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Example 1 — SE forces you to write title of post, then body. This makes sense because title tops body. But Codidact forces you to write body first, then title. Counter intuitive? While perhaps...
Answer
#1: Initial revision
by
Moshi
·
2020-11-12T07:08:41Z (about 4 years ago)
>Example 1 — SE forces you to write title of post, then body. This makes sense because title tops body. But Codidact forces you to write body first, then title. Counter intuitive? While perhaps counterintuitive from a design perspective, it makes sense from a writing perspective. It's common advice that you should *always* choose a title[^1] last - whether it be writing a novel, an essay, or in this case, a question. For a more in-depth reasoning, see the discussion on [*Why does the title come after the body when writing a question?*](https://meta.codidact.com/questions/277015), especially Monica's and pnut's answers. I'll quote some relevant portions here. > Springer has advice about Titles (though the context is scientific publications rather than Q&A): > >>The title of your manuscript is usually the first introduction readers have to your published work. Therefore, you must select a title that grabs attention, accurately describes the contents of your manuscript, and makes people want to read further. > >It does seem likely to me to be easier to describe content accurately after such content has been written, not before. A scaled up analogy might help: "What describes a ship better, the plans sent to the yard by the naval architect, or the 'as built' drawings?". > > — pnuts > On other sites I've seen a lot of bad titles, ones that didn't match the question that came out at the end of the question body, and I think that's because the mere act of writing a question can change what you thought you were asking as you rubber-duck your problem. > > — Monica Cellio There's also this comment on [*Should the post title come before the body?*](https://meta.codidact.com/questions/277180). >This has come up a few times. I asked for it to come after the body because I've seen a lot of questions where the title doesn't match what the asker ended up asking about by the end of the body, but maybe we should instead just give newer posters a "please check your title again" reminder? — Monica Cellio [^1]: and even subheadings.