul 20, 2018 at 11:43
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    On the surface, this is a good Meta question. However, the problem I have with it is that you are essentially trying to find a subtle way of recruiting support to your side of the debate within this Meta question, and more specifically this Suggested Edit review. Right now, that Meta question has so many down-votes that it can't be seen on the Active view of the Meta Super User front page. Authoring a brand-new question and making it sound like a random thought seems rather deceptive.
    – Run5k
    Commented Jul 20, 2018 at 12:21
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    We have a lot of discussion about titles on meta already and this doesn't really add anything new. As Run5k mentions this sounds a lot like you are trying to do a run around and justify minor title-only edits when the community has already made its stance quite clear. For new questions yes we do want great titles, but only editing a title on an old question is basically adjusting a single coaster on a table while 15 other coaster-less mugs drip their contents into the mahogany. Yes you made one tiny problem smaller, but was it worth it when the damage is still going on?
    – Mokubai Mod
    Commented Jul 20, 2018 at 13:14
  • @Mokubai Thanks for the links. If it makes it easier we can limit the scope for the question on creating a new title. With some of my own questions I was never sure, should I write one of the above titles or s.th. in between. Reading through the reasons of the linked meta question I got completely confused. But I will read through the answers of similar questions first and edit the question if there are still unanswered questions. I was expecting to find s.th. in the help center and not "just" answers from individual users. Do you know if there is a reason why it is not in the help center yet?
    – Albin
    Commented Jul 20, 2018 at 14:24
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    It isn't in the help centre because a help article focusing solely on titles isn't necessarily a useful thing. We have How do I ask a good question? which gives you the broad gist of what a good question entails, but being proscriptive about what a title should and should not contain isn't really a productive use of anyones time. A good question body works well with a good title and having one without the other is someone being lazy.
    – Mokubai Mod
    Commented Jul 21, 2018 at 8:06
  • @Mokubai "someone being lazy" :'D ... yeah I didn't mean necessary a single article just for the title, that's overkill. But in all the post under asking it doesn't say much all about the title any were. There is just a little information scattered here and there, mainly that a title should be clear and descriptive - well yeah, that's what I figured by myself. But it doesn't help answering my question. And there's nothing at all in How to ask a good question where I expected it to be.
    – Albin
    Commented Jul 21, 2018 at 10:54
  • But anyway I will read through the other question/answers first to see if they answer my question. But so far I don't haven't found an answer to my question, so I don't think it was marked as a duplicate correctly.
    – Albin
    Commented Jul 21, 2018 at 10:57

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