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Today I realized the tour of this site doesn't discourage people to ask direct translations.

It only prevents people from three points, none of which can help in that matter.

Don't ask about...

  • Anything not directly related to the German language
  • Questions that are primarily opinion-based
  • Questions with too many possible answers or that would require an extremely long answer

Shouldn't direct translations appear there? If it sounds like not very inviting and with lot of prohibitions, let's then add some other items to those topics one can ask about.

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  • 1
    I wondered if it even is editable, but it seems so: Travel.SE has an additional bullet point exluding “Issues related to immigration / expatriation”.
    – chirlu
    Commented Jun 25, 2015 at 14:00
  • @chirlu Perhaps the fact of being a beta site doesn't allow edition. But I doubt so, since e.g. puzzling has a different (evidently not automatically generated) description, namely "Anything not directly related to the creation and solving of puzzles"
    – c.p.
    Commented Jun 26, 2015 at 11:27
  • Since this site has a custom off-topic reason this should not only be possible, but also kind of a requirement.
    – Martin - マーチン
    Commented Jun 27, 2015 at 9:08

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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Let me suggest the following section for the tour:

Don't ask about...

  • Anything not directly related to the German language
  • Questions that are primarily opinion-based or that would require an extremely long answer
  • Translations or proofreading of individual instances that are not of general interest

Note that the tour needs to be very short. It can in no way replace the help section to which we boldly link at the bottom of the tour

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  • That would perfectly do it.
    – c.p.
    Commented Jun 28, 2015 at 11:54
  • @c.p. it is editable but needs community agreement (as always) - so let's hope for votes.
    – Takkat Mod
    Commented Jun 28, 2015 at 12:28
  • +1 I am fine with the wording, but I'd rather have a link to the "on-topic" page, too. I've just extended my answer to explain why.
    – Matthias
    Commented Jun 28, 2015 at 21:22
  • @Matthias: an URL is not such a good fit for the tour as this is meant to be a very short animated overview intended to be scrolled down and read to the bottom. We should not make people leave this page by clicking a link. I'd rather have the link to the help center appearing more prominent, but that is a network wide design.
    – Takkat Mod
    Commented Jun 29, 2015 at 6:03
  • @Takkat Then why do 3 out of 6 sections have such a link? They lead to information that IMHO is much less relevant for a newbie than the info what is on topic (like "see all badges").
    – Matthias
    Commented Jun 29, 2015 at 7:40
  • This too may be from the network wide design. It is in the non-editable section of the tour.
    – Takkat Mod
    Commented Jun 29, 2015 at 7:44
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    We have had a link to our homework policy (chem.se) since the first version. Physics does it, too. I see no reason why the format [..](..) should not suffice.
    – Martin - マーチン
    Commented Jul 1, 2015 at 12:28
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I think it would help to have a direct link from that section to https://german.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic

We already have a prominent link to the help center at the bottom of the tour page. I think, however, that users who took the tour might have the impression they know all they need for the moment and don't need help. But IMHO they should read the on-topic article before writing a question.

There are links beneath the other sections, like "see all privileges" or "see all badges". They do not occupy too much space, and here we could write e.g. "see in detail what is on-topic for this site".

See https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/24108/how-to-say-i-like-you-with-gefallen as a current example where some user took the tour without getting sufficient guidance about what is on topic here and what not.

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  • That's a little too much for a newbie. That's why I asked. How would you motivate a new user to pose well on-topic questions, if the first contact (s)he has is the tour? Shouldn't the tour explain it briefly?
    – c.p.
    Commented Jun 26, 2015 at 12:12
  • @c.p. Maybe the idea behind is: the tour explains that this is a Q&A site (and not a discussion board, a blog or sth. else). When a user, after taking the tour, decides that a Q&A site is the proper place for her desire, than she can jump one page further to read what requirements we have about questions. The on-topic help page should be a mandatory read for users who want to ask questions here. But it is too much content for the tour itself.
    – Matthias
    Commented Jun 26, 2015 at 13:30

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