How long should I wait until the question is “sandboxed”?

Question

Patience is not my second name.

So, when I posted my idea for question to sandbox and nothing happened for quite some time, I was like

OK, there is no issue with the question! Lets ask it!

But, when I actually asked it, the real "sandbox" started to happen.

While I am happy that the question got edited to good shape, I feel ashamed that this editations did not happen by me and by actually sandboxing.

So in nutshell, how long should I wait for comments? And after how long is sandbox question without any comments considereded "good enough" to be posted?

Answer 1

The sandbox is completely voluntary, both posting to it and reading it. So some people will see your post for the first time when you post it on the main site.

If you're using the sandbox, then I agree with Tim B's answer -- it may take a day or two for people to notice. Feel free to bring up a particular post in chat too; that might get more eyes on it.

If your post gets feedback or edits on main, that's ok. We all want the same thing: to jointly build an outstanding collection of questions and answers. If a question ends up needing to be put on hold while that happens that's not a badge of shame. And sometimes issues can be addressed quickly through comments and an edit while the question remains open. Either way, no harm done. Please don't feel ashamed. This is how Stack Exchange works, and as a new site we're still finding our own collective boundaries and expectations.

Answer 2

I'd say at least a day, since people are in different timezones.

The problem with the sandbox concept is that there is no alerting or other functionality built into Stack Exchange to tell people that there is a new Sandbox answer waiting for feedback. It is reliant on people checking it off their own initiative.

I check it once or twice a week, but that's all I have time for (and how often I remember).

Your best bet after posting to the sandbox will be to also post in the chat, that will notify people more rapidly.

The sandbox concept is one we're still experimenting with and working out though - so the answer is that we just don't know.

Answer 3

I generally try to wait until I have seen 4+ up votes, I also tend to wait for comments from some of the regulars (they have moderation powers...)

Of course for this to become the expectation we have to review it pretty regularly so that we don't just have a bunch of questions sitting around gathering digidust.

Answer 4

As most of the answers here. Give it at least a day so everyone has a chance to see it. I'd be tempted to wait longer - there seems to be a core group of Sandbox reviewers and I'm the only one who gets pinged when a new answer comes up (unless everyone else has favorited). Personally I'd give it a couple of days. Again as others have said, posting in chat helps - the Sandbox regulars seem to be pretty regular in chat too.

Upvotes are also (supposed to be) used to show when a question is ready for main. While 4+ upvotes seems rare so far, I'd wait for at least a couple of upvotes. That way, you have people who think the question is good to back you up if the site doesn't like it. And given that our mod Tim B seems pretty regular in the Sandbox...