Discussion Forums? [duplicate]

Question

(Reposted + Modified from AU Meta)

One of the great things about the Stack Exchange network is the ability to ask a question and get it answered. No fluff, no frills, nobody saying "Me too."

However, sometimes things need to be tested. Sometimes clarification is needed. Sometimes, the chit-chat is beneficial to the question. And, in these cases, the Comments and Chat just don't cut it. That's why I want to propose the Stack Exchange Super Problem Discussion Board.

Basically, users above 100 reputation see a new button on every question: Propose for Discussion. After 5 users click this, a micro Discourse install is launched for that question. This Discourse install is around for 30 days before it is frozen for viewing only. Once a question has had a Discussion initiated, it may no longer be opened for discussion, except by moderators.

The forum itself operates very similarly to its mother, Discourse. However, a few new buttons will be added:

• Move to Answer - Once five people (500+ rep) click this button, the current post is automagically migrated (with the magical power of the Unicorn) to the parent question as an answer.
• Move to Answer + Accept - A Question-OP only button, a single click of this will move the post to the parent question, and will automatically accept the answer.
• Vote to Lock - After five 10k+ users hit this button, the thread is locked. A new thread can not be created.
• Vote to Delete - After five 10k+ users hit this button, the post is deleted.
• Flag Management - Similar to the 10k tools on the main site, this allows for 10k users to deal with limited subsets of flags.

Post editing is disabled for all users below 10k reputation. 10k users can propose edits, however they must be approved by two other 10k+ users. Moderators and post owners can insta-accept the proposed edits.

Moderators should also be able to prevent a particular question from being discussed, or keep a discussion always open. A button Lock Discussion State will lock in the current discussion state. For example, if a question does not have a discussion, this button will prevent a discussion from starting. If there is a discussion, this button will deactivate the 30-day timer and remove the "vote for lock" for 10k users. This would be good for those big questions that are always inevitably discussed, or something changes.

The Discussion should be kept on-topic at all times, and repeated off-topic posts should result in a suspension of Discussion privileges. No reputation changes should occur from the Discussion.

A "paywall" might also be implemented to keep the users who opened the Discussion actually serious. That way, the 30 day timer isn't wasted. 25 rep (while a lot, yet still relatively easy to earn) will keep people on the Discussion.

Permissions Table:

|                                   | <100 Rep  | 100-499 Rep   | 500-9999 Rep  | 10k+ Rep  | Question OP   | ♦ Moderators  |
|--------------------------------   |---------- |-------------  |-------------- |---------- |-------------  |-------------- |
| Discussion Rules                  |           |               |               |           |               |               |
| Vote to Start Discussion          |           | +             | +             | +         |               |               |
| Post in Discussion                |           | +             | +             | +         | +             | +             |
| Vote for Move2Answer              |           |               | +             | +         | +             |               |
| Move2Answer + Accept              |           |               |               |           | +             |               |
|                                   |           |               |               |           |               |               |
| Posting Rules                     |           |               |               |           |               |               |
| Post Links (<2)                   |           | +             | +             | +         | +             | +             |
| Post Links (2+)                   |           | +             | +             | +         | +             | +             |
| Post Images                       |           | +             | +             | +         | +             | +             |
| Edit Posts                        |           | Own           | Own           | +         | Own           | +             |
|                                   |           |               |               |           |               |               |
| Moderation Rules                  |           |               |               |           |               |               |
| Flag Posts                        |           | +             | +             | +         | +             |               |
| Lock Threads                      |           |               |               | Vote      | Vote          | +             |
| Delete Posts                      |           |               |               | Vote      |               | +             |
| Delete Threads                    |           |               |               |           |               | +             |
| Block Question from Discussion    |           |               |               |           |               | +             |
| Handle Flags                      |           |               |               | Limited   |               | +             |
| Force Start Discussion            |           |               |               |           |               | +             |
| Force Move2Answer                 |           |               |               |           |               | +             |

Answer 1

I do not support this feature request.

The notion that someone other than me could promote one of my posts to be a formal answer is completely unacceptable. If I put up a comment that was not fully thought through and someone wants to base their answer on my comment, have at it. If it turns out to be the answer, it's my own fault if I did not post it as an answer. But I have my own quality standards and if I decided to post a comment rather than an answer that's because I decided that what I wrote was not tested or confirmed enough to constitute an answer. This decision is mine, and mine alone, to make.

Once the capabilities to promote a post to an answer and promote a post to an answer and accept this answer are removed, as they should, then I don't see anything in this proposal that can't be handled by comments or by chat. There is no doubt that the comment system could be improved, but then a feature request that proposes improvement to the comment system should be submitted rather than proposing a completely new system.

Answer 2

I don't like this idea. Especially not considering how it would play out on the flagship site Stack Overflow.

There, this request would move to allow complete outsourcing of third-party features and maintenance to the Stack Overflow community.

Elsewhere, it would play out very similarly except instead of features and maintenance it would require footwork, paperwork, or research.

The only reasons for this radical overhaul are that sometimes things need to be tested, to allow for clarification, and that chit chat is sometimes beneficial. All of which indicate a lack of research on the behalf of the question poster.

• Testing should not be the communities responsibility.
• Clarifying your own situation should not be the communities responsibility.
• Chat is for chit-chat.

Creating a forum for questions sort of flies in the face of the entire premise of the site.