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Is there a catch-all place somewhere on the Stack Exchange sites where one can post a (any) question that does not obviously belong to any of the Stack Exchange sites?

Sometimes I have questions but I don't want to ask them on other sites (no need for names). I prefer to post it on the Stack Exchange network for various reasons.

If there isn't, are there plans for one? I imagine that if such a site exists, questions on that site can also be moved to other more specific sites when they exists, and it's not to be used to post questions which obviously belong to a specific Stack Exchange site.

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    There is none. I'd rather rephrease the question as "At which SE site can I ask X?". You'll get a concrete link or get a suggestion to take a look at Area51.
    – user138231
    Commented Mar 21, 2011 at 4:21

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No, there isn't.

The value of the Stack Exchange sites is that they are focused on a common topic. This helps attract experts in the topic, which increases the quality of the content, which increases the value of the site, which helps attract experts, which...etc.

To borrow an analogy, with Stack Exchange sites, you are going to the physics department to ask your physics question. You don't go to a full football stadium on campus and shout out your question, hoping that someone will hear you and answer your question.

That is what separates us from other sites and adds value to our our network. Your suggestion is not a good fit for Stack Exchange as it goes against our philosophy.

If there is a topic that could make a great Stack Exchange site, head over to Area 51 and do a search to see if it is building momentum to become a beta site. If it isn't, propose it and help it grow into a beta site!

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The goal of all of the Stack Exchange network is to provide community experts and enthusiasts with a place to ask questions and get great, high-quality answers. In order to ensure that questions and answers are of the highest quality, the community sites must target specific, well-defined topics.

A general Q&A site would have an extremely difficult time attracting general experts, people who are defined as experts in every field; therefore, the quality of such a site would either degrade into pointless noise or would never reach the potential of a specific, targeted Q&A site.

If there is a topic that you feel is missing, I encourage you to propose it in Area51.

Furthermore, even if there was a general Q&A site where questions could be moved to a specific site once that site is formed, I would imagine that the quality of the questions would merely pollute the targeted site, since the general Q&A site would likely contain answers from people with no professional experience related to the topic.

For these reasons, this would not be a good idea for the Stack Exchange network.

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A Stack Exchange site is created when there is a big enough community of experts in a particular subject to sustain it. A catch-all site for questions that don't belong anywhere else on SE wouldn't make sense under that model.

If you have a question that doesn't fit on any of the existing sites, you can open a proposal on Area 51 and it may get enough traction to turn into a full site in the future.

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  • 1) Posts there ontopic on any already existing SE site could be migrated there. This site would exist only for the remaining ones. 2) If enough question is collected about a topic there, they could serve as an initial content to a new site.
    – peterh
    Commented Jun 7, 2017 at 22:35

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