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There is no quick and easy way to find what are the topics of Super User, nor what is off-topic

  • The superuser.com/tour: Gives a very (and too) brief information in its first paragraph as to what is the site's topic (and thus also what isn't).
  • In superuser.com/help: there is a questions mentioning a better description: https://superuser.com/help/on-topic

To me this is not really visible: I went to search for an "About" link on the front page, then went to re-read the /tour, then to /help, but I didn't notice that one answer straight away.

Maybe someone could add a link to that question in the /tour first paragraph? Or maybe an even more visible "about" link somewhere in the top bar? Or at least in the bottom of the front page?

Or any suggestions you could have for a better way to make it known and visible (especially to new users).

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    Its about 3 links down - behind a see more link. For something a new user needs to find to use the site effectively that's kind of a pain, and unacceptable.
    – Journeyman Geek Mod
    Commented Jan 25 at 13:45
  • I just want to be sure I understand the request here. You want superuser.com/help/on-topic linked in the first paragraph on the tour page?
    – SpencerG StaffMod
    Commented Apr 29 at 20:31
  • @SpencerG : I'd like indeed to have it linked, but in a very visible way, so that people new to the site can find it very easily (and maybe also have it in the footer of the page? it's where I usually find the "about" for websites?) . Thank you for your time.
    – Olivier Dulac
    Commented Apr 30 at 12:30
  • All right, I have added the link to the tour page. As far as having a prominent about page or on-topic link, I would recommend doing a feature request on MSE. It's not a guarantee that we can do anything, but a request like that should be put in front of the wider SE community so that if/when we can consider it, we can have a better understanding of demand and what people would like to see. Then we can consider adding it as a feature request.
    – SpencerG StaffMod
    Commented Apr 30 at 18:29

1 Answer 1

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What is currently written in the tour:

Ask about...

  • Specific issues with computer software, hardware or networking
  • Real problems or questions that you’ve encountered

Don't ask about...

  • Anything not directly related to computer software or computer hardware
  • Questions that are primarily opinion-based
  • Questions with too many possible answers or require an extremely long answer
  • Videogames, consoles, or other electronic devices, unless they connect to your computer
  • Websites or web services like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress
  • Shopping, buying or product recommendations
  • Issues specific to corporate IT support and networks

That's actually almost everything which is written in https://superuser.com/help/on-topic.

What's missing is:

  • ON TOPIC: the specific nuance on "personal and home computer networking", although networking is mentioned, and corporate networks are said to be off-topic;
  • OFF TOPIC: "asking for a product, service or learning material recommendation" - only 'product' is mentioned in the tour.

So, for a first information it actually looks fine to me.

Now, if only everyone would actually read it ...

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