17
votes
Site policy for very heavily-trolled topics
On Politics, we have a custom off-topic close reason for questions that appear to have been asked in bad faith:
The primary purpose of this question appears to be to promote or discredit a ...
- 14.9k
16
votes
Accepted
Site policy for very heavily-trolled topics
Current site policy (before this post unofficial) has been the following:
Questions on these topics have a hair-trigger for being put on hold. This goes in particular for new users who don't have a ...
16
votes
Accepted
Is it time to update our custom close reasons?
New Close Reason
One option for the third custom close reason slot is a "Push Questions" close reason. This is adapted form Politics.SE, and was first suggested in a previous answer by @yannis:
...
- 97.5k
12
votes
Is it time to update our custom close reasons?
Update the "trivia or basic historical facts" reason
The trivia close reason is used, in practice, for closing questions that are apparently answered by Wikipedia. However, the word "trivia" is ...
- 97.5k
10
votes
"Why Japan cannot 'apologize' enough for World War 2?" being put on hold for "off-topic" (too basic) and swiftly deleted?
The Wikipedia article you cited includes a section titled Controversy, which does in fact appear (to me) to answer your question. Despite your assertion that
"... I have taken great pain to ...
- 77k
9
votes
Is recent history on topic?
I'd certainly agree that recent history is on-topic, and I'd also agree that with Denis that the line between recent history and current events can be blurred.
However, I'm not sure that I'd agree ...
- 77k
9
votes
Accepted
Does a question about "where a people may come from originally" fit to History Stack Exchange?
This site expects questions to be ones for which a definitive answer is at least conceivable. Your question, "Where were the ancient Israelites before they came to Israel (if they were new ...
- 72.4k
8
votes
Site policy for very heavily-trolled topics
I haven't been in the trenches half as long as most of you guys, but I'm getting awfully tired of the not so subtle "hidden" agenda questions, as I tried to raise in this question
I also feel we are ...
- 7,909
8
votes
Site policy for very heavily-trolled topics
I'm told its possible to put "alerts" on specific tags, such that warning pop-up text is given when a user sets out to use them. A moderator for another site suggested this could be used to effect a ...
T.E.D.Mod
- 120k
7
votes
Is there a notability criterion or not?
To the best of my knowledge, there has never been a notability requirement as such on History.SE. There is, however, a requirement that a question should be answerable using historical methods, and a ...
- 97.5k
7
votes
Accepted
How is my question about slave clothing opinion-based?
Welcome @a_sid!
I didn't vote to close, so I can't answer why people voted as they did. I can offer a few observations that might be useful.
No preliminary research. Like most SE sites, we expect ...
MCWMod
- 33.7k
6
votes
Is it time to update our custom close reasons?
New Close Reason
Another option for the third custom close reason could be:
This question seems to be based on a false premise. That is, the question is based on one or more "facts" that are not ...
- 19.7k
5
votes
Is recent history on topic?
To me, there's a fuzzy line that needs to be drawn to distinguish current events from history. Where to draw it can arguably be debated to death. Personally, I'd usually draw it at when a generation ...
- 22.9k
5
votes
Is it time to update our custom close reasons?
New Close Reason
Alternative, more general language
This question does not appear to be a good-faith effort to learn more about history. Please consult the help center for information about the ...
5
votes
Is it time to update our custom close reasons?
New Close Reason
Since this is the wording people have been voting on for a week, I thought it ought to be included as well:
Push Question - The primary purpose of this question appears to be to ...
4
votes
Is recent history on topic?
I dislike arbitrary rules, and some of these answers point out variable conditions such as 'fake news' and information which only overcomes emotional or political bias after some time before it can be ...
- 40.3k
4
votes
Is it time to update our custom close reasons?
New Close Reason
Since we are restricted to only three custom close reasons, it may be a good idea have a more generalised wording. I suggest a "good faith effort" close reason for questions that ...
4
votes
Is it time to update our custom close reasons?
New Close Reason
"No preliminary research has been done"
Often some questions are basically a homework pasted on the site. Or are answers easily found on wikipedia.
- 4,819
4
votes
Accepted
Why was my question closed even though it perfectly lies within the boundaries of history?
I was one of those that voted to close the question, so I can give my reasons, although I can't speak for the others. Please remember that these are my personal reasons for voting to close this ...
- 77k
4
votes
Is recent history on topic?
Questions on the future are off limits, and those on the present moment are allowed at least on political topics.
Considering we have a dedicated SE for politics, it seems to me that questions about ...
- 761
4
votes
I added explanation of this question
The question is not currently framed as a historical question.
Thanks for posting on History Stack Exchange! Let's look at the question for a moment.
Here is the question:
I read about how Rome mass ...
- 3,687
3
votes
Shouldn't we actually give the 'single link' that answers an off-topic "too basic" question?
I'm emphatically ambivalent.
On the one hand, providing that link provides an incentive to the behavior we want to discourage. It rewards more poor questions and wastes our time.
On the other ...
MCWMod
- 33.7k
3
votes
When do we consider a question to be easily answered by "a simple search"?
Here are a few suggestions (the first of which is from a comment you posted here):
A single link answer found on the first page of a search should be strong candidate for 'too basic'.
Include the ...
- 107k
3
votes
Is there a notability criterion or not?
As one of the people who voted to close, I basically agree with Semaphore's answer: for something to qualify as history there either has to be some degree of historical significance (i.e. notability) ...
- 3,164
3
votes
When do we consider a question to be easily answered by "a simple search"?
Caveat - as above, please ignore any diamonds you may see.
I acknowledge all of the problems you cite with googling. No contest.
If the OP states in the question that they attempted to search for ...
MCWMod
- 33.7k
3
votes
Why was my question closed even though it perfectly lies within the boundaries of history?
Just to add to Sempaiscuba's answer:
For what it's worth, in this case the close votes were posted over a period of 24 hours. After that, comments asking for feedback may not be seen. Once a ...
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3
votes
Is recent history on topic?
The moderators (participants) of of this site have agreed that current events are history.
H:SE is a community moderated site, and I think the community has reached a consensus; I've stated it above ...
MCWMod
- 33.7k
2
votes
Accepted
Making this post more clear?
In its current form, the question is impossible to answer without being familiar with the portrayal, i.e. having watched the TV episode. This kind of question is a better fit at https://scifi....
- 14.4k
2
votes
Site policy for very heavily-trolled topics
In the years since this "higher-bar" policy was described, things have actually gotten worse on these topics.
For that reason we should actually go a step further and just automatically put any ...
2
votes
Is recent history on topic?
Recent History usually is called journalism. But as far as I know, SE does not have a forum for that. So in the meantime maybe is not that bad to have questions about recent history.
Maybe the point ...
- 4,819
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible