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Here's what I've seen today when checked out the question. I suggest to remove this post notice (and just show a message after someone who had not enough reputation tried to answer) or at least to move it to make it somewhere less visible.

Because:

  1. Most important thing in question it's the text of the question itself.
  2. Only some of users who check the question have an intention to answer it themselves.
  3. If you are an active user and you are allowed to answer it isn't really that important for them to know that they are actually allowed - it's assumed by default.

Link to Question: How to remove local (untracked) files from the current Git working tree

post notice

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  • 15
    Besides, the notice is wrong. "Active: 2 months ago" doesn't really sound like an active question to me. I've seen it with questions that have Active: years ago. It should probably be "Popular question". And IMO it should be just above the answering form.
    – Gloweye
    Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 10:29
  • Is this the replacement for a protected question? The new notices can be a bit confusing.
    – Mast
    Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 11:00
  • 1
    Please see New Post Notices rollout on Stack Overflow for this & related changes that are currently occurring.
    – PM 2Ring
    Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 11:12
  • @PM2Ring I do believe that such meta posts are useful in particular scenarios and in other scenarios they just not as useful. This question has a smaller goal and thus a higher probability to be addressed.
    – shabunc
    Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 11:44
  • 3
    Fair point. That original question (and answers) about the changes to the closed question notices is getting very large, and hard to keep track of. I mostly posted my previous comment to link this page to that page.
    – PM 2Ring
    Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 11:53
  • 2
    previously discussed in this answer/comments: meta.stackexchange.com/a/337053/281934
    – pkamb
    Commented Nov 8, 2019 at 0:48
  • @Mast Yes, this notice is what's placed on protected questions with the updated post notices.
    – Makyen
    Commented Nov 8, 2019 at 5:26

4 Answers 4

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I too find this new banner extremely distracting.

I now see it often when hitting any Stack Overflow question from Google.

I think the primary issue is that it's one of the top elements on the page, as if it was a site-wide banner or notification. It's the first thing I'm drawn to read, even more so than the question title or body.

It also annoyingly separates the question title and body, making the question harder to read.

Previous Version

The old version had the banner entirely below the question, not separating the title and the body. This made it much easier to read the question.

On longer questions, you wouldn't even see the banner until you scrolled down a bit.

The beige is also less attention-grabbing than the new blue, in my opinion.

old version

How to remove local (untracked) files from the current Git working tree

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14

I have written a short userscript that repositions the post notices back to their original locations:

enter image description here

You can install it with this direct link (if you have a userscript manager) or view the source code on GitHub.

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  • 3
    Most of my upvote is hoping that it may someday help convince SE that this is indeed the superior solution.
    – Gloweye
    Commented Nov 25, 2019 at 8:59
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    Tip: this would look nicer if you shrank the banner's width to match the question body, and added some top margin to it. See my screenshot at i.sstatic.net/dNQGx.jpg. (Alas, I don't know exactly what CSS I used - sorry.)
    – Mark Amery
    Commented Dec 6, 2019 at 0:03
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    @MarkAmery I've just merged a pull request by Yaakov Ellis which makes it look better (though still a little different from your screenshot).
    – Glorfindel Mod
    Commented Dec 6, 2019 at 10:03
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The Highly Active Question banner is now only shown to users who either do not have enough rep to answer (10 earned rep), or who have enough rep to unprotect (15K earned rep).

Users who are in between these two privilege levels (and thus are able to answer, but can't do anything about the protected status) are no longer shown this banner.

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  • Would it be possible to add a comment regarding beta sites, please? (I.e., is it different?)
    – Rebecca J. Stones
    Commented Dec 22, 2019 at 13:18
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    @RebeccaJ.Stones It’s based on the privilege level, not the absolute reputation. So, yes, it’s lower on betas.
    – Catija StaffMod
    Commented Dec 22, 2019 at 14:20
  • 10k+ users (i.e. users with the moderator tools privilege) have access to a full list of all protected questions on the site; it might be worth showing them the notice as well.
    – Sonic the Anonymous Hedgehog
    Commented Dec 27, 2019 at 0:28
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    @sonic but what would they do with the knowledge that it is protected?
    – Yaakov Ellis StaffMod
    Commented Dec 27, 2019 at 5:19
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    On a site where I'm low-rep, I see the banner at the very bottom of the page where the Answer box should be. I didn't realize from this Question/Answer that the banner moves depending on your rep.
    – pkamb
    Commented Nov 25, 2020 at 18:33
  • @pkamb: Yep, I just encountered the same inconsistency when looking at a question on RPG.SE (where I have high rep) vs. one on SO in Portuguese (where I don't). It's weird behavior... but apparently intended. I eventually found these relevant MSE posts about the feature: Why does the protected notice appear at the bottom of the page for me on some sites, instead of the top?, Eeeek! Something stole the protection! (Why is this protected question unprotected?
    – V2Blast StaffMod
    Commented May 12, 2022 at 20:03
  • (The latter bug report was made at at Jon Ericson’s request while he was a CM, and Jon answered it, noting that its overall positioning was intended behavior but saying he didn’t know why the banner was awkwardly placed.)
    – V2Blast StaffMod
    Commented May 12, 2022 at 20:09
0

Another reason to remove the banner is the absurd space it's taking on mobile phones: over 10% if the space is wasted on it.

another

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