How to ask for help?

I've seen many questions either misunderstood or ignored due to poor presentation.

Before you jump to reading the guidelines;

Let's clarify a few stuff:

1. Don't post asking can you, as that would seem as if you've never tried, better option would be to ask how.
2. Don't break the forum rules (such as bump) as an attempt to gain attention, if you want your question solved urgently; use the BST forum and hire someone.
3. Don't ask for someone to code/create you something, and expect it to be fulfilled, if your intentions are that; as above, use the BST forum and hire someone.
4. Don't be lazy, search this forum, using the search utility to ensure your question has'nt been answered before (in which case you already have the answer)

Here's some guidelines on asking:

1. Describe your problem, making sure its understandable and not vague (such as describing your intentions/what you hope to achieve, and what you've tried)
2. Provide the relevant code (if neccesary, making sure its appropriately formatted/beautified for readability - and wrapped in appropriate bbcodes)
3. Provide example data (such as your input, expected output, and the output you currently get - if any)

You may refer to the following, which may assist you:

1. PHP Documentation (The majority of answers are within the documenation, if your looking for something in particular visit the related function pages - read the examples and user notes/contributions as they may help)
2. Guidelines, Tips & Frequently Asked Questions (Many users fail to realise, some of the most common problems/questions asked here are already covered within this topic)
3. BB Code List (Self explanatory)
4. PHP Formatter (If your code is messy/unformatted, you could try the following tool as an attempt to make your code more readable)
5. How To Ask Questions The Smart Way (A more ellaborate set of guidelines)