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Following this discussion, I think we should "build a library" of canonical questions (on meta) that are off-topic for the IPS format but still interesting.

The question is:

  • What format do we want to use for those canonical questions?
  • What kind of question do we want? Are they some that we don't want?

For the format, I think we have two main possibilities here:

  • Each canonical question are posted as a new answer for the same meta question
  • Each canonical question has its separate question and answers

For the format of each canonical question, I'll wait and see what you think.

About the questions we want, I have already ideas:

  • How to support my sexually assaulted friend?
  • How to know if you are in an abusive relationship?
  • How to help my depressed/suicidal friend?

So, what do you think?

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    What would make questions off-topic for IPS suitable on meta? Either their format is problematic, which makes them unanswerable on main, I don't see how moving them to meta fixes that. If it is the topic rather than the format, I would wonder even more so whether that has any place on IPS whatsoever.
    – JAD
    Commented Jan 23, 2019 at 10:44
  • @JAD This was suggested several times in the answers there: interpersonal.meta.stackexchange.com/q/3487/21067 Also, I know something similar has been done on Worldbuilding, unfortunately, I can't find the meta link again (Tinkeringbell gave it to me in chat).
    – Ael
    Commented Jan 23, 2019 at 10:58
  • @JAD Also, I believe that the example questions I posted are important questions and that we should, somehow, be able to link to relevant resources to answer them. Like posting a link to wikiHow with a summary for the question "How to know if you are in an abusive relationship?"
    – Ael
    Commented Jan 23, 2019 at 11:03
  • 1
    I think we need to be careful with treating meta as a catch-all for off-topic questions on main. Just because a question deserves an answer, doesn't mean that IPS (main or meta) is the place to put those. Creating a meta question with frequently used sources on some topics that are often touched on IPS is fine, to link to whenever needed. But that does not mean that any semi-IPS related question should instead be posted on Meta.
    – JAD
    Commented Jan 23, 2019 at 11:06
  • @JAD I agree with that. Thus my question about what we want and what we don't want as IPS canonical questions. Maybe every possible canonical meta questions should be voted on meta first before being allowed to be posted and answered?
    – Ael
    Commented Jan 23, 2019 at 11:11
  • I wonder what the problem is with letting this happen in an organic way? Post them when they appear, instead of planning and hashing out all possible options.
    – JAD
    Commented Jan 23, 2019 at 11:39
  • @JAD The question "How to know if you are in an abusive relationship?" appeared recently and was closed. I really want to answer it because it's an important question. But how do I format that? Isn't it something the community should discuss first?
    – Ael
    Commented Jan 23, 2019 at 11:42
  • 3
    Judging from the meta about that question, it was both off-topic and too broad. I'm not sure if moving the question to meta solves either of them really. It sounds a bit to me like an answer in search of a question, and if all else fails, just put that question on meta. I don't think that's necessarily the way forward.
    – JAD
    Commented Jan 23, 2019 at 11:51
  • @JAD I'm not planning in moving this question to meta. What I think we should do is to post a new meta question asking "How to know if you are in an abusive relationship?" (and just that, no additional context) and then answering with: here is where you can find help about this (put interesting links here, like this wikiHow article)
    – Ael
    Commented Jan 23, 2019 at 11:57

1 Answer 1

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Building a library...

I'll make the answer almost as short as the question : libraries have books, SE have Q/A.

...of canonical questions?

here, "canonical" sounds like (kind of) "rhetorical". And that's not (at all) the SE/IPS format.

I realize that it's a bit harsh. Maybe it is. Too much. And if it is, I'll apologize. But that's exactly the short answer that I think needs to be done sometimes, like when we say that "NO is a complete sentence". And that not too many explanations shouldn't be given. Here, though, we should provide people with explanations, so, here are my 3 cents, as you have 3 bullets in your question.

  • What format do we want to use for those canonical questions? -> none? (because it doesn't fit our SE format? Op-Based / Too-B. / Off-T. / ...).

  • What kind of question do we want? -> the one we can answer, because they have a real problem, a real goal, an IPS solution, and they respect the SE format, I'd say.

  • Are they some that we don't want? -> all of the others? ;)

Short story long now, just from some of your examples:

  • How to support my sexually assaulted friend? -> it depends on the friend/age/perpetrator/so-many-factors-you-can-name-and-add... it's far too broad, and words and actions will vary depending on the relationship(s), the personality (both you and your friend)... and so on...

  • How to know if you are in an abusive relationship? -> was already discussed on meta.

  • How to help my depressed/suicidal friend? -> was already discussed on meta and an answer was given, so that one can copy/paste just in case.

And just because @JAD already used (in comments) the words and sentences I was about to write, no need to lose time, I'll just quote them, then:

  • What would make questions off-topic for IPS suitable on meta? Either their format is problematic, which makes them unanswerable on main, I don't see how moving them to meta fixes that.

  • I think we need to be careful with treating meta as a catch-all for off-topic questions on main. Just because a question deserves an answer, doesn't mean that IPS (main or meta) is the place to put those" (end of quote - My thought: even with links, we're not a "regular/normal" forum).

  • Judging from the meta about that question, it was both off-topic and too broad. I'm not sure if moving the question to meta solves either of them really. It sounds a bit to me like an answer in search of a question, and if all else fails, just put that question on meta.

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