I have two related questions (about the same topic, with the same tags, but they are different questions), should I ask them in one more complicated post? Or should I separate the questions into two different posts?
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1 Answer
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One question per post.
As explained in this answer on meta.stackexchange.com,
Effectively, you are just marking it harder for the community to handle your post effectively. Each question should be able to stand on its own and be judged for its own merits. Similarly, it is better for you as you know that answers will directly address your one question and not parts of your question.
Why?
- What if they only have an answer to one question, but not the other? Should they answer it and not address both, or should they not answer because they can't answer both? That would deprive the community of a good response to a good question.
- What if both questions are duplicates of other questions? Which one should be used as the duplicate target? No matter which one is picked people looking at the question will only be confused as the duplicate doesn't address the "other" question.
- What if one question should be closed for any reason and the other shouldn't? Should we close it or leave it open?
- What if I think one question is good and want to upvote it and the other is bad and want to downvote it?
- What if someone finds your post via Google and thinks it will solve their problem, only to find all of the answers are about your other question?
If you are looking for several specific details in an answer, but you fundamentally have one question, then be clear on that.
If you would like to link your two questions, you can refer to it and provide a link as part of the background on your question.
Note: There is a time limit on questions and you may need to wait before you ask your second question.
Further, if someone has more than one question in a post, please consider commenting on that post and request that they edit it. You can refer them to this question for more information. Here is an example comment:
Thank you for your question! Your post has more than one question and we ask you to separate your questions into different posts. For more information, see: Can I ask more than one question per post?.
