HN Explorer

Ask HN: Where to post solutions to problems to help future people Googling?

12 points by arduinomancer ↗ HN
I find a lot of times I have some tricky programming problem which has no answers on Google.

Eventually after struggling with it I find a solution.

At this point I would love to be able to just submit that solution somewhere so that future people searching might come across it.

Does anyone else do this?

What are some places to post the solution so that it gets indexed by search engines for future readers?

I've thought of posting a StackOverflow question then immediately answering it, but that seems a bit wonky.

I almost wish there were a website for posting generic tips on any topic.

11 comments

[ 5.9 ms ] story [ 26.6 ms ] thread
jitbit
Well, the Stackoverflow thing is what I do.

Except for I post a genuine question - it stays unanswered - I scratch my head for hours - come up with a solution - post an answer.

Happened countless times.

codingdave
Just create a blog and submit your sitemap to google - if your solution really is the only one online, google will index it and link people there. Getting a site indexed by google isn't the challenge, it is getting above all the other results, so in such a scenario as you describe where the are no results, the answer of where to post it is literally "anywhere."
shanecleveland
You could post on a blog of your own. If it is a very specific question and answer, it shouldn't be too hard to rank it. And you may get search ranking benefit for future opportunities of your own.
gus_massa
Make a blog. When the problem/solution is not too short or not too long, you can post it here, get a few imaginary internet points and a few hundred visitors. (It usually gets more traction if there is a nice story and has few graphics.)

Later, Google will find and recommend it.

linknoid
StackOverflow actually has a checkbox when you ask a question that says: "Answer your own question – share your knowledge, Q&A-style" which lets you post your answer at the same time as your question.
mikewarot
I've been throwing things like that on my blog for decades.
joshxyz
I answer on stackoverflow and comment on gihub issues. Sometimes I google the same damn thing after couple months and see myself answered it already, hilarious.
joshxyz
Reason why stackoverflow and github issues and not your blog or whatever platform is because SO & GH have good SEO, and will probably stay up longer than your blog and your lifetime.