This is a continuation of a long topic, addressed by post number rather than by page. Start at post 1 · go to the accepted answer.
Nothing here requires expertise. The experienced members here got that way by posting questions, not by knowing the answer before they showed up. If you know something useful, post it. If you do not, ask.
On reflection I would soften that slightly.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
The evidence for this is thinner than the way I have phrased it suggests.
Reading counts toward trust level, so lurking is not wasted. That is unusual and it is the reason the levels here track familiarity rather than volume.
Reporting the observation and leaving the explanation open deliberately.
Trust levels accumulate over time and they give you access to small things like the ability to edit your own posts without a timestamp. They are not a status symbol and they do not make you more right. Someone at trust level zero with a good question gets better answers than someone at trust level four with a bad one.
The tag pages are usually a better entry point than the categories for a first read. A tag cuts across categories, so following one shows you how the same subject is treated by the analytical people and the practical people at once.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
That is the version I would defend. It is not the version I started with.
One thing that took me a while to notice: the search box indexes maintained documents as well as topics, and documents carry a review date. If a document and a five-year-old topic disagree, the document is the one somebody has looked at recently.
A modest claim, modestly supported.
Introducing yourself is fine and requires no question. Post in this subcategory, describe the context that matters for why you are here, and lurk for a bit before posting technical questions. That order works well.
If that reads as pedantic, it is, and it has saved me twice.
Nothing here requires expertise. The experienced members here got that way by posting questions, not by knowing the answer before they showed up. If you know something useful, post it. If you do not, ask.
Trust levels accumulate over time and they give you access to small things like the ability to edit your own posts without a timestamp. They are not a status symbol and they do not make you more right. Someone at trust level zero with a good question gets better answers than someone at trust level four with a bad one.
Reading counts toward trust level, so lurking is not wasted. That is unusual and it is the reason the levels here track familiarity rather than volume.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
I have left out the parts I could not verify.
Asking as the newest person in the thread: is there a canonical order to read the documentation set in? I have been going alphabetically and that is clearly not it.
Posting it because the silence on this was starting to look like agreement.
Reading the guidelines before you post is genuinely worth the twenty minutes. Not because you will break one, but because the rules explain why the place reads the way it does.
If you are not sure which subcategory a question belongs in, post it in the closest one. A moderator will move it, the move is logged, and nothing bad happens to you.
Scoping that to what I have actually seen rather than what I have read.
Welcome. Two practical notes from staff. Your first few posts are rate-limited, which is an anti-spam measure and not a comment on you, and it lifts on its own. If you hit it and have something to add, edit the post you already made.
Second-hand, so weight it accordingly.
If you are not sure which subcategory a question belongs in, post it in the closest one. A moderator will move it, the move is logged, and nothing bad happens to you.
Happy to expand any of that if it is the useful part.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
The conclusion is tentative; the arithmetic underneath it is not.
The tag pages are usually a better entry point than the categories for a first read. A tag cuts across categories, so following one shows you how the same subject is treated by the analytical people and the practical people at once.
That is all I can say without guessing.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
I would rather say I do not know than round it up to an answer.
Saving this. It is the version I will quote when the question comes round again.
Introducing yourself is fine and requires no question. Post in this subcategory, describe the context that matters for why you are here, and lurk for a bit before posting technical questions. That order works well.
Nothing above should be read as advice about what anyone else should do.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
Welcome. The orientation materials are pinned at the top of this category and they take about an hour. They answer most of the questions a new member has and they save time in the longer run.
That distinction has done more work for me than anything else in this category.
The Lounge is a real category rather than a dumping ground. The sourcing rule still applies there, which surprises people, but the register is looser and nobody minds a digression.
| Topic | Participants | Replies | Views | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lurking for two months before posting: was that the right call?
Asking directly, because I could not find a straight answer: Lurking for two months before posting: was that the right call? Question in the title. Context below, and I have tried to include the things people…
|
+66 | 71 | 11k | 8mo |
|
What "marked as solution" means and who gets to mark it — does this still hold?
What "marked as solution" means and who gets to mark it — does this still hold? I have a specific reason for asking rather than idle curiosity, and the context is below. I want to check my reasoning rather…
|
+69 | 74 | 2.4k | 3mo |
|
How to tell whether your question is already answered on a maintained page
How to tell whether your question is already answered on a maintained page — that is the question, and I have not found it answered plainly anywhere I have looked. Question in the title. Context below, and I…
|
+5 | 9 | 30k | 3mo |
|
What happens after your first post: likes, trust levels, and why none of it matters much
Asking directly, because I could not find a straight answer: What happens after your first post: likes, trust levels, and why none of it matters much I want to check my reasoning rather than get a conclusion.…
|
+15 | 19 | 17k | 16mo |
|
Reading order for a first week here, and what to skip until later
Reading order for a first week here, and what to skip until later Writing it up because I had to work it out twice and would rather nobody else did. Trying to work out what would count as evidence on reading…
|
+111 | 117 | 3.1k | 15mo |
| Topic | Participants | Replies | Views | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Books and papers worth reading that are not about this at all
On the subject in the title: Books and papers worth reading that are not about this at all Working notes rather than a conclusion. Reading back through what has been written here about books and papers, three…
|
+13 | 17 | 13k | 19mo |
|
Tag proliferation and whether we should prune — what changed since
Tag proliferation and whether we should prune — what changed since — setting out what I have, and where I think it stops being reliable. What changes if the standard account of Tag proliferation is wrong? I…
|
+5 | 9 | 709 | 5mo |
|
Second pass at: A history of disordered eating: proceeding carefully
On the subject in the title: Second pass at: A history of disordered eating: proceeding carefully Working notes rather than a conclusion. Two things I would like separated before anyone answers on history of…
|
+125 | 132 | 51k | 10mo |
|
Titles that describe the question, not the situation
Titles that describe the question, not the situation — setting out what I have, and where I think it stops being reliable. A narrow question about titles, deliberately narrow, because the broad version has…
|
+137 | 153 | 22k | 8mo |
|
Spreadsheets: an appreciation
On the subject in the title: Spreadsheets: an appreciation Working notes rather than a conclusion. A methods question rather than a substantive one, about spreadsheets. Everyone quotes the same figure and I…
|
+26 | 30 | 25k | 2.1y |