Are questions about self-installed web apps on or off topic?

Question

There are some levels to this... Which of the following question types do we accept and which do we reject as off-topic?

• Recommendations for which web app software to install - not technical questions, just recommendations about features etc (such as this one)
• Questions about how to enable certain functionality in a web app installed on their own server
• Questions about technical issues with installing a web app on their own server

I'm pretty sure we should rule out the last one, but not so sure about the other 2...

Answer 1

Things have changed since this question was first asked.

• Recommendations for which web app software to install - not technical questions, just recommendations about features etc

  Definitely off-topic.

  If they can meet the requirements of Software Recommendations, it might be on-topic there.

• Questions about how to enable certain functionality in a web app installed on their own server

  It might be on-topic. If it's about using some functionality as a user, it's probably okay. How to add a tag to a post in WordPress, for instance, is going to be pretty universal, and it's a pretty widely used app. A bigger problem for this is that for apps that aren't used by millions of people, it's unlikely someone who can answer the question will ever see it.

• Questions about technical issues with installing a web app on their own server

  Definitely off-topic. Depending on the issue, Webmasters, Super User, or Server Fault, might be more appropriate.

Answer 2

This might seem like a thin line, but for me it's the same as the distinction between Super User and Server Fault.

If the question is asked from a professional perspective, i.e. you built professional Wordpress installs, it's off-topic for this site.

If it's for your personal blog, than it's on-topic.

However, I think the questions should be about using the web app, so even if it's your personal blog, it shouldn't have anything to do with the underlying structure (i.e. the server)

Answer 3

I think the first two would be quite relevant here, given the nature of this site. In my view the self-installed bit shouldn't matter, as it's a web app all the same. The first item on the site's FAQ seems to indicate this, although a little less explicitly.

The third question, being of a technical nature, would be more suitable at ServerFault.