How to get a user to use the Q&A format?

Question

These two posts by the same user read like blog posts, the OP even says they are "reports" but when told that this is a Q&A site, the user refuses to accept that their post is not appropriate for this site.

How can I get through to this guy? It would be a shame just to close and remove the posts, they clearly put some effort in to them and someone may find them useful but they are a long way from the format here.

I hope a discussion here will show them the error of their ways because the denial is driving me mad :)

Ubuntu 17.10 x86_64 on LLVM/clang-built kernel with LLVM/clang-built Nvidia 390.25 x86_64 driver

Ubuntu 17.10 x86_64(host & guest) - VMware Player(14.1.1) on clang-built Linux kernel and clang-built VMware kernel modules

Answer 1

Some suggestions:

• Take some time to read the information the author has made efforts to share with the community, and identify the specific problem(s) they have found a solution to. Work out which part of what has been written would make sense as a question and which part would make sense as an answer. If you can't tell, ask the author to help identify the specific problem or issue they have solved or found an explanation to.

  In the cases of both the questions you linked to, on first reading I think that stage 1 and perhaps stage 2 of the answers describe the problem, so should be moved into the question. The introductory material in the questions as currently written could be cut down or removed, and the description of the problem made the focus.

  Note: I have now edited both Q&As to attempt to do this, since OP did not seem willing to attempt to make the format more suitable. My comments above refer to the first revisions of those posts.

• Write a comment suggesting how the post could be edited to make the information more accessible, useful and suitable for the format, for example, explain which part of what has been written should be the question, in your opinion, and which part should be the answer. You can show what you mean by, for example, pasting the paragraphs you think need to be moved in a pastebin. Explain why this would help site visitors, if you can. You may want to (politely!) direct the author to Can I answer my own question? and How do I ask a good question? and How do I write a good answer?.

  If OP has written both a question and an answer, offer to make the edit yourself, assuring them they can re-edit afterwards, or go ahead and make the edit if it seems appropriate. I would encourage you not to do this while the OP is upset (as they seem to be right now) about the reaction to their post or with you personally - come to an agreement with them about what should be done first if at all possible.

• If the question seems too broad (often the case, and may be the case here, but I do not think so at the moment), suggest splitting it into multiple questions if possible. Suggest what the distinct questions should be.

• If the question/information is wholly unsuitable for the site (for example it is not about Ubuntu or is entirely opinion based) (I do not think either is the case here), explain why, suggest a suitable place for it, and vote to close the question.

• If OP does not respond after a reasonable time and the post is still not in site format, edit it into a suitable format, unless conflicts are unresolved. As mentioned earlier, try to come to an agreement with the author before editing the post yourself.

• In cases (unlike this one) where OP has not written an answer but included it in the question, you can, after waiting for them to do so themselves for a reasonable time, remove the answer from the question and post it as a community wiki answer, if it seems upvoteable. Ask others to upvote the community wiki answer on your behalf.

Answer 2

The guy obviously spent a lot of time with his self-answered questions. I must admit they were "TL;DR" (Too long, didn't read) for me. They might serve some purpose for others down the road.

My inclination would be to post a comment they are too abstract / obscure and then VTC as too-broad or off-topic. I would try to suggest an alternate site for him to post on. Perhaps even suggest he start a blog.

My rationale for posting a comment would be guilt for the VTC over the amount of effort placed into the self-answered Q&A.