I have noticed several very active threads that have been closed as off topic or not constructive (here is just one example). Given the vote count these posts are obviously interesting and popular. I feel it would be more constructive to move them to another site, say offtopic.stackoverflow where they could be discussed without detracting from the quality of the main site. Is this a workable idea?
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1See also - meta.programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/1895/…– ChrisF ModSep 21, 2011 at 19:06
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2 Answers
The idea that we should have offtopic.stackoverflow.com is how this site got started and it became quickly apparent that it cannot survive on the SE network.
Popularity isn't the definitive measure of quality and usefulness. I highly recommend reading this summary of the history of Programmers.
answered Sep 21, 2011 at 19:13
Where do you suggest they be moved to?
There are many reasons why questions are closed:
- They are not suitable for the Stack Exchange question and answer format. These would be closed on any site.
- They are questions about problems so specific to the poster that any answers won't be of any help to the general user base.
- They are questions about problems that don't uniquely affect software development but are more about office relationships, politics etc.
This last group could be moved, but there's only the Personal Productivity site - currently in beta - where some of them could go. All other potential sites are still in Area 51.
So if you think any would fit the Personal Productivity site flag them and we'll check with the guys over there to see if they want them. Bear in mind that migrating highly voted questions distorts the target site - witness what happens here when we get the dross highly voted old questions from Stack Overflow.
Other than that put your weight behind one the existing proposals on Area 51 or propose a new site that clearly shows that it will solve this need.
