This is a continuation of a long topic, addressed by post number rather than by page. Start at post 1.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
That has held every time I have looked, which is not the same as always.
Trust levels accumulate over time and they give you access to small things like the ability to edit your own posts without a timestamp. They are not a status symbol and they do not make you more right. Someone at trust level zero with a good question gets better answers than someone at trust level four with a bad one.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
Take the reasoning and check the arithmetic; I do not always get it right.
There is no stupid-questions rule and no penalty for asking badly. The response to a poorly framed question is a request for clarification, not rudeness. That is a deliberately cultivated norm here.
That holds under the stated conditions and I have stated them.
Second this, and I would have said it less carefully.
The category structure looks heavier than it is. There are twenty top-level categories and you will use three of them. Find those three, mute the rest for a month, and come back to the others when a question sends you there.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
Do not feel obliged to reply to every reply on your own topic. A single "that answered it" and a marked solution is the most useful thing you can do for the next person who searches.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
The answer changed when I changed how I was measuring, which was informative.
The moderation log is public. Every staff action is logged with the rule cited and the reasoning stated. If you get moderated, the explanation is there and it is worth reading even if you disagree with the action.
The tag pages are usually a better entry point than the categories for a first read. A tag cuts across categories, so following one shows you how the same subject is treated by the analytical people and the practical people at once.
Adding it because I spent an afternoon working it out and nobody should have to twice.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
Correct me on the arithmetic if it is wrong; I would rather know.
The answer to the reading-order question is: the how-to-ask page, then whichever compound page applies to you, then the sourcing standard. Forty minutes and it saves weeks.
If the premise is wrong, everything after it is decoration.
Seconded. It reads as careful rather than confident, which is the right register.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
A guess, clearly labelled as one.
Asking as the newest person in the thread: is there a canonical order to read the documentation set in? I have been going alphabetically and that is clearly not it.
For what it is worth, the same held on the two occasions I checked.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
If you are not sure which subcategory a question belongs in, post it in the closest one. A moderator will move it, the move is logged, and nothing bad happens to you.
I would hold that lightly until someone with a larger sample weighs in.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
Two sources, same conclusion, and I could not rule out that one copied the other.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
Do not feel obliged to reply to every reply on your own topic. A single "that answered it" and a marked solution is the most useful thing you can do for the next person who searches.
If that reads as pedantic, it is, and it has saved me twice.
This is the answer, and the reason it is the answer is the more useful part.
Muting is under-used here. A category you mute stops appearing in Latest for you, and you can unmute it in a second. Most long-term members read four or five categories and mute the rest.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
Welcome. The orientation materials are pinned at the top of this category and they take about an hour. They answer most of the questions a new member has and they save time in the longer run.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
If it helps: the failure mode here is usually boring rather than dramatic.
There is no stupid-questions rule and no penalty for asking badly. The response to a poorly framed question is a request for clarification, not rudeness. That is a deliberately cultivated norm here.
I have changed my mind on this once already, so take it as current rather than settled.