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The FAQ tab is incorrectly labeled. It should be called "Views" as it is not a list of "frequently asked questions" but is, in fact, a list of questions sorted by number of views sorted by link frequency just as the Votes tab is a list of questions sorted by the number of votes.

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    How can one slap a status-declined on something that will leave Gnarly the Narwhal forever confused? Don't you have any conscience at all?
    – Pekka
    Jun 27, 2011 at 0:02
  • We've decided to change the name of this tab. Any ideas besides "linked", "frequent", or "popular"?
    – Jeremy T
    Mar 11, 2013 at 22:07
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    @JeremyTunnell I guess in a way they're "reference(d)" questions, but that might be too lengthy for the tab.
    – Tim Stone
    Mar 11, 2013 at 22:24
  • "Views"? ------
    – Pekka
    Mar 11, 2013 at 22:29
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    It's not based on views, dammit. If "FAQ" is wrong, "Views" is doubly wrong.
    – Shog9
    Mar 11, 2013 at 23:36
  • Ah. Tim Stone's suggestion seems the most accurate then.
    – Pekka
    Mar 12, 2013 at 11:06
  • Its about damn time you guys fixed this. Popular would be nice.
    – user1228
    Mar 12, 2013 at 12:57
  • @Won't I'd like to get this done pretty quickly. Since "popular" didn't get any votes below, and internally it's almost unanimous for "frequent", I think we'll go with the latter.
    – Jeremy T
    Mar 12, 2013 at 20:24
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    included in next push...
    – Jeremy T
    Mar 18, 2013 at 21:10
  • @JeremyTunnell Frequent is good. But if that list doesn't tend to hold canonical closed-as-dupe-of-this questions, you guys need to work that algo.
    – user1228
    Mar 19, 2013 at 0:16

2 Answers 2

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Actually, it's not a list of questions sorted by views. If you scrolled down a couple inches on your screen, (and didn't have ignored tags hidden) you'll notice the 4th entry clocks in at 24k views, which is higher than both the 2nd and 3rd entries combined.

The faq tab is built from links (and one might note that the tooltip for the tab says "Questions with the most links"). As in, these are the questions that get linked incredibly often. Links come primarily from two points - duplicates (literal reiterations of the same question) and general reference ("this is very similar so you might want to look at this"). Both of these show exactly the hints of what the tab is meant to represent: stuff that is frequently asked about and thuswise is frequently referenced. That sounds like an accurate tab name to me. It's a bit more evocative and compact than calling it "highly linked" or "frequently linked".

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    My bad, but its still not "frequently asked questions". You've got two "faq" links on the front page -- one links to a "getting started" page with tips and tricks about using the website. The other links to a list of questions which people have linked to a bunch. Does anybody else see how confusing this all is? Am I the crazy one?
    – user1228
    Jun 20, 2011 at 17:28
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    @Wont I think we've already discussed about how the other one should probably renamed. As for this tab, I think the point of picking what is highly linked is to simulate what is frequently asked. After all, if the answers from a single question are repeatedly getting thrown out to a bunch of other questions asking the same thing, is that not the definition of a frequently asked question?
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Jun 20, 2011 at 17:31
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    I think it smells of "we can't think of a better name." I have answered with a suggestion for a different name which better describes what the list means.
    – user1228
    Jun 20, 2011 at 18:40
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    @Wont I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that point, if only because I think "popularity" is closer associated with votes (which indicate what people agree is useful) and views (which indicate what people actually look at by volume, nevermind how it results in the eponymous Popular Question badge) than with links. Links, to me at least, indicate less about the popularity, more about how often the answer to the same question is provided.
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Jun 20, 2011 at 18:49
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    "frq" </solution>
    – Tim Stone
    Jun 20, 2011 at 19:10
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I think, given the information @Grace provided, the tab should be named "Popular".

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    Popular to me implies that it's well-voted, though the "votes" tab might help distinguish that... Jun 20, 2011 at 18:54
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    Dangit, how did I not see this earlier? Things named "popular" are cool.
    – Pops
    Mar 18, 2013 at 21:14

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