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(Not sure if I'm using the term correctly ... I have a question on the main site that has attracted a whopping 16 views over 2 days, and zero votes or answers). The lack of answers is especially disappointing.

Is this an appropriate place to ask for advice as to whether the problem is

  1. the topic domain (Mutagen - there doesnt seem much activity here on that),
  2. the specific issue (accuracy of track length info) or - and heres the poit about help here
  3. the way its worded. Im assuming its not that badly worded as it has not gotte any down votes or been put on hold* or closed.

I'm guessing it's probably 2, but if it's 3 obviously I'd like to improve it.

How accurate is mutagen track length info

* as of the time of writing. Subsequent events... (Comments, great; on-hold, not so much)

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    Part of the problem is that the question is on hold for being off-topic.
    – ThisSuitIsBlackNot
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 22:45
  • @ThisSuitIsBlackNot, I think it might help if we could provide the author with more feedback about why the question is off-topic and how specifically to improve it. The canned explanation is not terribly specific in this case (IMHO).
    – D.W.
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 23:18
  • @D.W. The OP specifically said the question was not on hold so I figured I would alert them to that. But I agree, additional explanation is in order.
    – ThisSuitIsBlackNot
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 23:23
  • It's on hold now, wasn't when I posted afaik.
    – RFlack
    Commented Dec 21, 2013 at 1:49

2 Answers 2

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It seems that you are asking a question about a particular API. Please edit the question to include code that calls that API. Then it will be much clearer which API you are asking about, whether you are calling it correctly, and especially, that your question indeed is a programming question.

Editing a question that's on hold is the best way to get it reopened quickly, assuming that your edits make it significantly better - easier to understand and answer.

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  • I only just saw the "hold". Im going to try and deal with that. A couple of ppl posted some good comments. Im still left with the questions I asked here ... why was the Q 'ignored' for 2 days?
    – RFlack
    Commented Dec 21, 2013 at 0:16
  • @RFlack - Because it was a "niche question". On topic I guess, but not guaranteed to attract instant attention - and even looking as unclear/off topic to some people. If you keep it as is, it will move from "on hold" to "closed" soon. If I was in your situation, I would quote my python code in the question body and give the question the python tag. Python is one of the "mainstream" tags and many people follow questions asked under that tag.
    – Jirka Hanika
    Commented Dec 21, 2013 at 22:06
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I think that question is fine. It's asking for technical information that could be needed for a programming project. I would try to put more verbiage in it to show how it relates to your programming needs.

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  • "put more verbiage in it" - If I was the author, I wouldn't know what to make of this. Does that mean pad it out with more words to increase its length? (I'm sure that's not what you intended.) Show how it relates to your programming needs? But the question already explains how it relates to the author's programming needs. Can we try to give this author more constructive feedback about what specifically is needed to make the question more suitable for SO?
    – D.W.
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 23:19
  • @D.W., it probably doesn't need more words, just needs to have the point made clearer that he needs this information specifically for programming. Just a matter of emphasis.
    – Lance Roberts
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 23:21
  • Hmm. OK. Do you mean to add two sentences saying something like "I need this for programming. I am writing a program to look for duplicates and I am using track-length as part of the way I compare two tracks."? Would that fix it? If so, OK, well, I'll propose an edit adding those two sentences (to me that sounds a tad lawyerly, but OK, I suppose it's easy enough to fix).
    – D.W.
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 23:26
  • @D.W., I don't think the first little sentence is needed, but the rest would be good.
    – Lance Roberts
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 23:28
  • Cool. Thanks for the concrete suggestions, Lance! I appreciate it. I've proposed an edit to try to incorporate that information; we'll see if others think it helps or not.
    – D.W.
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 23:33
  • To everyone - I appreciate the many comments. As a newcomer here I need all the help I can get! The original premise of course is superseded, but this will all help going forward. Am I ci
    – RFlack
    Commented Dec 21, 2013 at 1:54
  • Whoops I hit return... I keep trying to add new lines, sorry.... As I was saying, am I correct that one possible reason for the lack if response is that SE is focused on "programming" as opposed to "data" and the question perhaps wasn't sufficiently clear that I am "rolling" my own? And that, should it be an issue with mp3 vs m4a per se, that's def off topic?
    – RFlack
    Commented Dec 21, 2013 at 1:59
  • @RFlack, it may have been that he thought you were just dealing with pre-packaged mp3 burners instead of writing an application.
    – Lance Roberts
    Commented Dec 21, 2013 at 2:00

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