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I just saw a comment that stated that community wiki is dead:

dead

What does that mean?

The OP was just stating that if you do not want to seem like you are "farming" rep, mark the post as community wiki.

So what does that mean that it is "dead"?

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From The Future of Community Wiki

Community Wiki is dead. Long live Community Wiki!

Most of the time, you should be asking yourself “How can I improve this post so that community wiki isn’t needed?” Community wiki is like a cheese knife: it is a specialized tool to be used sparingly.

A picture of a cheese knife.

Community wiki is for that rare gem of a post that needs true community collaboration. That’s when community wiki shines. If your site is teeming with community wiki posts — particularly in questions — you should consider the above points carefully.

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    Community wiki is for that rare gem of a post that needs true community collaboration. And ChrisF's answers. Don't forget ChrisF's answers.
    – Frédéric Hamidi
    Nov 20, 2012 at 19:46
  • Wouldn't it make sense to disable community wiki for questions entirely? If we adhere to the common SE guidelines there is no reason at all to ever need it for questions. It certainly makes sense for answers, but for questions the only purpose is really the elimination of the reputation gain.
    – Mad Scientist
    Nov 20, 2012 at 19:51
  • @MadScientist It is disabled for questions on Stack Overflow. You can only use it on answers. Mods can wiki/unwiki questions.
    – casperOne
    Nov 20, 2012 at 19:54
  • @MadScientist: No, we need it (it's pretty harmless in the mod-only form it has currently). On metas at least. I've had to use it a few times for collaborative meta-posts with multiple answers.
    – Manishearth
    Nov 20, 2012 at 19:55
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    @casperOne I mean also disable the option for mods and remove the entire concept of a CW question while keeping the option of CW answers. Collaboration is a concept for answers, it never really made sense for questions.
    – Mad Scientist
    Nov 20, 2012 at 19:55
  • @MadScientist Well, at one point it did, but we let a lot of crap fly around in those days.
    – casperOne
    Nov 20, 2012 at 19:57
  • @MadScientist It makes sense occasionally, even for questions. For example, faq questions should be CW.
    – Servy
    Nov 20, 2012 at 19:58
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    @casperOne It was misused for the reputation effect, it is still misused for this effect by the auto-CW after 10 edits. It's no wonder that hardly anyone understands the purpose of CW if it is mostly used just for one of it's side-effects. Using it to invite collaboration from other users, the real purpose of it in my opinion, is rather rare and only makes sense for answers.
    – Mad Scientist
    Nov 20, 2012 at 20:00
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    @MadScientist I agree with the auto-CW, that's just absolutely stupid, that should be disabled.
    – casperOne
    Nov 20, 2012 at 20:01
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It means that it is no longer an option when asking a question. The checkbox is not there anymore and you can't create a CW question.

It is not quite the case that it is dead, as you can flag a question to moderators to make it CW and answers still have the checkbox.

What is the case, is that its use has fallen drastically. Virtually no posts are CW anymore.

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  • But one can still flag to switch to community wiki. and one can make their answer CW still.
    – Naftali
    Nov 20, 2012 at 19:38
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    The post he's replying to is about Answers though, which can be CW; I think he's referring to the general avoidance of CW in 99% of situations these days
    – Ben Brocka
    Nov 20, 2012 at 19:38
  • @BenBrocka - Probably what casperOne meant, I agree.
    – Oded
    Nov 20, 2012 at 19:41
  • That is what I meant. Basically 1) don't do it. 2) if you think you have a reason to do it, then see (1).
    – casperOne
    Nov 20, 2012 at 19:55

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