Questions tagged [off-topic]
This tag is for questions regarding off topic questions, including whether a question is on topic and what to do with off topic questions. DO NOT use this tag to post questions you know to be off-topic for the site.
3
votes
1answer
34 views
Has the idea of something like, “Before asking a question, you must read what's on-topic for this website.” been explored before?
The problem I see:
A lot of communities on StackExchange have dealt with newbies that join their particular community and quickly ask questions that are considered off-topic. Heck, you can even see ...
6
votes
0answers
36 views
Add the “can no longer be reproduced” and “does not seek input and discussion” close reasons to all meta sites
Meta Stack Exchange and Meta Stack Overflow have two very useful off-topic close reasons in the closing dialog. I'm talking specifically about these two:
This question does not appear to seek input ...
9
votes
0answers
68 views
Don’t tell people with no account at every possible point to join Meta
We get a lot of crappy questions on Meta from people who don’t in any way understand it, most of the time thinking they’re on Stack Overflow. If we want to decrease the chance of this, what if we didn’...
12
votes
3answers
128 views
Examples of questions on Meta.SE that would merit a Very Low Quality (VLQ) flag
In this answer responding to a user asking about why their Very Low Quality (VLQ) flag was declined on a blatantly off-topic question here on Meta.SE, Tinkeringbell ♦ mentions,
The VLQ flag IS NOT ...
6
votes
2answers
156 views
Is the VLQ flag appropriate for blatantly off-topic questions here on MSE?
The endless stream of blatantly off-topic questions never ceases to flow into MSE, which is a topic that's been brought up many times. I've written a userscript that automatically casts a close vote, ...
-24
votes
1answer
200 views
What REALLY defines on and off topic? [closed]
So I'm getting fed up of my questions - which I consider to be genuine - getting voted as being Off-Topic, for reasons that don't make sense in comparison to other questions.
For example, my latest ...
-5
votes
2answers
83 views
When there is a mismatch between the question title and question content - is an answer off-topic?
I am addressing the situation when there is a mismatch between what the question title asks for, and what the question body asks for. Given the mismatch, any answer can address either the title or the ...
-10
votes
1answer
76 views
Feature to detect if a question is about programming and thus off-topic
What if we had some sort of warning that users' questions seem off-topic, especially on MSE? It seems to me that a large majority of the blatantly off-topic questions here should be on Stack Overflow. ...
-5
votes
1answer
95 views
What is the point of “primarily opinion based” for networks that do not deal with exact science?
I am asking this my self for some time and I cannot figure it out:
Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert
experience, but answers to this question will tend to be ...
4
votes
0answers
39 views
Guide new users away from Meta [duplicate]
There are a lot of blatantly off-topic posts put here on Meta. These are apparently people who somehow got to this site without realizing their questions about things like programming aren't supposed ...
-5
votes
1answer
68 views
MSE should handle questions about a single SE site when they're asking for external input
A fairly old question about how we do things on Ask Ubuntu just got closed with the site-specific off-topic close reason that you have on MSE:
This question's topic is only applicable to one ...
3
votes
0answers
59 views
How were the off-topic close reasons previously displayed? [duplicate]
I just came across this question on English.SE. The banner says it was closed by a moderator as "general reference", which is not one of the 5 standard close reasons (duplicate, off-topic, too broad, ...
-5
votes
2answers
157 views
My questions keep getting closed; how do I improve? [duplicate]
Often when I ask a question it gets closed, but I don't understand what makes it too broad or off-topic and people aren't explaining it in comments. I'm getting frustrated; I want to contribute ...
8
votes
0answers
171 views
What's with the uptick in blatantly off-topic posts lately?
Generally, we tend to get around a few blatantly off-topic questions here on this site because...reasons.
However, yesterday and today (UTC), I noticed that the number of off-topic questions had ...
10
votes
1answer
184 views
Are “unofficial” fun or swag questions allowed?
A recent question about possibly applying a historical lock to old swag/fun posts led me to think about how on-topicness is defined for swag/fun questions.
Right now, all or virtually all of our fun ...
-12
votes
1answer
194 views
META Participation & some site-crossover thoughts (Recycled: Migrating Comments to Chat Off Topic)
Update May 2 2019
I noticed this question received more down-votes recently even though it has been inactive for some time now. I'm not really sure I understand the point of this? I have tried to ...
9
votes
1answer
103 views
Where to ask about Stack Overflow for teams
When should questions about Stack Overflow for teams be asked here on Meta Stack Exchange and when on Meta Stack Overflow?
The tag wiki excerpt is not really useful, as it doesn't specify when a ...
5
votes
1answer
48 views
When should I vote to close as “off-topic -> does not appear to seek input and discussion from the community” vs “unclear what you're asking”?
Two of the close reasons here on meta, "Off-topic -> This questions does not appear to seek input and discussion from the community" and "Unclear what you're asking", seem to mean essentially the same ...
3
votes
1answer
87 views
Is sharing ideas fine on meta sites? [duplicate]
In my experience, sharing ideas (which are opinion-based and not really questions by nature) is fine in meta sites. The posts can be:
Announcement posts. For example, in Net Neutrality and Stack ...
10
votes
0answers
46 views
Move the question/answer ban meta to per-site help
This relates to People get lost and crash into meta - maybe we need roadblocks for their safety and the issue it's dealing with: people ask off-topic questions on here all the time. I think it's ...
3
votes
2answers
41 views
Which flag to use for questions that are not minimal? [closed]
It is quite common to enconter a question such as this, which is not a bad question; it has a description of the problem, some code, and the desired outcome, but is simply not minimal.
My question is,...
9
votes
3answers
113 views
How should I flag blatantly off-topic questions on Meta.SE: Close or VLQ?
Historically, when encountering blatantly off-topic questions (usually programming questions) here on Meta.SE, I would raise a Close flag (usually off-topic: This question does not appear to be about ...
6
votes
1answer
117 views
Wait, so what kind of discussion of hats is and isn't on topic here?
This question of mine:
https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/319993/i-especially-like-the-hats-this-year?noredirect=1#comment1048036_319993
Received -11 votes and was deleted as 'this kind of ...
3
votes
2answers
69 views
Remove one of the off-topic close reasons [duplicate]
Here on MSE, there are two close reasons within "off-topic" that mean exactly the same thing. This:
This question does not appear to be about the software that powers the Stack Exchange network, ...
1
vote
0answers
28 views
Where should I ask a question about a programming interface for a game? [duplicate]
I wanted to ask about the documentation for the programming interface of the game Vavio since I can't find it anywhere. I first was about to ask on Gaming.SE, where I found similar questions that were ...
44
votes
1answer
436 views
What is the cause of the recent increase in blatantly off-topic posts on Meta?
Since a few days, I have the feeling that there are a lot more blatantly off-topic questions ('lost souls') on Meta Stack Exchange. OK, that could be just a feeling, so I've created a short script (...
5
votes
2answers
92 views
What should I do if I cannot find the right community for my question?
I asked my question here: 1st post
Then I got feedback that my question was off-topic (unrelated to the community), with 2-closing votes, without any suggestion about which is the right community for ...
14
votes
1answer
157 views
Does the new unified design theme result in more off-topic questions where lost users asked on the wrong site?
This is partially a request for opinion, and partially a request for statistics.
For a very long time, Meta Stack Exchange has suffered from a problem where a lot of users ask blatantly off-topic ...
9
votes
2answers
124 views
Tour - Pull in On/Off Topic Guidelines?
Over the years, I have joined a number of Stack Exchange communities to varying degrees of participation. Unfortunately, it has often been at least six months between joining communities - just long ...
12
votes
2answers
209 views
How should we steer lost users?
Here is a thing I see fairly often here on Meta.SE:
The question isn't remotely on-topic and was rightly, and quickly, put on hold. Somebody left a comment (not shown) pointing out what Meta.SE is ...
-9
votes
1answer
72 views
Can there be a feature that redirects an off-topic question to the appropriate Stack Exchange site? [duplicate]
Background
I was on Stack Exchange today, asking a regular ol' question, the gist of which was:
What library do you use to make GUI-based apps in Java?
I asked it based on how apps that have used ...
-3
votes
2answers
114 views
Should the “can no longer be reproduced” off-topic close reason on meta be changed?
Here on Meta Stack Exchange as well as on Meta Stack Overflow, we have an off-topic close reason that says:
The problem described here can no longer be reproduced. Changes to the system or to the ...
3
votes
1answer
57 views
Can't see the specific off-topic reason in the Reopen queue
When I am doing the Reopen Review queue, I like to see why the question was closed. If the question is closed due to it being "off-topic" however, I can't see the specific off-topic reason:
It just ...
-2
votes
1answer
57 views
Should I downvote questions posted on the wrong SE site? [duplicate]
If a question is not directly "bad", but placed on the wrong SE network (e.g., posted on stackoverflow.com when it should have been posted on superuser.com), in addition to close-voting, should I also ...
2
votes
1answer
73 views
Dealing with obviously false answers
I would like to ask what to do if you receive an answer which is:
offtopic
containing false information
I'd like to ask for some guidance about what I did wrong.
I asked a question, someone ...
12
votes
1answer
198 views
Blatantly off-topic for all
As far as I see the "Blatantly off-topic" flag
Blatantly off-topic (this question has nothing to do with %site topic%)
is only available for low-rep users without the close vote privilege.
What ...
9
votes
1answer
66 views
Should you delete your own off-topic, answerless questions?
I unfortunately asked a very off-topic question here yesterday.
I requested to move it to the appropriate meta site by flagging for moderator attention, but got no response. Eventually the question ...
7
votes
2answers
118 views
Why do moderators choose to not delete obvious off-topic questions after they have closed them?
I see this happen quite often, and while I don't agree/disagree, I am just wondering why.
Often on the sites I visit regularly (Stack Overflow and Meta Stack Exchange), I see moderators closing ...
18
votes
0answers
235 views
I'm changing the “not generally applicable” close reason here on Meta SE
This is a small administrative note.
For the past 3 years and 11 months, we've had an off-topic reason defined here for use on questions that are only relevant to a specific site:
This question ...
-11
votes
1answer
75 views
Migrate to another Stack Exchange site without closing
The current process of flagging a post for migration to another Stack Exchange website is as follows:
Flag
It should be closed for another reason
Off-topic because
This question belongs on another ...
37
votes
2answers
567 views
People get lost and crash into meta - maybe we need roadblocks for their safety
I used to think that Sonic the Anonymous Hedgehog's idea of a survey was a terrible idea - it didn't actually fix anything, and I suspect most folks asking off-topic questions here are drivebys.
On ...
21
votes
2answers
786 views
Why do users often ask blatantly off-topic questions here on Meta?
For quite some time, newer users seem to ask a lot of blatantly off-topic questions here on Meta. They are mostly programming questions that should have been closed asked on Stack Overflow, along with ...
-31
votes
5answers
259 views
Should moderators collectively decide before deleting a question as off-topic?
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 ...
-15
votes
2answers
142 views
my question is always put on hold as off-topic or duplicate or closed why? [duplicate]
I posted many questions but most of the questions are put on hold as off-topic or duplicate or closed i dont know reason may be my english how to explain my issues or otherwise some senior stackusers ...
-9
votes
3answers
110 views
Closing questions because answers are off-topic
Usually one asks for closing questions that appear off-topic. But what about questions with answers off-topic?
It happened few times that I've asked a specific question and I've received a lot of ...
4
votes
0answers
50 views
Where to ask about cell tower technology?
I tried asking a question on Networking about how cell towers are installed, operated, and funded, and specifically how all this is done. I'm not asking for companies to contact to install a tower, ...
33
votes
4answers
406 views
Make “What's on topic for this site?” visible
Often, when I want to ask a question (such as now on tex.stackexchange.com), I wonder:
"Is it on topic or not for this specific SE site?"
then, I'm parsing the page visually, trying to find if ...
11
votes
4answers
290 views
Is asking for user stories off-topic on meta sites?
On English Language & Usage Meta there has been a recent debate about a question asking users for stories about:
how you ended up on ELU, how it has helped you, and perhaps more importantly, ...
8
votes
1answer
93 views
Why are there two different close reasons for questions that aren't about the site's topic?
On both Meta Stack Exchange and Super User, I noticed that there are two close reasons to choose between when a question isn't about the topic of the site (Stack Exchange on Meta and computers on ...
13
votes
1answer
101 views
What is the difference between the “scope” and the “on-topic” tags on most child metas?
In most sites I participate, their child metas have simultaneously two seemingly similar tags: scope and on-topic (or off-topic, on-topic-ness, off-topic-ness). Is this redundant? If yes, shouldn't we ...
