2

Now that we have temporary moderators on Mythology SE, I believe they have the power to update the help text on certain help pages.

I think the most important of these is What topics can I ask about here? which describes the scope of the site. I find that page important that this is a well-written and clear description, because sometimes people will try to look through multiple forums (including StackExchange sites) quickly, trying to find the best home for their question. It is also important so that if someone asks an inapproperiate question that we decide is off-topic, he doesn't feel that it was an unfair arbitrary decision because he has broken rules he had no way to find out about.

Please suggest good description that should be on that page. Partial text that others can improve later is also welcome. Please do not discuss the help text of other help pages here, but open a new question for it.

4
  • 1
    Just to clarify, we have no elected mods on Mythology; the community managers are employed (and hired, and, in theory, fired) by Stack Exchange. But I can get cracking on that page once we have some good submissions here.
    – HDE 226868
    Commented May 30, 2015 at 19:08
  • @HDE: I wasn't sure the temporary moderators had the privilage to edit. If you're sure you can edit the help page, then feel free to remove the part about the elected moderators from the question.
    – b_jonas
    Commented May 30, 2015 at 19:50
  • I've done it on HSM, and I just did it here, as a test (check it out).
    – HDE 226868
    Commented May 30, 2015 at 19:52
  • By the way, this has spawned a question on Meta, so this meta post may just have become important network-wide.
    – HDE 226868
    Commented May 30, 2015 at 20:08

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
6

I just made some edits to Ixrec's draft:

  1. Removed "Myth identification" from the list: while it may be on-topic, we don't have to advertise/encourage those questions.
  2. I added a link to my myth recommendation meta question.
  3. Changed i.e. to e.g.

What topics can I ask about here?

Mythology Stack Exchange is a Q&A site for mythology enthusiasts and experts. You are encouraged to ask questions about:

  • Explaining the plot, character, setting or symbolism of a myth
  • Historical or societal context of a myth
  • Translations of and primary sources for a myth

What qualifies as a "myth"?

  • Traditional myths, e.g. stories of great cultural significance such as the labors of Herculus or King Arthur's exploits are on-topic
  • Folklore is on-topic
  • Stories from religious scripture are on-topic; the doctrines espoused by a religion are off-topic
  • Myths that exist solely within a fictional work (eg, Star Wars, Game of Thrones) are off-topic, though you may be able to ask about them on another site such as SciFi.SE

What mythology-related questions should I not ask here?

  • Questions calling for a list of myths, deities, cultures, …: What are all the myths where X happens? How many cultures have a god for X?
  • Scientific explanations: In this story X did Y, but is that really possible?
  • Reading recommendations: I liked X, what should I read next? Instead, please use our beginner mythology recommendation meta question.
0
4

I'm sure there's loads to improve, but here's my five-minute first draft:

What topics can I ask about here?

Mythology Stack Exchange is a Q&A site for mythology enthusiasts and experts. You are encouraged to ask questions about:

  • Explaining the plot, character, setting or symbolism of a myth
  • Historical or societal context of a myth
  • Myth identification
  • Translations of and primary sources for a myth

What qualifies as a "myth"?

  • Traditional myths, i.e. stories of great cultural significance such as the labors of Herculus or King Arthur's exploits are on-topic
  • Folklore is on-topic
  • Stories from religious scripture are on-topic; the doctrines espoused by a religion are off-topic
  • Myths that exist solely within a fictional work (eg, Star Wars, Game of Thrones) are off-topic, though you may be able to ask about them on another site such as SciFi.SE

What mythology-related questions should I not ask here?

  • Questions calling for a list of myths, deities, cultures, …: What are all the myths where X happens? How many cultures have a god for X?
  • Scientific explanations: In this story X did Y, but is that really possible?
  • Reading recommendations: I liked X, what should I read next?

If it matters, this is partially based on SciFi.SE's help center.

3

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .