Following a Meta discussion and some discussions in our chat room to iron out some finer points, we have completed an update to the "What topics can I ask about here?" page of our Help Center.
Here is a summary of the changes:
- Minor rewording of the tagline. It still emphasizes questions that require human expertise, but makes it clear that we are about more than just programmers. Questions about many aspects of the software development lifecycle from anyone working in it are welcome here.
- Removed "freelancing and business concerns" from the list of things that are on-topic. The questions that were off-topic are still off-topic, but the ones that are on-topic are best captured in the "development methodologies and processes" and "software engineering management" line items in what is on-topic.
- Removed the "software engineering" line item from what is on-topic. It was replaced with more specific details of what software engineering topics are allowed here, which is most of them.
- Clarified programming tools to specifically exclude coding tools such as compilers, debuggers, and IDEs. We don't want to entirely preclude good tool questions that don't otherwise have a home at this time.
- Added "legal advice" to the list of things that are not allowed. We are not lawyers.
- Changed "resume help" to "job hunting" at the request of The Workplace. They do not do resume critiques and did not want our Help Center giving that impression.
- Shortened the portion on subjective questions. This is better addressed by the "What types of questions should I avoid asking?" page of the Help Center. Maintained links to this page as well as the relevant blog posts, though.
Generally speaking, there isn't a change to site scope or audience. However, we have clarified some of the more ambiguous parts and more closely aligned the things our site is not about with some of the custom close reasons that exist.
In addition to this, these changes (as applicable) have been rolled into our About page as well.
If anyone has any suggestions, we'd still be glad to take them.
