The famous What Stack Overflow is not question (10k+ only) was deleted a couple of weeks ago. The reason was the (real or perceived) rudeness that accompanied the question's use. The question was split into sub-headings (answers) that you could link to when you saw a user do something that went against Stack Overflow's rules. The headings would read, for example,
Stack Overflow is not your research assistant
and link to the right "chapter" in the question. It was deemed that headings like this, posted on their own with no explanation, are not the nicest way to greet a new user who isn't familiar with the site's rules, and I tend to agree.
However, the question itself, and its contents, was tremendously useful in guiding new users on what they did "wrong", and how to fix it. To me, this question and linking to it had the signs of the "just-in-time documentation" that Jeff is so often on about, in that people were directed specifically to what they need to know. You have to admit that the rationale for many of Stack Overflow's intricacies live on Meta and are very hard to find for an outsider.
Also, the question's contents were polished to be very, very polite. It was the headings that were the problem. (Of course, you can argue that the real problem lay with commenters using the content in a rude way, but that argument has been had and it's a different discussion.)
Would it make sense resurrecting WSOIN using headings that, even when posted on their own, sound more neutral? For the question's heading, I was thinking about something like
How to ask a question on Stack Overflow and not die trying
and for the format of the sub-headings, instead of "Stack Overflow is not....", this:
Should I do (thing that you should never, ever do on Stack Overflow)?
With some exceptions where the format doesn't really sound good.
So looking at the real WSOIN, some examples:
Stack Overflow is not your research assistant
becomes What research should I do before asking a question on Stack Overflow?
or maybe Should I ask a question on Stack Overflow without doing prior research?
Stack Overflow doesn't provide product or service recommendations
becomes Should I ask for product or service recommendations on Stack Overflow?
...
Stack Overflow won't do your homework for you
becomes Should I copy & paste homework questions?
or What should I beware of when asking homework questions?
...
Stack Overflow is not tied to your deadline
becomes Should I mention deadlines and mark questions "Urgent!!!"?
and so on and so on. You get the drift.
However, before people start working on this, there needs to be a statement from the management whether something like this has a chance. Nobody expects a guarantee that it will live; I understand no one can give that. But does it have a chance to survive if results are good?
I don't think anybody is going to go through the crapload of work that Robert and others went through for WSOIN when the only result is that it gets deleted again.
