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This has probably been asked before but I can’t find the question.

On Stack Overflow, when you scroll you get a sticky top bar and when you click on the logo you get back to the home page. On every other website you get instead a Stack Exchange button that shows a popin about the "Stack Exchange Network". That’s very frustrating because both buttons are in the same place with a similar appearance but they do different things.

SO top bar logo button Ask Ubuntu top bar logo button

Can we not have the same behavior as virtually any website out there where clicking on the top-left logo make you go back to the home page?

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  • Did you check Stack Overflow Meta for a similar question, as well? Maybe it's easier to find there, since they are apparently the odd one out.
    – Joachim
    Commented Aug 12 at 12:13
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    If you click on the top left logo, e.g. the big white on blue "META" logo here on meta.se, it will take you to the front page of the current community.
    – samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz
    Commented Aug 12 at 12:43
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    @samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz yes but this is not sticky
    – bfontaine
    Commented Aug 12 at 13:11
  • My guess is because Stackoverflow is the largest SE site across the whole network, so it probably has some slight differences in spots like this to make it... like most websites in this regard.
    – Timothy G.
    Commented Aug 12 at 13:41
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    @Joachim yes, with no result :/ . I do like the behavior of the Stack Overflow website; my question is why it’s not generalized to other sites.
    – bfontaine
    Commented Aug 12 at 16:42
  • Just a note that previously, clicking the Stack Exchange logo did nothing.
    – Meta Andrew T.
    Commented Aug 13 at 8:59
  • @MetaAndrewT. yeah, but the issue here is the inconsistency. It used to be consistent, but at some point SO design got a pretty radical change, can't point my finger when and what exactly changed, but e.g. now it just miss the part between the top bar and the page contents, where all other sites have their logo linking to the site homepage.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Aug 13 at 10:37

1 Answer 1

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This was changed during the New top bar is coming to the Stack Exchange network. Originally, the Stack Overflow logo would redirect to Stack Overflow homepage, and the Stack Exchange logo would redirect to the site homepage. However, the community didn't agree with that, and suggested to link to the Stack Exchange network homepage instead. In the end, the Stack Exchange logo was unlinked, then re-linked to the Stack Exchange network homepage.

The reasoning was discussed in the comment thread of this (deleted) answer.

I see "Stack Exchange" and SE icon on the left, where they used to be. Previously, I clicked them to access site switcher. Now the site switcher is on the right. What will happen when I click "Stack Exchange" by force of habit?

Comment thread (hand-picked only related to this question):

Comment User Time
At the moment - links to the homepage of the current site. Oded (ex-staff) Sep 13, 2017 at 19:46
@Oded For what it's worth, I would find it much more intuitive for it to link to stackexchange.com. It's nice to have an easy link to go to the main site. called2voyage Sep 13, 2017 at 19:53
I agree with @called2voyage, when I click on something titled "Stack Exchange" I would expect to go to Stack Exchange. Anything else is confusing UI. Ajean Sep 13, 2017 at 19:56
Talking about this internally. I think we are leaning towards just removing the link and with that all ambiguity. Oded Sep 13, 2017 at 20:19
I agree with going to the stackexchange.com link... the only way I ever get there is through clicking on the HNQ banner because I don't know any other way to do it. Catija Sep 13, 2017 at 20:44
@Oded the site switcher is moved to the rightmost button (the SE hamburger) while I assume pretty much everyone is used to it being on left, and the thing that's in the place of site switcher is a logo that redirects to the homepage of the current site, while the logo of the site (which is right under top bar) does the same thing. ave Sep 14, 2017 at 13:37
@Avery - did you read my other comments on the thread? I agree that linking it to the homepage makes little sense (I was simply reporting what I saw happening - I was not the developer of the update). As I already said, we will likely not link that logo at all. Oded Sep 14, 2017 at 13:41
@Oded In conversations about what to do with the Stack Exchange logo on the left, it's worth keeping in mind that these days, logos in nav are almost always links to the brand's home page. I think it'll also be confusing if the logo is there but not clickable, so I'm also in favor of making it link to se.com. Laura Sep 15, 2017 at 14:45
I agree with @Laura - it should be clickable and it should route you to the stackexchange network. JonH Sep 15, 2017 at 19:45
At the moment - links to the homepage of the current site. That moment has been gone - at least on meta. Currently it is doing nothing. Is this expected? @Oded Christian Gollhardt Sep 20, 2017 at 16:16
@ChristianGollhardt - read three comments down (referring to the "we will likely not link that logo at all."). Looks like that's what we went for. Oded Sep 20, 2017 at 16:30

Then, from New top bar is live (revision 13),

Clickable Stack Exchange logo

Concern: The Stack Exchange logo is useless. Clicking on it should trigger the site switcher (see below) or it should lead to stackexchange.com.

Status:

Explanation: This has been fixed. Clicking on the Stack Exchange logo will display a brief popup about the Stack Exchange network, and a link to stackexchange.com.

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  • Thanks. Do you know why all these sites have the Stack Exchange logo instead of a site-specific logo?
    – bfontaine
    Commented Aug 15 at 19:36
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    @bfontaine I think because the site logo is already in the banner area (the way "Meta" is in the blue background on this site). So it would be redundant to have it in two places. This is more or less how it's always been. Stack Overflow was the one that changed and put the logo in the top bar (and removed it from the banner area I believe). Personally I would rather have the Stack Overflow logo moved back down to the banner area like all the other sites to keep consistency.
    – Cave Johnson
    Commented Aug 15 at 19:42

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