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A code change was implemented to sort meta sites below main sites. Yet, when closing a post, the list isn't always sorted main before meta:

MSO is sorted above SO

Perhaps the code change was done before the MSE/MSO split or the code has regressed in this one case.

Could this be fixed so SO appears above MSO when migrating a question from other main sites?

If not, how about we make a new rule where we have to get the question to our meta so cross site migrations are meta to meta and main to main only.

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  • I guess we can list this one under the issues with SE ignoring moderators. Oct 7, 2019 at 16:45
  • Only 11 upvotes, there clearly are more pressing design features to work since this is a low volume request @MaartenBodewes thanks for the vote if you saw this just now, too :)
    – bmike
    Oct 7, 2019 at 16:47
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    That are probably 11 moderators that found this question. I mean, I typed the same request after searching for it (but once you start typing here you suddenly find dupes easier). I'll send some more votes this way if I can. Besides that, this is a regression bug, which means 1. there is no regression testing and 2. the regression bug is not fixed even if it gets notified to SE. And fixing this should definitely not be rocket science. Oct 7, 2019 at 16:50
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    There used to be a bug (unsure if it still exists) where if you clicked on Meta Stack Overflow and then used the keyboard to remove "Meta", the question would still be migrated to Meta. The only way to change the selected site would be to use the dropdown menu. I don't have any viable questions to test this one, but it seems related. Personally, I have never seen a need to migrate a question to another site's Meta - only the meta for the site you're on or Meta SE. Oct 7, 2019 at 17:29
  • @ThomasOwens I'm going to edit this to bump. I agree - remove the main to meta period. Worst case we would close our main question - then move it to our meta then migrate off site as needed.
    – bmike
    Oct 7, 2019 at 17:39

1 Answer 1

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To expand on my comment, I believe the correct fix is not to sort Meta sites below their parent, but to remove Meta sites from the list entirely. Unless that overcomplicates some implementation details, I have never seen the need to migrate a question from Software Engineering to a meta site other than Meta Software Engineering or Meta Stack Exchange. If anyone has a use case, I'd be interested to hear about it.

Also, as I pointed out in my comment, there was a bug where clicking on the Meta Stack Overflow (or Meta anything) and then using the keyboard to edit the text field would not change the site that was the migration target. It was very easy to migrate a question to Meta Stack Overflow (for example) instead of Stack Overflow if you clicked on the wrong site and then thought you could edit the text field. Unfortunately, without a suitable question to experiment with, I cannot confirm if this is the case. But I suspect a developer can test this in a pre-production environment with relative ease.

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  • This would be better IMO than sorting. I figured it was a no brainer to sort in the code rather than filter, but why not have fewer items if we can.
    – bmike
    Oct 7, 2019 at 18:16
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    @bmike Unfortunately, I don't know how Meta sites are stored in the database. It could be easier (less computationally intensive) to grab all of the sites. But there are definitely some UX considerations going on in this "migrate to arbitrary site" form that do need to be addressed. Have to strike the right balance of easy to use with performance implications. Oct 7, 2019 at 18:18
  • The only drawback I see is the migration from e.g. Cryptography Meta to SE Meta, although that option doesn't seem available anyway at the moment... Oct 7, 2019 at 18:28

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