20
votes
“What’s wrong with single word requests?”
TL;DR
Single-word requests are not the problem, they are just the kind of questions where some problems (in particular lack of guidance) predominantly manifest themselves. Only addressing these ...
- 4,264
18
votes
Does ELU Have Worse Questions Than Other Sites?
The programmers site has a similar problem. Someone suggested that it might be due to the name of the site. The specifics are different, but the idea remains that the community's name may be ...
- 38.2k
17
votes
What can be done to bring up site quality?
Update: This suggestion is now live! You can see the discussion that led up to it here or experience it for yourself on the ask question page.
I didn't have time yet to go through all the questions, ...
LaurelMod
- 62.4k
16
votes
Accepted
Does ELU Have Worse Questions Than Other Sites?
I appreciate everyone's input as to why ELU may be worse than other sites. I was actually looking for proof/disproof as to whether it actually was or not. I believe I have figured out the data ...
- 17.6k
14
votes
Really really really hard to take ELU serious or even read a question and answer
I certainly wouldn't recommend EL&U to a professor who
thinks that if English is not your native language you must have poor English skills
believes that correct English arises from something ...
- 34.8k
14
votes
Really really really hard to take ELU serious or even read a question and answer
I don't think your expectations are low enough. The hot network questions are not selected for being the highest quality questions with the highest quality answers—they're mainly composed of bicycle-...
- 76.7k
13
votes
Does ELU Have Worse Questions Than Other Sites?
I don't have hard comparative data, but I suspect we do have a problem most other sites don't (or at least not to this extent): a lack of functional consensus on the purpose of this site.
If you've ...
- 5,647
13
votes
Proposal to protect old questions from LQA by low-rep users
With regard to point 1, that may well have been me. Spam has a particular definition (it's advertising) and as it carries a large penalty, spam flags are really serious business. Please do not use ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 97.7k
12
votes
Does ELU Have Worse Questions Than Other Sites?
My theory: ELU has it worse because it has been successful.
Unsuccessful sites (like Travel.SE) mainly get users from other Stack Exchange websites (primarily Stack Overflow), who are familiar with ...
- 17.9k
11
votes
Becoming more welcoming to new users, how?
While there is the occasional rude individual, perceived but unintended slight, or even an otherwise polite user acting out of frustration, I suspect that the lion's share of the tension comes from a ...
- 38.2k
10
votes
Should I double up on an LQP review comment?
Normally, I just up-vote the previous comment and recommend deletion; is this the best course of action? What do you do? My only worry with doing that is if it skews the analytics of which option has ...
NVZMod
- 22.5k
10
votes
Accepted
Becoming more welcoming to new users, how?
(I'm not sure that this'll count as an answer. Or even be useful. It's just my ramblings based on the question.)
Yep, I totally agree that experienced users commenting can come across as ...
- 14.7k
9
votes
What can be done to bring up site quality?
UPDATE
I go through swings (or is it moods?), some days I feel more optimistic about EL&U's future and permanence on the Internet, other days I feel the website is just doomed. The last week or ...
- 87.8k
9
votes
Advanced users of English should be more welcome here
Everyone is welcome on ELU, not just advanced users of English. Quoting TimLymington,
Stack Exchange, as a network, does not discriminate between users. If you ask thoughtful questions and give ...
NVZMod
- 22.5k
9
votes
What defines a low-quality question on EL&U?
I need a word that means such-and-so.
(a) But I'm not going to tell you what I've considered so far.
(b) Or: I'll tell you what I've considered so far, but I won't tell you why that word doesn't do ...
- 21.4k
9
votes
Does ELU Have Worse Questions Than Other Sites?
The creation of ELL was supposed to help alleviate this problem, but it seems like ELU gets as many novice/basic/learner questions now as it ever did. Many of these come from new users who appear to ...
- 58.4k
8
votes
Does ELU Have Worse Questions Than Other Sites?
I think Andrew Leach hit the nail on the head.
If we look in other areas that I visit things seem to be a bit different. For example, on the mathematics forum most of the questions and answers are ...
- 7,134
8
votes
“What’s wrong with single word requests?”
I accept that we see a ton of bad SWRs every day that show almost zero research effort. Those bad apples shouldn't make us ban the "requests" concept entirely.
Sometimes even tech-savvy users like me ...
NVZMod
- 22.5k
8
votes
Extraordinary spike in low-quality questions by 1 rep users
TL:DR - The SE system breaks down when there is a lack of comradery throughout the community. Our proactive options are: change the system or try to change people. Systems are a lot easier to program.....
- 8,744
8
votes
Could/Should we create a collection of exemplary questions to encourage high-quality asking?
The idea appeals to me, but in practical terms, I don't think it is really feasible, for various reasons.
Mechanical: as far as I know, there is no existing Stack Exchange system that would be ideal ...
- 76.7k
8
votes
What can be done to bring up site quality?
In my experience, you can't do much to change whether or not the first question someone asks is good quality; you can only change whether the second question they ask is better than the first. I have ...
- 1,342
8
votes
What's missing on the answer flag options?
You can only flag as very low quality on new posts, I think the limit is one week old.
Give this Meta.SE post an upvote if you think older posts should still allow VLQ flags.
- 5,647
7
votes
Could/Should we create a collection of exemplary questions to encourage high-quality asking?
You want a nice collection of exemplary questions? That's easy; simply use this link.
Footnote: I once praised Yoichi Oishi's questions in an ELL meta answer.
As others have said, I don't think having ...
- 58.4k
6
votes
What can be done to bring up site quality?
I like EL&U and would like to see it survive.
I think ColeenV has it right, that it's not the low-quality questions that are the problem, but attracting and developing new users (and keeping the ...
- 13.8k
5
votes
Extraordinary spike in low-quality questions by 1 rep users
Spot ELL on the home page of Stack Exchange sites. On the other hand, it's hard to miss EL&U, and its size suggests that the site is successful. Could this home page be partly responsible for ...
- 87.8k
5
votes
Why isn't there a deletion comment for 'needs citations'?
You mean something like this?
This answer does not meet our site’s quality standards.
We’re looking for longer answers that provide some explanation and context,
preferably with citations. Good ...
tchristMod
- 132k
5
votes
Becoming more welcoming to new users, how?
It is undeniable that the minimum site expectations of an acceptable answer must be clearly explained to the new member:
(1) it should answer the question as asked by OP
(2) it should be adequately ...
- 7,270
5
votes
Becoming more welcoming to new users, how?
This is the first introduction to your pages. Pretty nice, right? Nowhere does it say "Please begin your tour by looking at our standards for answers and questions. Then dive in. You will be ...
- 360
5
votes
Becoming more welcoming to new users, how?
SO could help with setting an expectation of required editing of OP:
?"We understand that if you are confused or stuck it might be hard to word your problem on your first attempt (but please try!...
- 5,745
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible