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I've started a discussion on Programmer's Meta about the possibility of mentioning The Workplace in their FAQ, as they've chronically had a problem of asking general Workplace questions on the site.

Now we'll only do this if:

  • Workplace is okay with being mentioned in Programmer's FAQ
  • Programmers is okay with mentioning Workplace in the FAQ

So if there's significant objection from either site, we don't do it. Feel free to chime in if you really don't (or do) want to see this happen. We can also ask Programmers to nix the FAQ mention if we feel it becomes a problem later as well.

There's a valid concern voiced by Mark Trapp that we don't want to be the "dumping ground" for off topic questions; a problem Programmers faced/faces with SO's off topic questions. I want it to be clear quality standards remain high on The Workplace, so if this is a concern we can definitely hold off on the FAQ mention.

If we do want this to happen, what should the FAQ text contain? Basically we'll write the FAQ text and Programmers will approve it.

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  • Could you link to a few of those chronic questions so we can get a sense of what might be coming over?
    – Monica Cellio
    May 28, 2012 at 2:06
  • @MonicaCellio chronic questions like what? Bad workplace related questions on Programmers? I think most of them get deleted... Also note we already have a large audience that's come straight from Programmers and eager to ask questions.
    – Rarity
    May 28, 2012 at 2:07
  • I was referring to "they've chronically had a problem of asking general Workplace questions on the site" -- what are some of those questions? (If they've been deleted, do you remember any?) I'm trying to get a sense of whether enough of them would actually be appropriate here to justify mentioning us in their FAQ, or if that would just result in a lot of questions we would close.
    – Monica Cellio
    May 29, 2012 at 14:51
  • @MonicaCellio I've only used Programmers after the "shift" as it were, I've called out to the P.SE mods to find us some examples
    – Rarity
    May 29, 2012 at 15:00
  • @MonicaCellio ChrisF helpfully found these random Qs: programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/1287/… programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/167/… programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/396/… programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/742/… . Not saying we'd accept all of them (some are NC ect) but those are some random examples
    – Rarity
    May 29, 2012 at 15:05
  • Thanks Rarity! Those examples help. (I'd say all of those are on-topic here, but that the last two would need to be reworked to not be surveys/forum posts on any SE site.)
    – Monica Cellio
    May 30, 2012 at 18:59

2 Answers 2

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Since it hasn't been posted here yet, I second Dynamic's suggestion on Programmers with a bit of a tweak that Thomas Owens suggested:

  • career advice, including general workplace issues (check out The Workplace instead).

This fits nicely next to what's already there:

Maybe someday down the road the Programmers FAQ will have a better summary of "closely related" sites, but until then, I think this format is workable.

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After hashing it all out, we are now mention in Programmers' FAQ with the wording below:

and it is not about...

  • general workplace issues, office politics, résumé help (check out The Workplace instead),
  • implementation issues or programming tools (ask on Stack Overflow instead),
  • what language you should learn next, including which technology is better,
  • what project you should do next1,
  • career advice, salary or compensation1,
  • personal lifestyle, including relationships, and non-programming activities

...then you're in the right place to ask your question!

1 For answers to common programming career advice questions, please see "Don’t Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advice" by Patrick McKenzie.

Let us know if there are any tweaks that should be made.

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