Return to Answer

• Don't use "(saw)", "(pbuh)", etc. in titles. There's a specific meta.Islam.SE post: Don't append "SAWW", "PBUH", "RA", "AS" etc in front of names and titles if the original author hasn't and don't change it either

• Prefer English over Arabic transliteration in titles. This is an English-language site, so the default should be English (although this should be balanced with searchability).

• When Arabic is necessary, descriptors help. A title like "What's in Riyad As-Saliheen?" is equivalent to "What's in [something]?". From the title, we learn that "Riyad As-Saliheen" is an object that things can be in, and the author wants to know what's inside it. (I changed it to Where do the ahadith in Riyad As-Saliheen come from, and what grade are they? to match the wording in the question.)

• Beware that "Qur'an X:Y" is not uniquely defined as some authors include "Bismillah al-rahman al-rahim" in their numbering while others don't.

• Don't use "(saw)", "(pbuh)", etc. in titles. There's a specific meta.Islam.SE post: Don't append "SAWW", "PBUH", "RA", "AS" etc in front of names and titles if the original author hasn't and don't change it either

• Prefer English over Arabic transliteration in titles. This is an English-language site, so the default should be English (although this should be balanced with searchability).

• When Arabic is necessary, descriptors help. A title like "What's in Riyad As-Saliheen?" is equivalent to "What's in [something]?". From the title, we learn that "Riyad As-Saliheen" is an object that things can be in, and the author wants to know what's inside it. (I changed it to Where do the ahadith in Riyad As-Saliheen come from, and what grade are they? to match the wording in the question.)

• Beware that "Qur'an X:Y" is not uniquely defined as some authors include "Bismillah al-rahman al-rahim" in their numbering while others don't.

• Ordinarily, the title should be the question.^{(meta.SE, meta.SE, meta.physics.SE, meta.drupal.SE)} It's more formal and professional, and helps to restrict the answers and comments to those directly related to the question.

  However, it can be beneficial to do otherwise: "...the title should communicate the question itself as faithfully as possible"^{(meta.math.SE)} but "...don't insist that your title be expressed as a perfectly formed English sentence"^(meta.SE).

• The specificity of the title should match the specificity of the question.

• If a question title asks a general question but the question content asks a specific question, subsequent questions which seek to ask the general question might be incorrectly closed as a duplicate. It can also give rise to the problem: "The title was exactly what I was looking for, but the question itself had nothing to do with my problem."^(meta.SE)

• If a question title asks a specific question but the question content asks a general question, users might ask the general question not realizing there is a duplicate.

• Avoid ambiguous titles.^{(meta.SE, meta.Judaism.SE)} As in the example in the question.

• Concerning title length...

Basically, "keep it short"^{(meta.SE, meta.SE, meta.stats.SE)} but "don't be afraid to make the title long"^{(math.SE, meta.drupal.SE)}.

• Make titles useful for searching by including words that people will search for^{(meta.SE, meta.stats.SE)}.

• Avoid reusing tags in titles^{(physics.meta.SE, meta.SE)} except when they make the title read better^(meta.SE):

To be clear, I think it is fine to duplicate the tags in the title, but only when they can be worked into the titles organically and conversationally. -- Jeff Atwood

• Avoid words like "problem", "question"^{(chemistry.meta.SE)}, "doubt"^{(chemistry.meta.SE)}, "help", "please", and "advice" in the title^(meta.SE). Also avoid "Could anyone..." or "Could someone...".

• Sentence case is easier to read in titles^(meta.SE).

• Ensure the question in the title is consistent with the question in the post.

• Try to find an answer to your question by copy/pasting the title into a search engine (before posting the question).

• Critical information should not be contained solely in the title.^{(meta.chess.SE)}

• Starting questions with "How to...", "How do I...", and "What is a..." is debated.^{(meta.SE, meta.diy.SE)} At Islam.SE, we probably also have problems concerning "Is it permissible to...", "Is it okay to...", "Is it acceptable to...". I'd suggest go with whatever seems best for a particular question.

• Ordinarily, the title should be the question.^{(meta.SE, meta.SE, meta.physics.SE, meta.drupal.SE)} It's more formal and professional, and helps to restrict the answers and comments to those directly related to the question.

  However, it can be beneficial to do otherwise: "...the title should communicate the question itself as faithfully as possible"^{(meta.math.SE)} but "...don't insist that your title be expressed as a perfectly formed English sentence"^(meta.SE).

• The specificity of the title should match the specificity of the question.

• If a question title asks a general question but the question content asks a specific question, subsequent questions which seek to ask the general question might be incorrectly closed as a duplicate. It can also give rise to the problem: "The title was exactly what I was looking for, but the question itself had nothing to do with my problem."^(meta.SE)

• If a question title asks a specific question but the question content asks a general question, users might ask the general question not realizing there is a duplicate.

• Avoid ambiguous titles.^{(meta.SE, meta.Judaism.SE)} As in the example in the question.

• Concerning title length...

Basically, "keep it short"^{(meta.SE, meta.SE, meta.stats.SE)} but "don't be afraid to make the title long"^{(math.SE, meta.drupal.SE)}.

• Make titles useful for searching by including words that people will search for^{(meta.SE, meta.stats.SE)}.

• Avoid reusing tags in titles^{(physics.meta.SE, meta.SE)} except when they make the title read better^(meta.SE):

To be clear, I think it is fine to duplicate the tags in the title, but only when they can be worked into the titles organically and conversationally. -- Jeff Atwood

• Avoid words like "problem", "question"^{(chemistry.meta.SE)}, "doubt"^{(chemistry.meta.SE)}, "help", "please", and "advice" in the title^(meta.SE). Also avoid "Could anyone..." or "Could someone...".

• Sentence case is easier to read in titles^(meta.SE).

• Ensure the question in the title is consistent with the question in the post.

• Try to find an answer to your question by copy/pasting the title into a search engine (before posting the question).

• Critical information should not be contained solely in the title.^{(meta.chess.SE)}

• Starting questions with "How to...", "How do I...", and "What is a..." is debated.^{(meta.SE, meta.diy.SE)} At Islam.SE, we probably also have problems concerning "Is it permissible to...", "Is it okay to...", "Is it acceptable to...". I'd suggest go with whatever seems best for a particular question.

• Ordinarily, the title should be the question.^{(meta.SE, meta.SE, meta.physics.SE, meta.drupal.SE)} It's more formal and professional, and helps to restrict the answers and comments to those directly related to the question.

  However, it can be beneficial to do otherwise: "...the title should communicate the question itself as faithfully as possible"^{(meta.math.SE)} but "...don't insist that your title be expressed as a perfectly formed English sentence"^(meta.SE).

• The specificity of the title should match the specificity of the question.

• If a question title asks a general question but the question content asks a specific question, subsequent questions which seek to ask the general question might be incorrectly closed as a duplicate. It can also give rise to the problem: "The title was exactly what I was looking for, but the question itself had nothing to do with my problem."^(meta.SE)

• If a question title asks a specific question but the question content asks a general question, users might ask the general question not realizing there is a duplicate.

• Avoid ambiguous titles.^{(meta.SE, meta.Judaism.SE)} As in the example in the question.

• Concerning title length...

• Ordinarily, the title should be the question.^{(meta.SE, meta.SE, meta.physics.SE, meta.drupal.SE)} It's more formal and professional, and helps to restrict the answers and comments to those directly related to the question.

  However, it can be beneficial to do otherwise: "...the title should communicate the question itself as faithfully as possible"^{(meta.math.SE)} but "...don't insist that your title be expressed as a perfectly formed English sentence"^(meta.SE).

• The specificity of the title should match the specificity of the question.

• If a question title asks a general question but the question content asks a specific question, subsequent questions which seek to ask the general question might be incorrectly closed as a duplicate. It can also give rise to the problem: "The title was exactly what I was looking for, but the question itself had nothing to do with my problem."^(meta.SE)

• If a question title asks a specific question but the question content asks a general question, users might ask the general question not realizing there is a duplicate.

• Avoid ambiguous titles.^{(meta.SE, meta.Judaism.SE)} As in the example in the question.

• Concerning title length...