Today, I came across the possibility of creating Discourse URLs that can prefill information when starting a new topic.
Here is a simple example with a prefilled message body:
This feature is documented here:
https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-a-link-to-start-a-new-topic-with-pre-filled-information/28074
The only requirement is that the content must be properly URL-encoded.
I think providing some initial guidance to users on how to create a high-quality topic could greatly improve the overall experience. At the very least, it could reduce the common first replies such as, "Please provide your configuration. Here is how to do it. Thanks."
The question is where such a URL could be placed. I assume it is not possible to change the behavior of the global New Topic button. However, it could perhaps be added to a pinned topic, the site header, the footer, or another prominent location that users are likely to notice.