62
votes
Save The Robot!
Some history
Let me start with a story.
Back - what, three and a half years ago? almost four - in the mists of ancient time, a strange site wandered into private and then public beta. We weren't like ...
HDE 226868Mod
- 99.8k
23
votes
Please lower the reputation requirement to participate on WB.SE Meta
Yes, we should lower the reputation requirement, for questions and answers
Lowering the reputation requirement to post answers, and therefore to participate in the Sandbox, is a good step to make ...
- 17.7k
22
votes
Accepted
Enforcing mandatory comment when downvoting
This is an oft-declined request on Meta.SE. For example:
Mandatory comment after downvote
Must comment while downvoting
Change Down Voting to Require Comment for Why & Change Flag to Report
Make ...
- 19.5k
22
votes
Hanging up my spurs now that the horse is dead - an open letter to SE about why their model is wrong
Posting this as an answer, instead of as a comment, because then you might read it :)
Personally I've never found comments to be a problem. This is just my own perspective, but I've always found ...
- 34.6k
17
votes
Accepted
Why does the reputation system exist?
The reputation system exists for two reasons. To encourage and discourage certain behaviors and to give more experienced users increasing privileges and responsibility.
The easiest ways to gain the ...
- 21.3k
17
votes
Can we extend mhchem support in MathJax to include physical units?
I support this request: Worldbuilding users can benefit from having mhchem enabled.
L.DutchMod
- 277k
14
votes
Accepted
What exactly is "Opinion Based" and why do we shun it?
There can be multiple correct answers. Acceptance doesn't mean "this is the best (or most-correct) answer"; it means "this is the one the person asking the question liked best". Sometimes it isn't ...
- 19.5k
12
votes
Why can't Worldbuilding be combined with Science Fiction and Fantasy?
The linked question doesn't cover
"would this work in my world?" and the other is "how did this work in this world?"
What the accepted answer on it says is:
Scifi.SE focuses on existing works ...
- 1,518
12
votes
Proposal: ALL questions start "on hold" for 1 hour
It won't be implemented
First of all, SE won't implement that. This is not useful to StackOverflow and goes against the idea of the site:
Ask questions, get answers, no distractions
Putting ...
- 3,294
12
votes
Accepted
Can you ask questions anonymously?
Yes, you can.
Method 1: Ask anonymously from the start
The simplest method is, essentially:
Log out of all sites.
Navigate to the site you want. Ask your question.
You'll get a temporary account ...
HDE 226868Mod
- 99.8k
12
votes
Accepted
Definitions of Site-Specific Jargon
Changing the Help Center is not a simple thing — and it shouldn't be. Most of it is in the control of Stack Exchange, not the individual Stacks. This is a perfectly good place to create exactly what ...
11
votes
Hard-science reminder on answering?
I was just reminded of something that we do on another site that I think would help, that we can do today (requires no code changes or special actions from SE).
On Mi Yodeya, once a year for a few ...
- 19.5k
11
votes
MathJax and Pending Edits
I don't have any such edit to look at immediately, so I'm going from memory here. Please excuse any inaccuracies.
There are different "views" of posts in the review queues. Particularly, there is a ...
- 28.9k
10
votes
Can we add "Logically Self-Contradicting" as a reason for closeure
I do not recommend closing these questions
Many of the questions we see on the site do demonstrate a lack of knowledge in the topic being asked about. If the question is asked in good faith and ...
- 32.8k
9
votes
Can we get a "bad assumption" option for closing questions?
Inevitably WB will get questions based on false assumptions and all sorts of sloppy thinking. Any question about the evolution of space whales or space-based lifeforms is almost certainly guaranteed ...
- 38.4k
9
votes
Proposal: ALL questions start "on hold" for 1 hour
Not "on hold", but "pending" + review.
Justification and background:
We put a lot of questions on hold, few of which get reopened. (Many do get edited, though a majority do not.) We know ...
- 19.5k
9
votes
Accepted
Why is it allowed for users to down-vote a question that is already closed?
Question is still there, so it can be voted on.
Downvotes and close votes are tangential to each other. Close votes are about "Should this question really be here? Is it answerable?" and votes are ...
- 33.1k
9
votes
Can post notices on the hard-science tag actually do something?
This is one of those areas where a topic breaks the model a bit.
For questions, we have essentially two axes for voting:
Closing a question - possible even if highly upvoted - makes it eligible for ...
- 101
9
votes
Notices for our traditions: Anatomically correct (and Santa)
I agree with this answer, and have some things to add.
Post notices are not band-aids over weak questions: A question doesn't get a free pass just because somebody used a particular phrase in the ...
- 19.5k
9
votes
Should we improve the discoverability of our Sandbox?
While steering new users to the Sandbox is good, the real problem is that experienced users don't read it and comment. I've used it myself and got almost no comments on my question proposal (the ...
- 20.4k
8
votes
Accepted
Why do people downvote but refrain from commenting the reason?
As one of the people who sometimes downvote without any comments, I will try to list for you my personal reasons for downvoting:
1: You are too political, borderline trolling. If the question is, say,...
- 45.2k
8
votes
Is There A Way To Revert An Unwelcome Edit From Another User?
Yes, it's called a rollback.
Go to the edit that you wish to change, and click the "rollback" button directly below the edit description. You should have ...
- 20.5k
8
votes
Request : Public close voting
What would you do with this information if you had it?
If the question garners enough votes to be put on hold, the identities of the voters are shown. If it doesn't, why do you care? It didn't work....
- 19.5k
8
votes
Accepted
How can I Ignore/Block a user?
With the exception of chat, Stack Exchange doesn't support the ability to block users. This is the relevant meta.stackexchange discussion.
This is a meta.stackexchange discussion about using a ...
- 21.3k
8
votes
Accepted
Private Messages - I think we need them
Your argument, as I understand it, is that there are certain moderation-related issues that you think should be discussed in private - in the room where it happens, I suppose. In other words, you want ...
HDE 226868Mod
- 99.8k
8
votes
We are Too Ready to Close Questions - how to change this?
Our community, and more in general SE, is about ensuring quality of contributions. Quality of contributions means control on what is posted, to assure it fits the model behind each community.
...
L.DutchMod
- 277k
8
votes
Is necroing a question really okay?
Necroing is Perfectly Fine
Stack Exchange, in general, and Worldbuilding in particular are not time limited Q&A forums. Any query asked now is considered valid and fair game forever, for the ...
- 39.5k
7
votes
Do we have any success stories yet? I want to read them!
I agree with the suggestions in this answer to use your profile and (responsible) promotion in relevant answers. In addition, I don't see why we couldn't have a "what are your success stories?" ...
- 19.5k
7
votes
Unfairly put on hold
Getting the hang of what is and isn't accepted on a site is never an easy task. Even seasoned users have some time struggle with one or another question. So you should not feel bad about having a ...
- 6,817
7
votes
Accepted
Can we get a "bad assumption" option for closing questions?
Let's take a look at your example question. You say that it's based on a false assumption. Presumably, the false assumption that cryogenic suspension "lacks a good scientific explanation." My response ...
- 944
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible