What should our FAQ contain?

Question

We need to come up with "things specific to webapps that need to be mentioned in the faq. [...] [The] most relevant thing to focus on is that topmost section of the [faq]." ^{[Jeff Attwood]}

If you look at Super User's FAQ, you will notice that it lists things that are on topic and things that are off topic.

Here's an example of the template we might use:

{site-name} is for expert and advanced users of web applications. If you have a question about …

• {on-topic-examples}

and it is not about …

• {off-topic-examples}

Please submit suggestions for things to be listed in the {on-topic-examples} and {off-topic-examples} sections above.

Vote up based on whether or not you agree with the example.
For example, if someone writes "This site is not about computer software" and you agree, vote it up (not down), since "is not" was used. Conversely, if someone wrote "this site is about computer software" and you don't agree with it, then you should vote it down.

Please follow these guidelines:

• Enter a single bullet you would like to see in the FAQ per answer. This will help the voting process.
• Specify if your suggestion is on-topic or off-topic.
• This isn't the same as the Area 51 on-topic/off-topic questions. It should be more like what you see in the SuperUser.com FAQ (e.g. "This site is not about videogames or consoles").

Vote on other site attributes

See Also: How is the FAQ page going to get written?

Answer 1

{off-topic-example}

This site is not about developing web applications.

Answer 2

{off-topic-example}

Questions about web applications with adult content are not allowed.

See Jeff's answer to this question

Answer 3

{on-topic-example}

This site is about using web applications

Answer 4

{off-topic-example}

This site is not about scripts (e.g. Wordpress.org, phpbb, etc.)

Answer 5

I don't have a way to word it because I don't have a firm opinion on it. That said, however the community decides to handle (CW / closed for off-topic, etc?) "List of " questions should be explicitly stated in the FAQ.

Answer 6

{on-topic-example}

This site is about bookmarklets.

Answer 7

{off-topic-example}

This site is not about managing self-hosted web applications (wordpress.org) although if you have a [...].wordpress.com account, ask away.

Answer 8

{off-topic-example}

This site is not about computer software.

Answer 9

{on-topic-example}

This site is about "is there a webapp that..." type of questions.

See this thread for the discussion, and my (Ben Gartner's) answer here.

Answer 10

{on-topic example}

Questions about browsers are on-topic as long as they are related to the usage of a web application (Greasemonkey, other plugins and extensions, Google Chrome's application shortcut feature, etc.)

Discussion about it here

Answer 11

{policies}

• It is OK to answer a question by providing a non web-based solution as long as the user did not specify that the solution had to be web-based.

Discussion that spawned this suggestion here

Answer 12

I propose a new section in the FAQ called policies which give best practices about using the website (how to answer, comment, etc.). It is related to the on/off-topic discussion, but relates to other things than just questions.

Alternative section name:

• best practices

Mark your suggestions as {policies} for now (until we settle on a name).

Answer 13

Maybe we could add a link to the "Define 'web application'" question and settle down on an answer (here's my proposal). That way users will better know about which websites they can ask questions.

Answer 14

{off-topic-example}

This site is not about "is there a webapp that..." type of questions.

See this thread for the discussion, and my (Will M's) answer here.

Answer 15

{off-topic example}

This site is not about browsers and their features (plugins, extensions, etc.).

Answers that require the use of a particular extension or browser feature are encouraged.

See discussion about this in this thread.