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History:

As some of you may remember, this site used to go by the name of garage.stackexchange.com It was changed to mechanics.stackexchange.com in March of 2011 as it sounded more professional, and at that time we were lacking professional mechanics to make this site succeed. (As a side-note: garage.stackexchange.com now redirects to mechanics.stackexchange.com.)

At that point in time, several different names were suggested, including:

  • garage.stackexchange.com
  • mechanics.stackexchange.com
  • motorepair.stackexchange.com
  • gearhead.stackexchange.com
  • motors.stackexchange.com

...and others.

The question:

Since that time, our audience has greatly changed. At that point in time, we had had less than 500 users join with less than that number of active users, whereas today, we have over 15,000 users registered.

Should we change our domain to something more... unique? Defining? Capturing? Distinctive? Or should we leave it as it is, thinking that as it has served us well, it will continue so to do. Here are a few ideas:

  • gasoverflow.stackexchange.com
  • petroloverflow.stackexchange.com (Thanks @Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2!)
  • motorrepair.stackexchange.com

You are all part of the community. Let me hear your thoughts! If you have any other ideas, go ahead and post them as well.

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  • 2
    I really like gasoverflow ... just because!
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Mod
    Nov 8, 2016 at 21:51
  • Impressive research.
    – procrastilater
    Nov 9, 2016 at 15:45
  • Not too bad. Had to poke around a bit to find it, but I love doing it. :) Especially since I love learning about gasoverflow.SE. ;)
    – anonymous2
    Nov 9, 2016 at 15:46
  • Whatever you do, get it right the first time because changing it later is a monumental hassle.
    – user4896
    Nov 10, 2016 at 5:41
  • @Snowman - I see your point. Not as easy as "just make it happen No. 1". Eight months to accomplish it all. Argh.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Mod
    Nov 10, 2016 at 11:20
  • I've got you. Good points, everyone!
    – anonymous2
    Nov 10, 2016 at 18:03

2 Answers 2

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I don't think the name matters that much. People will find us either by Googling something that leads to content we have here, or they will be scrolling the list of StackExchange sites for something to join, and those have descriptions.

That being said:

  • mechanics sounds fine
  • garage sounds a bit amateurish
  • gasoverflow sounds like a fire hazard

Maybe DIY Mechanic is more representative of the community right now?

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  • Thanks for the ideas! The more I think on it, the more I agree with you: mechanics has seemed to work fine up till date. I just wanted to get ideas from the community. :) Never hurts to start a discussion... :)
    – anonymous2
    Nov 10, 2016 at 18:01
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I disagree - I think mechanics.se is quite clear and concise, plus changing it now would be an immense amount of work for those involved.

Plus gasoverflow is clearly wrong, gas can't overflow, only liquids can! ;-)

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  • Thanks for your input! It would be a lot of work, as @Snowman pointed out; and that for limited return. Just thought I would see what the community thought of it.
    – anonymous2
    Nov 10, 2016 at 17:59

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