Let's start working on our help center "what to ask" text!

Question

Within the next couple of weeks we are likely to have moderators who can edit the various parts of the site, including our "On Topic" page and our three custom "off topic" close reasons.

In our time here so far, we've started to make some headway in defining this site. This "On Topic" page is a great place to put simple directives of what is and is not topical for this site, tips for writing good questions and answers, and links to the relevant meta questions of each. This page can also be a good place for basic site policy that we want to be easily found. For reference, take a peek at the similar page on The Workplace and on Parenting - I've chosen these two because they have excellent pages and they have similar types of questions. These two sites have formatted the pages quite differently, so we can work out that part too...

So, in this post I'd like to ask our users to use one answer per line item for the on topic and off topic subjects. Once we've given these some time, we can create a "draft" post for the actual page and decide how it looks from there (example).

We did this on Arts & Crafts, which I stole from Seasoned Advice, so this is how it works:

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Since this is one of the 7 Essential Meta Questions of Every Beta...

What should go in our FAQ?

Most of the FAQ is boilerplate, but we need to determine the on-topic and off-topic subjects that go into that particular section of the official FAQ. Those should be derived from the original site definition and the current set of questions.

Example template:

Following the example set out in the linked page, the section being discussed here might look like this:

{Site Name} is for questions about traditional artwork and handmade items.

If your question is about:

• {On-topic subject}
• {On-topic subject}
• ...

and it is not about:

• {Off-topic subject}
• {Off-topic subject}
• {Off-topic subject}

… then you're in the right place to ask your question!

Answer format:

Please post one subject and specify whether or not it is an on-topic or off-topic subject or a general guideline. Note that your answer should not be in the form of a specific example question; it should refer to an entire subject group. Example of such a response:

{Off-topic}

Questions asking for medical mental health advice.

^{(Optional comments/link to relevant Meta discussion)}

Please vote up answers if you agree with the proposed on-topic/off-topic status. Vote down answers where you disagree.

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Please don't use this topic to discuss whether something is on topic or not - create a Meta discussion about it first and when the decision seems clear, bring it here for final voting.

Also remember that this page can be edited. We don't have to get it perfectly the first time, we just want to get it set up to help the people coming here find the useful links to meta discussions that we've already had.

Answer 1

Off-topic

Questions about interactions on the Stack Exchange network

Interpersonal Skills is not the "court of public opinion" of Stack Exchange.

If you have a serious grievance with the users, moderators, or community managers on this site or any other site in the network, that needs to be voiced (preferably in a calm and open manner) on the child meta of the site the issue relates to if it's a single-site issue or on Meta Stack Exchange if it's a broader network-wide issue. You should also feel welcome to use the "contact us" link at the bottom of any page (at the top right corner of the footer) if you feel that only a community manager can address your issue. If you have already done this and disagree with the outcome, keep contacting them. Bringing it here is inappropriate. - @Catija

Users should ask these questions on Meta Stack Exchange or on the child meta of the site they are using.

Sourced from this answer to this question.

Answer 2

On topic:

Questions about using or understanding social interactions to resolve problems or preventing them from occurring. This can also include fields covered on other Stack Exchange sites, for instance, a question about social interaction at work is okay, but only if the social element is the core focus of the question and not a side element.

Explanation:

We have a lot of talk about differentiation. Does this belong on IPS or the Workplace? Does this belong on IPS or Academia? I propose that we draw the line that such questions are allowed, but if and only if the social interaction is the crux of the issue or question, so that the answers can address the problems from a social standpoint.

Answer 3

Off Topic:

Questions that are only asking for specific wordings/arguments, for lists of possible replies or formulation of an e-mail/letter/note.

We're not here to put words in the mouths of users. Parroting a random internet stranger isn't an improvement of your interpersonal skills.

These questions are no more than list questions, those generally aren't a good fit for StackExchange questions anyway.

For example:

• How to respond to someone when they ask "How come you're still single?"
• How to chase tactfully someone who ignores your multiple reminder emails?

See also these meta posts:

• Let's close questions asking how to word/phrase something
• Should this question about convincing others about a specific political viewpoint be closed? Why?
• Should "How to respond to someone when they ask 'How come you're still single?'" be reopened?

Answer 4

Off Topic:

Questions that lack a clear goal we can address.

Related meta.

We need to know what outcome an OP is expecting. We need to know what part of their Interpersonal skills they want help with and what their preferred outcome of the situation is. For example: does an OP want to apologize or assert that they are standing behind what they did? If we don't know, their will be answers to either question (how to apologize, how to stand my ground).

Answer 5

Nicked from the Help Center of Workplace.se:

Off Topic:

Questions that aren't a good fit for the Stack Exchange format (see also Good Subjective, Bad Subjective for information on how to ask a subjective question suitable for the Stack Exchange format)

I think this closely ties in with the 'rules' as discussed in Differentiating on and off topic - How?.

All questions here will be subjective/opinion based, but:

• Questions shouldn't be inviting discussion, but instead invite answers explaining how and why.
  
• We want answers that aren't one-liners, but include some 'back it up': (relevant meta post 1, relevant meta post 2)

Answer 6

{On Topic}

Questions about [specific/formal] etiquette

Questions about the unwritten, but well-established and expected, rules or conventions of behavior in a specific setting. This may include broad social expectations in a particular culture or more specific etiquette such as the workplace in a specific industry and country. Be sure to specify your setting with appropriate location tags and other relevant context!

Rationale: We already have an etiquette tag, with some guiding info. Knowing what behavior is likely to be expected in general, and what kinds of consequences might follow a breach of that expected behavior, is often an important first step in knowing how specifically to act (and sometimes, it's the crux of an OP's question).

Meta discussions in the past have seemed to conclude that questions asking for the particular etiquette in a given setting are a good fit here. For example:

AJ's answer to "Courtesy and Etiquette: Can we make the difference clearer or synonymize them?" arguing that etiquette is a distinct concept. This question also links to several questions with this tag (all of which are still open, a few very highly up-voted).

User 288's question "Let's clean up rudeness, politeness, etiquette, and courtesy" suggesting that these be collapsed into two tags, politeness and etiquette.

Moreover, responses to r m's question "Would questions on reasons and origins be on topic?" suggest that how a particular instance of etiquette arose would be on-topic as well as what the etiquette is for a particular situation.

I note that some questions with this topic would inevitably overlap with questions on other sites, e.g. "what is the proper way to greet a new business associate when visiting in Japan" could probably be asked on Travel.SE or Workplace.SE (or even Academia.SE, if the business associate is an academic), but I think they are still appropriate here.

Answer 7

Not sure how this would fit in with the page format, but it's probably worth adding something about including location/cultural data, given how many people forget to do this.

Answer 8

Off-topic

Questions asking to define certain terms, e.g. "what are core values?"

See: Is asking for a definition or a general perception in matters of interpersonal relationships on topic?

Also the reverse is offtopic, e.g. "what's the term for a person behaving in a so and so manner to my message?"

We are not here to define things, and we are not here to answer word requests either. There are other very active sites within our network better suited for that purpose.

Our mission should be to help people navigate through tough life situations when interacting with other people, to resolve interpersonal conflicts etc.

Answer 9

On-topic

Questions asking about public speaking

As defined by:

• Speaking techniques (wide range included here - audience engagement, confidence in front of audience, etc)
• Asking about how an audience would respond to a certain statement, or something like that (but the actual act of writing I would say is off-topic)

_{Note: there is a "Public Speaking" proposal lurking around on Area 51 - it hasn't got very far yet though.}

Sourced from this answer to this question.

Answer 10

On Topic:

• Skills required to navigate a situation
• "How to approach"
• "How to avoid conflict"
• "When to discuss"
• "What is appropriate"

Off Topic:

• Raltionship difficulties (unless addressed above)

• Rants

• Politics

• Anything where the question is accusatory of someone "My boss is a xxx-ist...."

• Purely opinion based questions

• "Dear abby" style advice questions.

• Anything that's pure opinion

• "Moral dilemma" type questions.

Answer 11

Off topic:

Questions that require more help than we can provide. Questions that go beyond the tools we use to interact with other people on a day-to-day basis and require the assistance of licensed professionals (therapists, physicians, lawyers, etc).

Related meta posts:

• Should we get a custom close reason for 'needs professional help'?
• How should we respond to questions where the OP needs professional help?
• Have we decided to adopt 'requires professional help' as a new, custom close reason, and how should the close message be worded?
• Where do we draw a line for 'needs professional help'?

Answer 12

Off-topic: Questions asking for help to make a moral/ethical decision

One recent example. This has perhaps since been brought on-topic by editing it to ask what is common, but it's still a problematic subject area.

Decide what you think is the right course of action, then come to us to ask the best way to go about doing it.

Answer 13

on-topic

Questions asking to define certain terms, e.g. "what are core values?"