55

Quite often, questions get asked that are really not to do with programming at all. Sometimes they're appropriate for Super User or whatever, but not always. We used to have a blatantly off-topic (this has nothing to do with programming) close reason, but it's gone for some reason.

What would we do with

How do I get a girlfriend?

as a question? It doesn't fit any of the close reasons except for "Other", which seems a bit of a shame when we used to have something purpose-built for it.

Perhaps there's a Stack Exchange site for that, but I wouldn't expect to spend my time finding it. It's so blatantly off topic that the OP should do his own work looking for it.

19
  • 13
    Too hard to use the custom close reason? Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 22:30
  • 81
    "Too broad" ... Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 22:44
  • 14
    @Louis we could in that case remove everything except "Other"... Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 22:46
  • @Jongware I suppose that example was a bit too broad, yes :) Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 22:47
  • 8
    @chiastic-security sigh... You know, taking what someone says and pushing it to ridiculous extremes is not a good way to make a point. How often do you need to use the "other" option so as to close a question that has nothing to do with programming? I don't know about you but in my experience it happens several orders of magnitude less often than closing for the other reasons that have their own options. Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 22:52
  • @Louis no, I haven't found it to be that rare. Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 22:58
  • 3
    I thought that was only available when you flagged for closure, not casting a vote to close. Commented Oct 18, 2014 at 23:40
  • 61
    Easy, just do girlfriend.get(); and you'll be able to get her. Unless you want a new one, in that case you must do new Girlfriend();. You can even choose her name as a parameter in the constructor! Commented Oct 19, 2014 at 12:52
  • 81
    @FranciscoPresencia Tried invoking your girlfriend constructor and got Terminated unexpectedly: too many arguments. Commented Oct 19, 2014 at 16:09
  • 14
    @FranciscoPresencia -1, doesn't use jQuery. Commented Oct 19, 2014 at 22:07
  • 6
    @Jongware, too broad? or A broad?... or two broads! Commented Oct 20, 2014 at 21:01
  • 3
    @FranciscoPresencia: This is why Python is better; the getter only provides a false sense of security, and either way, you're relying on the fact that I'm not going to maliciously steal your girlfriend. Plus, if you're going to try to hide a girlfriend via encapsulation, a giant snake is probably a better hiding place than a cup of coffee. Commented Oct 20, 2014 at 21:15
  • 17
    @FranciscoPresencia: I forgot to delete the old Girlfriend and my new Girlfriend() found me leaking memory while I was sleeping. Plz advise urgentz. Commented Oct 21, 2014 at 5:45
  • 1
    while(girlfriend is null) sleep(); -- why mess with a good thing? Commented Oct 21, 2014 at 17:07
  • 6
    "Primarily opinion-based" Commented Oct 21, 2014 at 19:31

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
56

You don't even have to type as much as hichris's answer implies - the system already fills in most of this, just put something at the end and you're done:

The more off-topic the question, the less you have to put there - and once someone has typed something, every other close voter need only select it from the list; thus, it provides a handy way to coordinate close voters so we don't end up with folks arguing over whether/why something like this is off-topic.

1
14

If you're flagging, there's a "Blatantly off-topic" reason.

But if you're voting to close, there's the Other reason. And really, is it that hard to put in that box:

This question appears to be off-topic because it is not about programming as defined in the [help/on-topic].

That's 6 added words in addition to the stuff already in the box.

which seems a bit of a shame when we used to have something purpose-built for it.

Yeah, that was at least over a year ago -- before my time. It's the exact same thing. Just with a tiny bit more effort.

4
  • 11
    ... is [help] a magic shortcut to help center? By Jove it is--that'll save some typing! Any more of these? To all other SE sites perhaps? Commented Oct 19, 2014 at 9:40
  • 5
    @Jongware: Even better, make it [help/on-topic], which links to a specific page in the help center, like this. And yes, there are more of these. Commented Oct 19, 2014 at 15:37
  • 3
    It's hard to remember, and even harder for new users that don't know that's what they should put. It requires more time to think about what to say, instead of just clicking a button. Commented Oct 19, 2014 at 16:07
  • 1
    The option to flag as being blatantly off-topic seems to have disappeared once I hit 3,000 rep - now the only choices are Spam, Rude or Abusive, or In Need of Moderator Attention. Commented Jan 12, 2017 at 18:31

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.