Remind users to do basic research before asking questions

Question

While any of us can need an explanation of some concept we need to get clear in our minds and can't quite grasp, it does seem sometimes that even the most basic step is sometimes lacking.

Could/Should a simple reminder be added above the text entry box saying e.g. "Please do basic research ( e.g. web search, wikipedia etc. ) before asking a question. Thank you."

There's already some guidance there, but I feel an explicit reference to this basic step is worth emphasizing ( in bold preferably ) to avoid some of the simple questions we're seeing ( that often get dealt with with comments directing people to Wikipedia or similar ).

Now I do think there's some educational value is dealing with even the simplest questions, but that's not the same as dealing with questions from people who seems to be unwilling to do basic reading.

Your thoughts please.

Answer 1

In a previous incarnation on this site, I wrote this meta question How do I improve the chances of my question being answered, and in looking for it now to add to this answer, I see quite a few others very similiar to it.

IMO, the question box should contain a link to whatever the community eventually decides on what constitutes a good question, (perhaps it already does), anyway the big problem is that it will probably be ignored by new users, as the homework link is currently ignored.