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Many answers claim that a collective decision on subjective issues; such as what is off-topic is just a waste of time. But too often they forget that newcomers are often clueless about what is considered off-topic and which site they can post their question. As a result, often, newcomers submit the same question on more than one SE site, which leads to a greater loss of time for regular users and mods alike as they try to sort out the confusion. After that, many users come to Stack Exchange Meta to ask where can they post. In fact, there is a site recommendation tag for that very purpose:

Obviously, moderators are human beings and everyone has a different opinion on subjective matters, i.e. what is on-topic or not. This means that users may go to multiple sites and have discussions with multiple site moderators which leads to discussions, feelings of resentment, frustration, and still with no clear idea where to post their question.

However, if the moderators could, collectively, take a decision on subjective matters, it would avoid subjective validation, save time, energy and be helpful to everyone.

As an example, Server Fault had a discussion to not allow questions on panels in April 2015. But the links given to me by the Webmasters moderator justifying why panel questions are suitable for Server Fault clearly show that Server Fault moderators are allowing questions on panels even after April 2015:

https://serverfault.com/search?q=centos+web+panel https://serverfault.com/questions/tagged/digital-ocean?mixed=1*

Often on Stack Overflow sites, an off-topic question is single-handedly put on hold by one mod and then deleted by the mod. Would it not be better if 4 or 5 moderators collectively decided when to delete a post as off-topic and on subjective matters?

Also, when a moderator suggests an alternative SE site for posting the question, would it not be better if the mod of that site asked the other site mods whether the particular question is off-topic or not on that site?

I faced this precise experience when I posted a question on one site, the site admin told me that the question was off-topic and to post on another site. Which is what I did, but then the second site mod told me to post my question back to the previous site and they too, also deleted my question. The mod even gave me a link showing that the previous site had questions on that specific topic. Now, I have left that second site.

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    This defeats the purpose of giving moderators the ability to one-shot content with closure, deletion, migration and mod-specific actions. The subjectivity is reduced by having the community flag and vote as the bulk of action, moderators only acting when clearly necessary or appropriate, meta and chat availability to review or discuss (previous and potential) actions. I think if you have to ask this question, you haven't done nearly enough to understand the system you're proposing to change. To begin with, most sites don't even have 4-5 mods, let alone 24-7 mod availability.
    – Nij
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 8:13
  • What is off-topic for one mod is on-topic for another mod. Since what is off-topic is very subjective, collective decision will reduce the subjectivity in this regard. Other tools of the moderators may continue to be taken individually by the moderators but the topic of closure due to being off-topic is better taken collectively
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 8:17
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    Since what is off-topic is very subjective, .. - no, it really isn't, and mods are (s)elected on the basis of how well they represent the community determination of topicality as well as their experience in making accurate topicality decisions. Your entire argument is built on a false premise. That's also largely moot as it is the community which makes the vast majority of the closure/deletion/migration decisions on Stack Exchange. Again, you don't seem to know much about what you're proposing to do, or what you're doing it to.
    – Nij
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 8:19
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    So you'd like moderators to be able to delete your account single handedly but not be able to do a simple question closure by themselves?
    – Mithical
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 8:21
  • @Mithrandir What needs to be collectively decided and what to be individually decided will depend on the matter. In my opinion, deleting account decision should also be taken collectively NIj If there are few moderators in one site, moderators in other sites can be involved. This is no false premise. This happened with me. Mod of one site is saying this question is on-topic for a site and when I go to that site, that mod says that the question is not suitable for this site but the previous site. And the mod then individually closed the question
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 8:28
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    Moderators aren't always experts on the scopes of other sites. Yes, you will sometimes get bounced back. It happens. Don't worry so much about it. People always complain when a mod makes a mistake, but they don't say anything all the times they get it right.
    – Mithical
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 8:43
  • @Mithrandir It is very frequent that what one mod considers as on-topic is considered as off-topic by another mod. It is not their mistake, it is their viewpoint. It is perfectly o.k. to have different viewpoints. Only, my point is that in such situations, decisions should be collective rather than individual so as to reduce the subjectivity
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 8:47
  • @rene Of course, the user should check. But I am talking after that, if the moderator of one site says it is off-topic, before deleting will it not be better if he checks with mods also ? I had posted on Server Fault and was told that question is off-topic and was told to post on Webmasters. The webmasters mod told me to post on Server Fault and deleted my question there !!
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 8:59
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    Seriously, I can pretty much guarantee that all SF mods will be in complete agreement in their dislike of web panels. Any professional sysadmin would be. There is no subjectivity here, the problem is mods from another site misunderstanding SF's scope and SF mods misunderstanding Webmasters' scope. Also, when something is actually subjective, mods will often discuss what action to take between themselves. That's why we have secred mod-only chat rooms where we can ask other mods for help. The use of web panels on SF, however, is extremely unlikely to be a subject where mods disagree.
    – terdon
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:00
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    You keep insisting that off topic is subjective but it is not, it is clearly defined in a sites help and meta. You do not understand how these sites work, a community can override a mod on a closed question and even undelete. A mod on one site, is not a mod on another and the mod of the site you post on is the one who knows, not the one from another site, who is just saying, I think it would be on topic at X.
    – Mark Kirby
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:04
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    He tried to help you with a suggestion and still you insist topic is subjective, it is not, ot is objective but malleable. A mod on one site will be less likely to know the ins and outs of another. Please just listen to all the experienced users telling you it is not subjective.
    – Mark Kirby
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:10
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    Web masters mod is not a Server Fault mod, he was wrong. Just because he is a mod on one site, does not mean he knows about another. All that happened was he did a quick search to help you likely based on a hunch and je was wrong,he did not know the site and miss read it. It is not even a bad thing, mod are voluntary users too and that one took time to try and help you and although he failed, it seems like time well spent, investing in a user. It is not about objectivity but knowledge and there are too many sites for someone to know them all.
    – Mark Kirby
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:21
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    You cannot expect mods to be educated on sites they don't know about. Sites already have objective rules, I am not blaming anyone, I am telling you that objective rules exist and you cannot expect a mod one site to know about another site, it is not there job to know that. Ask the mods on the site you whis to post if it is on topic.
    – Mark Kirby
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:29
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    I have decided, your question stems from a fundamental lack of understanding how sites work, this is a non issue and I have explained why, as have others. What else can I say? I have been a member for 5 years and spent plenty of time discussing how sites work, the rules are not subjective, the mod was wrong.
    – Mark Kirby
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:35
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    I am commenting on the system, I am saying nothing is wrong with it. The wm mod was wrong, likely he does not know sf and that is human error. I mean no insult to that mod, he did the right thing 100% but it did not work out. This has nothing to do with the system,sites are independent,unless communities choose to work together.
    – Mark Kirby
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:42

5 Answers 5

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Would it not be better if 4-5 moderators collectively decide when deleting a post ?

No, it won't be better. It will be much much worse since it will waste x5 time for the moderators who are busy with moderating the site anyway.

A moderator is someone who is already trusted by the community members (or SE staff in case of a new site) to act for the good of the community, and given power to make decisions like closing questions, deleting posts, etc, all on their own.

If you think a moderator is abusing their power, please refer to What recourse do I have if I believe a moderator has abused his/her privileges?.

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  • Although my question was specific to deleting a post on off-topic and other matters, i have made this clear in my question also by editing it. It is only for subjective matters and not for all matters which I am telling, so it will not waste time of moderators. It will on other hand save time of other moderators. Because otherwise user will go to other sites and post there and other moderators there will be engaged as well.
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 8:54
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    That’s fine, that’s what moderators are for. Requiring multiple moderators to sign off on a decision a single moderator can easily make, will waste time, you can’t argue with that. Slowing things down across the entire network because one person (you) has had a single question bounced back between two sites, would be massive overkill
    – Clive
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 11:59
  • @Clive, I have given example in my question how time was wasted when decisions were not made collectively. It wasted plenty of mods` time. Now, you decide if you want to keep it that way or not.
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:12
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    Yes, I want to keep it that way. I thought my comment would have made that clear. The amount of time you’re talking about saving for these very rare occasions is insignificant compared to the time that would be wasted by consistently requiring multiple people to sign off on something that only needs one person’s involvement. You’ll never be able to balance those two so the feature request is doomed to failure IMO
    – Clive
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:17
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Moderators are nothing special. They can and do make mistakes, just like everyone else. Most relevantly here, a moderator on site A is just a regular user on site B. Moderators know the scope (what is and is not on topic) of their own sites very well. They don't necessarily know the scope of any other sites.

I am getting the feeling from your question that you might have the impression that moderators are shared across all SE sites. This is not the case. So the mod on Server Fault who told you to ask on Webmasters just knew that your question wasn't on topic on Server Fault. They also thought it was on topic on Webmasters, but apparently they were wrong. The mod on Webmasters who closed your question as off topic knew the scope of Webmasters. They thought they also knew the scope of Server Fault but apparently they were wrong.

Chances are that all of the SF mods would have agreed that your question was off topic for them and that all of the Webmasters mods would have agreed that your question was off topic for them. So involving more mods wouldn't have made any difference.

OK, this is obviously not a perfect outcome for anyone, least of all you. You feel like you've been bounced between sites like a ping pong ball and that is no fun. So yes, this sounds like a case where the system broke down. However, involving more mods in these decisions would not help since mods are only mods of their own site. Your best option right now would be to post a new question here, on the main meta, and ask where you should ask the question you wanted to ask originally. Perhaps it doesn't belong on either SF or Webmasters but on a third site, so ask the broader community.

The simple truth is that when a moderator suggests a site for you, then this suggestion should carry no more weight than a suggestion from any other user. Don't assume mods know what they're talking about when discussing sites they don't moderate: they're not mods there, they might not even be users. For example, none of the moderators of Webmasters is active on Server Fault (only one even has >100 rep there), a strong indication that they don't actually understand SF's scope. Conversely, only one of the mods on SF has any rep worth noticing (~800) on Webmasters which again suggests that the SF mods aren't really qualified to give suggestions about Webmaster's scope.

So, remember that moderators are local. While they are often users with broad experience of the Stack Exchange platform and, therefore, with a better understanding than average of how it works, they are often wrong. Unless a moderator is giving you advice about a site they moderate, treat that advice as you would if it were coming from any other user. And hey, even on the site(s) they do moderate, don't forget that mods are human and we all make mistakes every now and then.

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  • Even in the same site there are differences of opinion on what is off-topic and what is not. For example, Server Fault mod said that Web panels are off-topic. But the mod of Webmasters gave link proving that lot of questions on Web panels had been allowed and even answered. So, what is off-topic and what is not off-topic is decided very subjectively. If more mods could be involved in decision for only deleting a post due to being off-topic and on other subjective matters, it could reduce the subjectivity.
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 11:13
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    @user20152015 actually, that is pretty rare. I am a moderator on 3 sites and on each of them, the moderation team is pretty much always in agreement about scope. Your example with webpanels is perfect. SF has had many discsussions about them and the conclusion is that they are almost 100% off topic. See here. There are exceptions for when you are using a panel to give your users limited access, but not when you are using it as an admin to set up a server. They are also mentioned as off topic in SF's Help Center: serverfault.com/help/on-topic.
    – terdon
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 11:18
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    So, while there are old web panel questions on SF, this is not an indication that they are on topic today. But that's precisely the sort of thing that a moderator of Webmasters would't know unless they are also active on SF. However, I guarantee you that all SF mods will agree that they are off topic (and absolutely hated) on SF.
    – terdon
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 11:19
  • the link you give of the discussion on Web panels is of April 2015 and there were quite a few posts on servers allowed on Server Fault site after that. The Webmasters mod gave me this link to justify his stand to post on Server Fault instead of Webmasters - serverfault.com/search?q=centos+web+panel So, if moderators are human, they do have various opinions on what is off-topic and what is not. That is why I would like more mods to collectively decide whether to decide a post on subjective matters like off-topic
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 11:29
  • Also look at this link. They have a full tag for digital ocean - serverfault.com/questions/tagged/digital-ocean?mixed=1 Is digital ocean not a panel ?So, the moderators have divided opinions and that is o.k. for a subjective topic. So, best would be for mods to take decisions collectively
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 11:33
  • @user20152015 i) almost anybody can create a new tag; the presence of a tag on a site is not an indication that something is on topic. ii) SF has very strong views on using web-panels and they are explicitly mentioned as off topic on the site's help pages. That some questions have fallen through the cracks is irrelevant. And none of this indicates that the mod team on SF have divided opinons. It only shows that the mods on one site are not aware of the scope of another site. In any case, if you disagree, take it to SF's meta. I am not an active user so I am not the person to ask.
    – terdon
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 11:39
  • We do not want those cracks to widen up, do we ? Those cracks need solution of mods collectively deciding on subjective matters. You have given an answer to this, so commenting, otherwise would not have commented.
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 11:42
  • @user20152015 I'm not saying you shouldn't comment. I am just explaining that I am not an expert on the scope of SF, so I can't explain the details. I just know that they have a strong opinion on web panels. As the discussion (and the dozens of similar ones) I linked to explains, setting up a web panel in order to give users limited admin rights might be on topic, but using it as an admin to administer a server is not. Web panels are tools for non-experts and SF is a site for professional sysadmins, for experts. So questions by non-experts are off topic. All SF mods will agree on this.
    – terdon
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 11:44
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    @user20152015 large sites like SF have hundreds of thousands of questions. They get hundreds of questions a week. Therefore, not all off-topic questions will be closed, some will be missed. The presence of a question about X on a site is not a good indicator that X is on topic. Note that most of the questions in the search link you gave are either closed, or have a score of <=1, or are not really about web panels. I don't see any well received questions on using a web panel to administer a site. And, again, I'm sure all the mods will agree, having more mods involved wouldn't change anything.
    – terdon
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 11:56
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    @user20152015 no, it isn't my personal opinion. That one is fact. Give me any site on the network that has been around for a few years and I will show you a list of questions that are there, still open and yet are off-topic. This is a classic argument used by new users: "If it's off topic, how come these questions are here?" My answer, and that of any mod, is usually "Oh, thanks, I have now closed those questions". The presence of many, well received, recent questions can be an indication of topicality. But not the presence of few, ignored or downvoted ones.
    – terdon
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:05
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    @user20152015 yes, that is because the Webmasters' mod doesn't know the scope of SF. That happens. Trust a moderator to know the scope of their site, nothing else. You are showing us a list of 41 questions (the other 10 are answers that mention the word "web" or the word "panel"), and not a single one of those questions is both open and has a score of >1 (OK, one is but that one isn't asking about web panels). That's a pretty good indication that the subject is off-topic not on-topic.
    – terdon
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:14
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    @user20152015 please listen: there is nothing subjective here. Unclear? Yes. Confusing? Absolutely. Subjective? No. The Webmasters' mod should not have given you that link, it proves nothing. Frankly, I am very surprised that a mod would do that, but as I said, mods are human too. For matters that are actually subjective, the mods do consult each other. Often.
    – terdon
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:20
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    The system is fine (in this regard), as the votes are telling you
    – Clive
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:24
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    @user20152015 there are many problems with the system. This, however, is not one of them. The only problem here was human error. The mods on two sites were apparently ignorant of the scope of a site they do not mod. That happens. However, both groups of moderators will be very clear on what is on topic on their site.
    – terdon
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:24
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    Feel like I’m talking to a wall or something...I have already decided, I told you that a few minutes ago when you quoted the same conclusion at me. You can continue to stubbornly ignore any and all of the points that make your feature request untenable, but what’s the point? It’s not going to get you anything. If you can’t address these points, your feature request shouldn’t happen. And voting is how we show approval/disapproval on feature requests. You can pretend it’s meaningless all you want, it isn’t.
    – Clive
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:33
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You have received a lot of good answers and comments already, but I'd like to point out the following:

What is off-topic on SF are web hosting control panels like CPanel and similar products because they alter the system in a way that prevents "normal" system administration.

This is something else entirely than the web interface of Digital Ocean, which is the primary (only?) way to manage virtual machines with this provider, just like the web frontends of AWS, Google Cloud or VMWare ESXi - questions about these type of interfaces are absolutely on-topic.

That said, as I essentially only use SF in the SE network, I only migrate questions when I am 100% sure it will be on-topic on the target site and I (nearly) always add something like "but check their help center" when I suggest another site to post to - in the end, it's always only your responsibility to check if a question is welcome on any given site.

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  • Other site mod gave me this link - serverfault.com/search?q=centos+web+panel to convince me to post on SF for panels. It is not his fault though, it is fault of system according to me. Request all moderators to ask users to ask on SE meta where to post. Because there persons from many sites are there and that decisoin will be collective
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:44
  • Well, it would be better, but there is no way to enforce this and quite frankly, it's a very minor problem anyway.
    – Sven
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:49
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    @user20152015 - no it is not a fault of the system at all. You are wrong here. Moderators should definitely not ask users to ask on meta SE where to post. Trust local mods to know their site. That's all you need. This is what mods do on each site. They are not expected to know the ins and outs of another site. Many do (and there are many multi-site mods) but should generally be considered normal users on any site they don't mod.
    – Rory Alsop
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 16:52
  • As I said in my answer, user should try to explore first. But since there are hundreds of SE sites, user may not succeed in finding where to post. Local mods only tell whether to post in their site or not to post. As told by others, local mods frequently do not know about other sites correctly, so the next step for a clueless obviously is to ask in Stack Exchange Meta where he / she might get directions as here there are users from all sites. And a user does not need any rep to ask question here. @RoryAlsop
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 17:05
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    I'm quite a fan of people reading the info given them when they first sign up, to be honest.
    – Rory Alsop
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 17:44
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I've been active on a good many sites, as well as a mod, and high reputation enough user to migrate things for a bit.

I'd start by pointing out that most sites only have 3 mods, and even with larger sites, waiting for a moderator consensus is impractical. However I find very often moderators engage in consultations with each other both within and across sites in various ways, sometimes resulting in a decision being considered and reevaluated. While I'm not privy to the internals of SF moderation, pretty certain your question was at least discussed somewhere

As a user, I've found lurking around a site is a helpful way of working out what's on topic, and *how to ask them.

As a long term user I've found that the general unless someone's willing to actually vote to migrate, their opinion to an alternate site for a question dosen't matter at all. Good migrations, even then are somewhat rare, and its the extraordinary question that's a perfect fit.

As a mod - we handle exceptions. We also tend to have a reasonable idea of the scope of the sites - the little bits of "case law" that come up on meta, and on older sites past beta, are somewhat more experienced folks who're elected by the community, and entrusted with these powers. This dosen't always work perfectly but rather than second guessing our decisions - if a mod messes up, they often have the community (or members affected) let them know and we fix it. In some cases, we handle regular closes, deletions and spam a little faster cause we feel its the right thing at the time.

If we needed 5 votes to close or delete by an elected mod - we wouldn't need them at all. We'd do fine with high rep users.

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  • See my answer Journeyman
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 25, 2017 at 7:20
-11

Lot of Answers are saying confusion regarding what is off-topic is a one-off incident. But the tag on site recommendation shows otherwise - . Users waste lot of time of moderators and users of various sites discussing where to post their question. And After all the discussion, I have come to the following conclusions on best way to save both the users and moderators time -

  1. For Users - For users it is best to ask on Stack Exchange meta (if after exploring on various sites, reading sites help etc. sections, he / she is undecided) where to post as moderators` information may be differing in opinion. Stack Exchange meta is better place since it has users from various sites, so broad consensus can be reached here.

Asking on Stack Exchange, when user is clueless as to where to post and ask question , will give a direction for the user where to post. This will be confirmed or denied when the user actually posts on a site. So, this way is time saving for both the user and moderator.

This site allows this. Proof- There is site recommendation tag in this site - https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/site-recommendation

  1. For mods - Request moderators to tell users to consult on Stack Exchange meta for where to post. Reasons are same as in point no. 1

Some comments also suggested that users should ask on other sitesmeta. That is not always possible for users to do especially for new users. AS Andrew pointed out that asking on per site meta is only possible if user has 5 rep on a non-Stack Exchange site meta. While on SE meta, no rep is required to ask question. So, First user should try to explore via various means and if still confusion is there, it would save everyones time if user is encouraged to then ask on SE meta. That is more practical and comparatively time saving for both moderators and users

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  • 3
    Or you could do the sane thing and just actually check the help center / list of allowed topics before posting anything, just like the systems asks you to do anyway.
    – Sven
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:51
  • @Sven I mentioned this in my answer, please see point no. 1
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:52
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    Your point 1 is nonsense. Only a given site can decide if they consider a question as on-topic, users of other sites have no business to decide that something should be asked on Site X (at best, they could give you a hint like "check if it might be on-topic there"). So, if you want be sure, only consult a given site's meta and ask "Can I ask this question here".
    – Sven
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 12:57
  • @Sven. Please see my edited answer. I have said that of course user should explore but in case he / she is still undecided, the best place to ask is on SE meta as that has users from various sites and this can lead to broad consensus.
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 13:02
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    @Sven FWIW, point no. 1 is kind of allowable. There's site-recommendation tag here. But of course, only regulars from that site can give an answer with certainty, which can be followed by posting on per-site meta (but user need 5 rep on per-site, instead of no rep on MSE)
    – Meta Andrew T.
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 13:02
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    @AndrewT.: Site recommendation is perfectly fine, but that's only that - a recommendation. OP implies that a "broad consensus" on meta.se should decide about topicality on a site and I strongly disagree with this idea - only a site's community (in form of their meta) can finally decide if they consider something as on-topic.
    – Sven
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 13:08
  • @Sven If we go according to your method, it will waste time of lot of mods and users. As users have to ask different mods and users on their meta, where to post. And secondly, SE meta will be giving some direction. And that will be confirmed or denied when user posts on a site. So, this way will save time of both users and moderators.
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 13:13
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    @user20152015: As I said, asking for recommendations is fine, but in the end, the opinion of meta.se doesn't matter a bit - if you post something OT on a site you absolutely, never ever can claim "But meta.se told me to post here"
    – Sven
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 13:17
  • @Sven I never said that SE meta word will be final but it certainly will give direction and save time of both user and moderators. And as Andrew pointed out that asking on per site meta is only possible if user has 5 rep on that site. While on SE meta, no rep is required to ask question. So, your method is not possible in many cases. Asking first on SE meta is more practical and time saving for moderators and users.
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 13:26
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    User20152015 - your idea will waste far too much mod time. It's a terrible idea. Instead, you, as someone looking to post a question could actually read the site headlines and the faq pages.
    – Rory Alsop
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 16:54
  • @RoryAlsop Please read my answer. Of course, the user should first try to explore. But if clueless like it is visible with those who tag Site recommendation, Stack Exchange meta is the best place to get some clue and directions. There are hundreds of stack exchange sites and new user may not be able to find suitable match. While people at SE meta can help to give him some direction as here there are users from all sites. Your method involves hell lot of time for both users and moderators. While asking on SE meta is time saving as a clueless user will get some direction.
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 16:58
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    While you can ask questions on meta, it uses up loads of people's time. Just simply reading the documentation means you are educating yourself without wasting others' time. Every site description is reasonably self explanatory, and if you need more info their faq and tour fill in any gaps. So, no - just learn to read the manual, as they say.
    – Rory Alsop
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 17:05
  • @RoryAlsop I think you are not getting my writing or are not reading it. I have clearly said that the user should first try to explore. Only AFTER that , he / she should ask on Stack Exchange Meta if the user still is confused.
    – user20152015
    Commented Dec 24, 2017 at 17:09

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