close reason (and associated expand the close reason count) request

Question

I really don't like migrating crappy questions to SO. This is really the only place where its an issue because of the migration path (no, taking away the migration path would mean more suggestions to repost - there are enough of those for the workplace). The past 90 days, we did 206 migrations To SO and 23 of them were rejected. A number of them were embarrassingly bad.

When something is off topic here, on topic there, isn't up to the standards there and would get closed - the close reason being:

Questions asking for code must demonstrate a minimal understanding of the problem being solved. Include attempted solutions, why they didn't work, and the expected results. See also: Stack Overflow question checklist

I would like to see a new close reason along the lines of:

This question is off topic on Programmers.Stack Exchange. It would best be answered on Stack Overflow, however, the question doesn't meet the minimum requirements for a question on Stack Overflow. Please read the Stack Overflow question checklist to fix up your question for migration.

With this close reason, we might be able to avoid some poor migrations, giving close voters another sanctioned reason (people tend to avoid the custom reason for "this is off topic here, but not up to the standards there.").

That said, the reasons not to are:

1. We shouldn't be guessing as to someone else's close reasons after a migration
2. A rejected migration about two a week isn't that big of a deal
3. This would be used for about two closes every week which isn't enough to persuade the powers that be to give us another close reason (and if we had one, there are likely better close reasons than this)

Answer 1

I think having a "Stack Overflow question" off-topic reason is a good idea. Here are the off-topic reasons that exist now or have existed, along with the number of votes or flags that chose them since site-specific off-topic reasons were introduced:

• 776
  [CURRENTLY ACTIVE] Questions asking us to recommend a tool, library or favorite off-site resource are off-topic for Programmers as they tend to attract opinionated answers and spam. Instead, describe the problem and what has been done so far to solve it.

• 578
  This question belongs on another site in the Stack Exchange network

• 454
  Other (add a comment explaining what is wrong)

• 397
  [CURRENTLY ACTIVE] Questions seeking career or education advice are off topic on Programmers. They are only meaningful to the asker and do not generate lasting value for the broader programming community. Furthermore, in most cases, any answer is going to be a subjective opinion that may not take into account all the nuances of a (your) particular circumstance.

• 165
  Questions about specific programming problems encountered while writing code are off-topic, but can be asked on Stack Overflow.

• 152
  [CURRENTLY ACTIVE] Questions about what language, technology, or project one should take up next are off topic on Programmers, as they can only attract subjective opinions for answers. There are too many individual factors behind the question to create answers that will have lasting value. You may be able to get help in The Whiteboard, our chat room.

• 63
  Questions seeking career advice or help with office politics are off-topic here unless they're specific to the programming profession. If people in other professions face similar problems, ask about it on The Workplace Stack Exchange.

• 25
  Questions about the use of general computer hardware or software are off-topic, but can be asked on Super User.

Something that should jump out at you right away is the relative usage of the "specific programming problems" reason compared to "what language should I take up next" - even though the latter has now been active for about twice as long (4 weeks) as the former. Here's a crowded graph to curse at:

Note how the number of "belongs on other site" votes jumped as soon as "programming" was disabled?

I strongly recommend replacing "what language should I learn" with some variation on "you should ask this on SO, after you learn how to ask questions on SO".

Answer 2

One option for freeing up a custom close reason slot would be to combine "career or education advice" with "what language...". Possible wording is below.

Questions seeking career or education advice (including what language, technology, or project one should take up next) are off topic on Programmers, as they can only attract subjective opinions for answers. There are too many individual factors behind the question to create answers that will have lasting value. You may be able to get help in The Whiteboard, our chat room.