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In SE in general, we don't have intros or sigs. It's streamlined and lean, focusing on just the content.

When I post a question that has a major brand-name product tag like do I need to say "Hey, I'm using Illustrator!" in the Title and/or the start of the body as well? Or will people find that redundant and out of character for the site, since the question is clearly labeled as concerning that product.

In my recent post I added the product name to the end of the body, along with more specific version information, which would be useful in the future and is not part of the tag. So it was out of the way, and arguably added something.

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    Personally, I only look at tags when the question isn't clear about the software. So mentioning it in the question does no harm.
    – PieBie Mod
    Oct 28, 2015 at 9:48
  • I think it's good to mention it in the question and with the tags. Sometimes OPs don't use the right tag or can't add as many tags as they wish. When you're precise, it leaves less room to confusion!
    – go-junta
    Oct 28, 2015 at 23:49

4 Answers 4

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It never hurts to be clear.

Many users don't see the tags until after the fact. Mentioning what application you are using, if necessary, in the question somewhere (anywhere) always leads to a clearer question.

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    Some of the more careless an impatient users (Reminds me of certain cow I once met) don't read the tags, ever.
    – GiantCowFilms
    Nov 2, 2015 at 19:04
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Personally I would leave it out. Keep it simple and descriptive will even help when someone is reading it on the app. To me its redundant when the tags are displayed below every title.

The community has expressed in the past, think there is even a meta question on it, if someone is looking for a solution and another software could help should it be added as an answer. I am all for this but that needs to be mentioned by the OP in their question. An issue we could face with titles is they become bloated and on the app they look terrible.

However, all this depends on what the OP wants. If all you care about is a solution and you don't care about what software is used then leave out the software name and mention you're just looking for a solution regardless of the software. If you care for a solution around a particular software include it in the title but make sure to add the version tag. Several answers on Illustrator alone have shown that depending on the version you can perform events easier since later versions are not feature rich.

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  • Version tag? I didn't notice those.
    – JDługosz
    Oct 29, 2015 at 8:27
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    Yes we have cs6, cs5, cs3, creatiive-cloud, cc-2014 for Adobe
    – user9447
    Nov 4, 2015 at 14:08
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When reading a question I have tag-blindness. I don't tend to read them or even notice them.

If a question leaves out vital information such as what tool you're using, I'll probably go hunting for more clues, usually by skimming over the comments the question is getting, and then sometimes I'll notice a tag. Occasionally, I will then modify the question or its title to include that information so others don't have the same problem.

I think of tags not as a way to supply important information but as a way of classifying the question so I can follow my favourite tags to find questions relevant to me. Thus I don't tend to be aware of tags when reading a question, but only when browsing for questions to read. For not noticing tags I wouldn't classify myself as careless or impatient. Everybody skims over various information when reading, especially online, based on what they think looks relevant.

So to sum up, please don't omit vital information from the title or question just because it's in one of the tags.

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If you take into consideration that questions are supposed to help other people seeking the same answers it becomes more clear, I feel. Tags can help find an already answered question or narrow down on it. So if you put yourself in the shoes of someone with the exact same issue looking through the questions, what tags would you use to filter?

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