Off Topic Is Okay

This site hosts a community of programmers. Long time contributors to this community take considerable liberty in their choice of topics and extend the same courtesy to visitors who would like to understand how we work. We are able to do this because many volunteers prune the topics that don't prove useful to the intended community. Please don't take offense. It is just what we do. -- WardCunningham

OffTopicIsOkay if the MoreLightThanHeatGuideline is observed.

I agree with DanBarlow, who added the following in Oct04:

But please: read this page, not just its title. It would be courteous for visitors in turn to observe (and understand) the effect of their contributions on the community and moderate their output in the light of feedback received. If somebody complains that your page is off-topic, don't just "point them at this page"; instead, listen to their objections. OffTopicIsOkay is an explanation for offtopic pages that already exist, not carte blanche to create more of them or a defence when the community acts to change, refactor or delete them.

As ClearWaterHasNoFish, I would suggest this for thoughts
- If you are new here and are very passionate about a pet OffTopic subject that is non-controversial, then go and find two OffTopic pages that are orphaned, last edited over two years old, and appear to have limited value. Put these on a "slow delete" mechanism. If more experienced people agree with you, then you can argue that your OffTopic page has resulted in net reduction of all OffTopic pages here.

Some transplanted discussion...

The purpose of the page is to illustrate the difference in rhetoric of keeping this Wiki OnTarget with regard to Ward's originally stated purpose and the practice of presenting and preserving pages that do not fit within that description. It would be a GoodThing if as a result of this emphasis, that the pages which continue to perservere on this wiki would contain at least a hint of that purpose. To be sure the list represents a minority of pages, but those who are concerned with a FocusedWiki?, might want to keep their participation and their rhetoric in agreement.

Oh, okay. So, do you want to go to BackgammonOpenings (a page created by Ward, by the way) and label it "off-topic"? If so, I want to watch.

Is it OnTopic? The title alone does not determine this. What do you think?

It seems to be about Patterns and methodology, and therefore OnTopic.

Examples of "off-topic," but tolerated, categories:

CategoryMovie and the associated pages
...

Notes:

Some of the pages labeled OffTopic are, in fact, on topic. Some of the pages have been fixed or the off-topic badge removed as appropriate. YourMileageMayVary.

Pages exercising good judgment and civility and some relevance either to the stated goal or to the interests of the majority of the present participation should be allowed the same status as both the OnTopic pages based on clearly defined relationships and other pages sustaining Categorization and participation by the tacit approved of wikizens. (See Examples above)

See: IsOffTopicOk

CategoryWiki