6
$\begingroup$

Our questions per day is really low lately it seems. I suggest this is not because our users are inactive, but I think it is because we dont have enough users either.

We should prioritize questions which are 1) searchable easily on google and 2) code specific. Directing users towards this SE to ask their code questions in different communities could be really effective at driving traffic. The question is though, which communities would benefit most from an open forum type of support.

I might suggest that some common problems or questions about particular codes are brought here and self answered if need be. This will help drive traffic and raise us in google searches (above for example VASP forums which are closed off and difficult to use).

$\endgroup$
7
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ +1. I agree that VASP's forum is nasty in that you have to have their license in order to use it. People that have questions about VASP but are not users of VASP, cannot access it. I completely agree with you that we will draw in more users if more people find out about us, and more people will find out about us if we have much more content that comes up in their Google searchers and such. At the same time, we don't want to reduce our standards by filling the site with self-answers because this encourages "reputation hunters". $\endgroup$
    – Nike Dattani - No Free Time
    Commented Aug 29, 2020 at 16:32
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I do agree, maybe it would be good to encourage others who ask questions elsewhere to ask and self answer here as their first contribution. $\endgroup$
    – Tristan Maxson
    Commented Aug 29, 2020 at 17:10
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Generally when I see people asking questions on other forums or mailing lists, I point them to our site and tell them that next time they might wish to ask here instead of on such a localized mailing list. If they asked somewhere else and got an answer from someone, I wouldn't want them giving a self-answer and getting credit for the other person's answer. In which mailing lists/communities, are you a member? $\endgroup$
    – Nike Dattani - No Free Time
    Commented Aug 29, 2020 at 18:26
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Mainly just GPAW and ASE. I also interact with a lot of VASP users directly through work. I agree that they would get credit for another's answer in a lot of cases though which may not be good. At the same time, when we have to look up sources on other sites, often we have to use other's resources anyways though. $\endgroup$
    – Tristan Maxson
    Commented Aug 29, 2020 at 19:53
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Maybe it's helpful to add I found out about this site by someone commenting on a question in chemistry SE, and I like that this seems to be a bit more of research-level questions than Chemistry. I would guess there are a fair number of users from Chemistry which would participate in this site. $\endgroup$
    – jheindel
    Commented Sep 2, 2020 at 4:50
  • $\begingroup$ @jheindel I agree but we've been warned that such comments "poaching" people from chemistry would be actively deleted. It's unclear how to work together without stepping on each others toes, but I think things will get better with time. $\endgroup$
    – Cody Aldaz
    Commented Sep 2, 2020 at 19:11
  • $\begingroup$ @Cody especially in the beginning there were a lot of comments advertising this site; sometimes on questions which were well received. Some users (rightfully) flagged them and they were deleted. I told you this simply as information from our end. I've been in the past few weeks also referring to this site more often and even done some migrations (which I generally don't like to do) when it's early enough and we get help from the OP. It is important to post these comments indicating a better place, but clearly saying that they are not of topic (in some cases), the latter usually causes harm. $\endgroup$
    – Martin - マーチン
    Commented Sep 26, 2020 at 14:40

0

Reset to default

You must log in to answer this question.

Browse other questions tagged .