7

In Robert Cartaino's answer here, he mentions this text:

Closed as a broad recommendation or poll

"Hardware Recommendations" is a community-run website to help participants complete an exhaustive solution search given very specific requirements. Unfortunately, questions seeking broad product recommendations are outside the scope of this site. Part of seeking a solution through this site is to explain why any random product search will not work for you. This question is too broad to narrow down the possible solutions in any definitive way. — draft

It occurred to me that this would make a good off-topic close reason, but it's too long by 46 characters - there's a maximum of 400 characters for these.

So, two things:

  • Should we have something like this for an off-topic close reason?
  • If so, how can we trim it down to fit in 400 characters, while still being welcoming and informative?
9
  • 1
    I guess the one caveat with this is that we're essentially doubling up on a "too broad" close reason. Is there any precedence for changing that reason's default text instead of creating a custom one?
    – JohnB
    Sep 24, 2015 at 20:55
  • @JohnB To the best of my knowledge, that's never been done.
    – Undo
    Sep 24, 2015 at 20:56
  • I think I've got the too long part of it down to a manageable size. More info in less space while preserving the thoughtful side of it. I just have to type it up to see if it fits.
    – Robert Cartaino
    Sep 25, 2015 at 0:34
  • @RobertCartaino Great, I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
    – Undo
    Sep 25, 2015 at 0:34
  • @RobertCartaino Has there been any progress on this? Just curious ;)
    – Undo
    Sep 30, 2015 at 18:06
  • @Undo I keep getting called away and sidetracked, but I have not forgotten this. Thanks for he reminder; it should be done soon
    – Robert Cartaino
    Sep 30, 2015 at 18:10
  • Great, thank you!
    – Undo
    Sep 30, 2015 at 18:50
  • 2
    Okay, using the feedback below, I managed to work up a close reason that actually fits, while maintaining that helpful, prescriptive tone. I've had some really good luck with this format in general, so hopefully this will prove to be a user-friendly way to explain to folks why some questions are simply not quite ready for this site.
    – Robert Cartaino
    Oct 23, 2015 at 20:00
  • That looks great (assuming it's the one in the off-topic dialog), @Robert. Thank you!
    – Undo
    Oct 23, 2015 at 21:28

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

I agree, this would make a great close reason. Here's my reduction to 384 characters:

This is a community-run website to help participants complete an exhaustive solution search given very specific requirements; questions seeking broad recommendations are outside the scope of this site. To fit our format, questions must explain why any random product search will not work for you. This question is too broad to narrow down the possible solutions in any definitive way.

Or if we want to include a link to a meta post, the first sentence is probably not crucial. 379ish characters:

Questions seeking broad recommendations are outside the scope of this site. To fit our format, questions must explain why any random product search will not work for you. This question is too broad to narrow down the possible solutions in any definitive way. For guidance on writing an effective question, see this meta post.

Suggestions welcome.

1
  • 2
    I like the second version, it could be argued that close reasons aren't the place to be welcoming. I wouldn't be against using your second version with the intention of leaving a nice comment for new folks.
    – Undo
    Sep 24, 2015 at 20:54
2

While I agree with Robert's comment that this hits the "too broad" reason we already have, I like this better. It provides a much more actionable way to fix a question and is specific to Hardware Recommendations, as the "too broad" reason seems more tailored for a non-recommendation question.

There are either too many possible answers, or good answers would be too long for this format. Please add details to narrow the answer set or to isolate an issue that can be answered in a few paragraphs.

I've made a few small modifications to the draft Robert provided (and if Notepad++ isn't lying to me, is exactly 400 characters):

"Hardware Recommendations" is a community-run website to help users complete an exhaustive solution search given very specific requirements. Questions seeking broad recommendations are outside the scope of this site. Part of seeking a solution here is to explain why a random product search did not work for you. This question is too broad to narrow down the possible solutions in any definitive way.

1
  • 1
    I like the one you wrote, but I'm not sure about the "part of seeking a solution" sentence. As far as I know, there hasn't been over five questions yet that actually explain how the OP couldn't find the hardware in a search.
    – Adam
    Sep 24, 2015 at 21:36

You must log in to answer this question.

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