11

There have been a lot of questions regarding "Are XYZ questions on-topic for this site?"

When this beta first started, the sub-domain was "garage" and now it's "mechanics." A bicycle mechanic stumbling on to the site through Google might see the "mechanics" word in the URL and start asking questions about bicycles, only to be downvoted into oblivion because this site doesn't target bicycles as they do not have a motor, but they could technically be described as a vehicle.

A post about boat trailers presents the same issue. My boat trailer has wheels and an axle and I can hook it up to a vehicle, but it's not a motor vehicle in itself. So is such a question valid? It could be, depending on the topic (electrical, towing capability, etc.).

Taking that into account, in my opinion, the title of the site and the subdomain clash a bit. The more questions that get asked like the examples above, the more the knowledge-base we're contributing to becomes polluted and confusing. If the questions and content on the site are going to stem out into vehicle peripherals or other mechanically-involved activities, perhaps the title of the site should be broadened.

Does anybody else feel the same way?

TL;DR: I don't like the title of the site compared to the sub-domain name and the content its housing.

EDIT: Would the downvoter(s) care to explain why they downvoted?

2
  • I don't know who down-voted, but I've countered it for you. This is definitely a good question, and an issue that needs to be discussed before this site progresses too much further, as it helps to define the scope of the site. Perhaps the down-vote was because the voter likes the site title as-is, but the question of "How many different 'vehicles' are we covering here?" does need some answering.
    – Iszi
    Mar 10, 2011 at 3:30
  • +1 Good question indeed.
    – trip0d199
    Mar 10, 2011 at 15:45

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

The scope of this site may evolve over time, but there are (currently) three major areas of expertise covered on this site:

The criteria I would use for all these questions is "Would I bring my [car, truck, motorcycle, RV, ATV, trailer, boat, jetski, snowmobile, bicycle, skateboard, golf cart] to one of these experts to resolve my problem?" If the answer is "yes", that's a pretty strong indication that it is on topic.

5
  • 1
    add "generator" to that list
    – Jay Bazuzi
    Mar 12, 2011 at 3:52
  • 1
    Your link to performance engineering is currently broken: it's to the autobody meta question.
    – user376
    Apr 2, 2011 at 2:45
  • 1
    What about questions that require the same skillset, but aren't vehicle-oriented? For example, repairing a 2-stroke lawnmower engine.
    – Alex Feinman
    Oct 27, 2011 at 13:21
  • @AlexFeinman: I haven't seen any questions along those lines, but if you have one, either try posting it or ask if it is on topic in a meta post.
    – Robert Cartaino
    Oct 27, 2011 at 15:34
  • 1
    Okay. Someone on another site preemptively didn't ask it here because they thought it wouldn't be.
    – Alex Feinman
    Oct 27, 2011 at 17:01

You must log in to answer this question.

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