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For the secondary meta sites, we have tags like discussion, feature-request, etc. I really think we could use a tag like announcement as one of the allowed required-tags. I'm thinking of questions (!) like this: Game Development Stack Exchange swag for top users.

Jeff Atwood justified the post as a discussion. While I would never dream of criticizing the Great One :) , and I do agree that the post is on-topic - still, it really isn't a discussion. Seriously, what's to discuss? They're sending us free stuff :) Comment, or applaud, maybe. But it's not a discussion - it's an announcement. And it would be nice to have a tag to indicate that.

There have been other announcement-type posts, like when Chaos engulfed the site. Tagged as "discussion", belongs as "announcement." :)

Update: I've changed this request to cover only the secondary meta-sites, like meta.gamedev, etc. It has become obvious that the original meta.stackoverflow is unique. Its full discussion tag reads

This tag indicates that the question is a discussion which may not necessarily have a clear-cut right or wrong answer and is often subjective. If it's not a bug or feature-request, it is probably a discussion.

Whereas the secondary meta sites discussion tag reads:

The question you're asking is designed to solicit opinions or best-practices on a particular topic, with the goal of reaching community consensus.

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  • 1
    Looks like there are tags announcements and announcement out there already but not used much. Both have only 4 posts in total.
    – user162697
    Commented Aug 10, 2011 at 1:23
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    @Siva, however they are do not have the same status as tags like discussion, which is one of the required tags. My first post wasn't clear about that, I immediately edited the second line to add required-tags as part of my request.
    – John C
    Commented Aug 10, 2011 at 1:25
  • So you want this for regular users then? Anyone can just make announcements?
    – random
    Commented Aug 10, 2011 at 1:28
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    Siva, heh - we simultaneously deleted related comments. :) And @random - is that any worse than anyone making a discussion? It's just a slightly more clear indication of what the post is about, in my opinion.
    – John C
    Commented Aug 10, 2011 at 1:37
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    Something tagged [announcement] you would think comes from an employee or maybe a moderator.
    – random
    Commented Aug 10, 2011 at 1:45
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    Making [announcement] moderator- or employee-only would be fine, it would still be more clear what the nature of the post was.
    – John C
    Commented Aug 10, 2011 at 1:59
  • The "discussion" tag means "everything else". I'm sure that's the point Jeff was trying to make. The tag wiki excerpt makes this pretty clear already: This tag indicates that the question is a discussion which may not necessarily have a clear-cut right or wrong answer and is often subjective. If it's not a bug or feature-request, it is probably a discussion.
    – Cody Gray - on strike
    Commented Aug 10, 2011 at 4:19
  • @Cody, yes, that is the text of the meta.stackoverflow discussion tag, but the meta.gamedev tag is different (as I put in a comment to random's answer), and is: "designed to solicit opinions or best-practices on a particular topic, with the goal of reaching community consensus."
    – John C
    Commented Aug 10, 2011 at 12:38
  • My understanding is/was that the tag wikis from the main meta site (this one) were pushed out to all the per-site metas. That would mean you should have the same tag wiki excerpt. Has someone modified it to say something different? And if so, why?
    – Cody Gray - on strike
    Commented Aug 10, 2011 at 12:40
  • I don't know who created the gamedev tag, but read it for yourself. It's entirely different. Maybe I should change my feature-request to be specific to gamedev (and other secondary meta-sites)?
    – John C
    Commented Aug 10, 2011 at 12:42
  • I just checked a few other sites, and they are identical - to each other, and gamedev (but not meta.stackoverflow's discussion tag). So it sounds like that is what was intended - meta.SO is unique. Changing my post now. :)
    – John C
    Commented Aug 10, 2011 at 12:50

2 Answers 2

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The tag paired with captures the intent here just fine.

Even if you don't want to talk back or lay down some kind of feedback to the announcement, you're still open to that. And that's what marks it a discussion.

You could discuss size options for the shirts or possibilities of other types of swag that could replace the pens. The pie hole is ready for some filling. Whether or not anybody crams it pretty is up to them.

If you want, think of as marking a quasi-blog post. It's announcement that's open for comments and discussion of said notice. Go forth and feed back.

Using the tag also pops the question into the sidebar of the main section of the site, allowing for eyeballs and attention for any notices that may be of import to the rest of the user base.

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    The Gamedev discussion tag says it is "designed to solicit opinions or best-practices on a particular topic, with the goal of reaching community consensus." Sure, you can certainly discuss shirt-sizes, but does that really make it a discussion? And part of the reason I suggested a new tag, is that (currently) the top three posts on gamedev-meta are announcements (although tagged as discussion). They are purely informational, and not for the purpose of reaching a consensus. Not sure what consensus we'd reach anyway, other than "yes, we're in favor of free swag." :)
    – John C
    Commented Aug 10, 2011 at 1:47
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    Also, regarding "being open to feedback [...] marks it as a discussion" - aren't all meta-tags "open to feedback"? [Feature-requests] can certainly generate a discussion, but that doesn't make them a [discussion].
    – John C
    Commented Aug 10, 2011 at 13:46
  • I've commented on this answer in my own answer.
    – msh210
    Commented Dec 6, 2011 at 18:45
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I agree or similar should be one of the required tags.

Except on MSO, the four current required tags' wikis' excerpts are:

  • bug: Indicates you've found an erroneous or unexpected behaviour in the system that needs to be fixed.
  • discussion: The question you're asking is designed to solicit opinions or best-practices on a particular topic, with the goal of reaching community consensus.
  • feature-request: You have an idea for a new feature, or for a change to the existing functionality.
  • support: You need help with the use of one or more of the site's features.

Here are some examples where would be useful (and none of the four currently required tags is):

(In response to random's answer: Note that not all of these were posted by moderators (or needed to have been), and that not all of these are suitable for (being put in the main site's sidebar).)

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