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I created a meta post that shows how to ask questions that may involve recommendations. I think that it would be good to add this to the closing option of Off-Topic --> recommendations. This is the specific meta post I'm talking about:

How do I ask a question that may require recommending software?

If we're worried about the wording being software based, we can this one which is slightly more general:

How do I ask a question that may require recommending a product?

Either way, I think that it'd be good to have something there for the user to have when he/she is trying to edit the question to better match the site's requirements.


Here is what I'm proposing:

Original:

Questions seeking product, service, or learning material recommendations are off-topic because they tend to become obsolete quickly. Instead, describe your situation and the specific problem you're trying to solve.

Proposal:

Questions seeking product, service, or learning material recommendations are off-topic because they tend to become obsolete quickly. Instead, describe your situation and the specific problem you're trying to solve. Here are a few suggestions on how to properly ask this type of question.

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  • Yes please!!!!! Jun 27, 2013 at 18:15
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    I wonder whether it would be used constructively. Closing as off topic because someone doesn't know our secret handshake for software recommendations is getting ridiculous. Questions that just state "I'm looking for a program to foo my bars" instead of "How can I foo my bars?" shouldn't get closed, but edited…
    – Daniel Beck Mod
    Jun 27, 2013 at 18:36
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    @DanielBeck as much as I try to edit these types of question, we cannot be expected to do this for all of them. I think having something that states how to ask questions of this sort is worthwhile. Jun 27, 2013 at 18:49
  • @slhck & (DanielBeck) I'm not saying that we add another option, just change the existing one. I've edited the current question to reflect this. Jun 27, 2013 at 19:18
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    Oh, I see. I've misread that. Thanks for the update. I think your proposal makes sense, but let's see what the community thinks! One thing I'm worried about with the "Instead, …" part is that it simply does not apply to many situations like "What's the best motherboard for $150" etc.
    – slhck
    Jun 27, 2013 at 19:44
  • Sorry to be a grammar Nazi but could we change the wording to "Here are a few suggestions"?
    – terdon
    Jul 8, 2013 at 16:19
  • @terdon feel free to edit any posts for grammar at any time. Jul 8, 2013 at 16:26

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