8

Subject says it all. Just posted a question and noticed the tag. This site specifically flags items on a regular basis that are hardware recommendations since they are too broad, so why have this tag?

And that said, I would recommend a review of anything that has happens so questions like that—which are pure hardware recommendations—can be ditched.

Wall-E reviewing some hardware.

6
  • Indeed, we shouldn't have tags for topics that are disallowed on the site. Jul 21, 2018 at 19:20
  • 3
    Please read the tag description, which clearly explains when a question with this tag is on or off topic.
    – DavidPostill Mod
    Jul 21, 2018 at 19:40
  • There is a Hardware Recommendations SE. Should people be redirected there? Jul 24, 2018 at 7:55
  • 2
    Related: [Could we finally get rid of [software-rec]?](meta.superuser.com/q/8505/194694)
    – gronostaj
    Jul 24, 2018 at 8:34
  • 2
    @RockPaperLizard I'd say yes. Is that just a matter of updating the tag description to point users to Hardware Recommendations?
    – kasperd
    Jul 29, 2018 at 16:27
  • 1
    @kasperd I just added info to the tag description regarding the Hardware Recommendations SE (pending review). Jul 29, 2018 at 19:05

1 Answer 1

12

I agree philosophically, but as a practical matter, blatantly off-topic tags serve a useful function when they are subjects that will always be improperly posted here.

We will never stop hardware or software requests. The same applies to a number of other subjects that are virtually always off-topic. Having a tag that states that is useful (and it's likely to get recreated, anyway, if we delete it, unless it's blacklisted in all of its possible variations).

  • Posters may read the wiki excerpt and not post the question here. ROTFL; I crack me up!
  • It makes spotting these questions much easier. They stand out like a sore thumb on the main page, which means they get disposed of quickly.
  • The wiki excerpt is something we can point to when advising the poster why their question is being closed (or migrated, depending on the subject & tag).
  • It clarifies the intent of the question. Occasionally, someone using these tags will have a problem that can be fixed natively, without recommending something they need to purchase. But the tag generally indicates that the poster came here asking for a purchase recommendation, in which case they came to the wrong place. That's a starting point for their interaction.
1
  • Agreed. Moreover the tag itself is not a reason why a person publishes such a post and removing it will not prevent such posts. People will use more general tags like hardware and it will become more difficult to track such posts. Jul 27, 2018 at 18:13

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .