Within the Stack Exchange network there have been some recommendations sites proposed, one in beta and one graduated:
- Software Recommendations (graduated site)
- Hardware Recommendations (beta site)
Website Recommendations(proposed site; now deleted)Educational Resource Recommendations(proposed site; now deleted)Book Recommendations(proposed site; now deleted)Books Recommendation(proposed site; now closed)Stack Exchange Site Recommendations(proposed site; now deleted)
If they survivehad all survived, they would seem to be the places to ask many of the recommendation questions that we see users try to ask on other sites. However it now looks like software and hardware are likely to be the only recommendation sites for the foreseeable future.
I think encouraging users to use the appropriate SE recommendation sites for those questions, and closing recommendation questions on all non Recommendation sites is the correct action. When their askers request migration to the recommendation sites, from the sites that I moderate, I do that too.
The Software Recommendations site works because its users are very strict about how questions can be asked (and answered). Non-recommendations sites struggle to have the patience to propose and apply guidelines that can shape recommendations into a form where they are not routinely closed for being too broad or unclear.
