[l0b0]

It's still frustrating to be at the receiving end of this. It's infuriating when this is the response after spending hours or days researching, then trying and retrying various things, being meticulous in recording every step involved.

I've been on Stack* for a while now, and generally take people at their word when they say they've done X. The results are often surprising. For example, they've copied code from a blog which auto-formats <pre> contents, replacing hyphens with en dashes. You'd only notice if your font makes this noticeable or by running the actual code.

One reason it would be OK to ask someone to try X again is if they haven't included enough information for anyone to replicate the issue. However, the better response in these cases is usually to ask for supplementary information until it can be reproduced.

[Swizec]

> The results are often surprising. For example, they've copied code from a blog which auto-formats <pre> contents

Perfect example! Often if you tell me “I tried to copy this and it didn’t work” I don’t know why. But if you show me how you copied and what exactly, things like this immediately pop up as possible clues.

I know it’s frustrating but it really does work on everyone. Half the time I show someone what I’m struggling with and I try to show them what I tried, the act of showing them reveals where I went wrong and I figure it out without them saying a word.