Bitcoin Forum

Bitcoin => Bitcoin Discussion => Topic started by: Chris Acheson on July 17, 2011, 01:18:17 AM



Title: [Public Beta now open!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on July 17, 2011, 01:18:17 AM
EDIT (9/7): Public beta is now open! (http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/)  Thanks to everyone who helped out!

EDIT (8/30): The site has launched, and is now in the "private beta" phase, which lasts one week.  It will be open to the public on September 6th.  You can see the site right now by going to http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/

EDIT (8/20): "This proposal has reached 100% commitment. We are preparing for its launch and expect to create it soon."  Thanks everyone!  Once the Stack Exchange staff set up the site, there will be a one-week private beta with those that are currently signed up, after which it will be open to the public.

If you want Bitcoin to have a better user support site than these forums, please join the Bitcoin Stack Exchange (http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/30763/bitcoin-crypto-currency?referrer=qst3DhfKtxHspDOgXlkhmg2).

For those who aren't familiar with it, Stack Exchange is a network of question & answer sites, the most well-known of which is stackoverflow.com.  The sites feature a reddit-style reputation system, with high-rep users being granted moderation abilities.  Acceptable and unacceptable topics are also defined in advance for each site.  The Bitcoin SE will be strictly for technical and conceptual questions, not for politics or philosophy.  This should nip trolling and general nonsense in the bud, leaving us with a clean and professional site.

At the time of this writing, we need 71 more people to launch the site, 48 of which need to be established Stack Exchange users.  We've been growing steadily, and should launch around the end of August at this rate.  I'd like to see it happen sooner, so please join up!

EDIT:

We've been getting a lot of people signing up, which is good.  Unfortunately, we're lagging behind on established, high-reputation Stack Exchange users.  In the 4 days since this thread was started, we've gained 21 users, but only 4 of them have 200+ reputation on another Stack Exchange site (3 if you don't count me getting my rep score above 200 during that time).  We need 100 users with 200+ reputation; we're currently at 56.

For those of you who've already signed up, or are just signing up now, please consider participating in one of the existing Stack Exchange sites (http://stackexchange.com/sites) and building up your reputation.  Getting a score of 200 isn't too difficult, it just takes patience.

Some tips:

Each upvote on a question that you ask is worth 5 points.  Upvotes on your answers are worth 10 points.  Getting your answer accepted as "the answer" by the person who asked the question is worth 15 points.  Answers tend to get upvoted more often than questions, so it's easier to gain reputation from answering questions than from asking them.  Make sure to upvote the questions that you post answers for; it helps those questions get more attention, which means more upvotes for your answer.

Stack Overflow is the most popular of the SE sites, so the pacing tends to be a bit frantic.  Questions will tend to get answered while you're still typing your answer.  If this is a problem for you, consider going with one of the other SE sites instead (I went with Super User).  However, keep in mind that you don't need to be first to answer, you just need to contribute useful information that hasn't been presented yet.

Each tag on an SE site has its own RSS feed.  For example Super User has a bitcoin tag (http://superuser.com/questions/tagged/bitcoin), and here's its RSS feed (http://superuser.com/feeds/tag/bitcoin), found at the bottom of the page.  Watching specific tags that you're interested in is a good way to find questions to answer.

Make sure your account on Area51 (the new site staging area, where the Bitcoin proposal is located) is linked with your other SE accounts, so that your reputation score gets counted.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Atom on July 17, 2011, 01:21:31 AM
Hi Chris,
Is it worth joining if we don't have expertise on the technical side just to add numbers?  Or is this really only useful if one has that expertise?


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on July 17, 2011, 01:30:12 AM
Hi Chris,
Is it worth joining if we don't have expertise on the technical side just to add numbers?  Or is this really only useful if one has that expertise?

I think it's worth it, but take a look at the example questions (http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/30763?tab=ontopic&phase=definition#tab-top) on the site to get a better idea.  They're not all nitty-gritty technical.  As long as you understand the concept, you can answer the questions of those who don't.  You can also contribute by asking questions, if there are aspects of bitcoin that you'd like to understand better.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: geek-trader on July 17, 2011, 01:43:50 AM
OK, I joined.  Now what?  It's not clear what the next step is.  I see a list of questions, but they do not seem Bitcoin specific.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on July 17, 2011, 02:24:04 AM
OK, I joined.  Now what?  It's not clear what the next step is.  I see a list of questions, but they do not seem Bitcoin specific.

We're still in the commitment stage, so there's nothing to do at the moment other than try to get more people to join.  Stack Exchange requires a certain number of users to commit to using the site before they're launch it.  We're a little more than halfway there.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: mizike29 on July 17, 2011, 05:21:18 AM
I am trying to set something similar up at bitcoinproducts4sale.com   I will list your site under services/products, might help get a couple clicks.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: lemonginger on July 19, 2011, 08:38:43 PM
OK, I joined.  Now what?  It's not clear what the next step is.  I see a list of questions, but they do not seem Bitcoin specific.

We're still in the commitment stage, so there's nothing to do at the moment other than try to get more people to join.  Stack Exchange requires a certain number of users to commit to using the site before they're launch it.  We're a little more than halfway there.

This has been really frustrating to watch. I agree there are some advantages to using stackexchange and not an open source copycat, but I'm not sure there are enough to have us sitting in an unusable stage for months and months (yes I joined a while ago). A moderated Q&A site would be a huge asset to the community, yet we are stuck based on arbitrary SE rules for new communities.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: enmaku on July 19, 2011, 08:46:50 PM
One established StackExchange user committed for ya.

I also took the liberty of copypasting an excerpt from your post onto the facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/bitcoins) which has a bit over 4K users. Hopefully that'll get you some nibbles too.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Jered Kenna (TradeHill) on July 19, 2011, 08:50:54 PM
I'm in and I'll see what I can do to get a few people on board.

Jered


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: enmaku on July 19, 2011, 09:11:06 PM
I also did a quick writeup of this effort on my site (http://bitcoinreference.com/)

I don't get a HUGE amount of traffic but it's something and I think it's the right *kind* of traffic, more importantly.

Edit: And tweeted it, why the hell not. Not so many followers but maybe we'll catch a few bites on the hashtag alone :)


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on July 19, 2011, 09:29:10 PM
This has been really frustrating to watch. I agree there are some advantages to using stackexchange and not an open source copycat, but I'm not sure there are enough to have us sitting in an unusable stage for months and months (yes I joined a while ago). A moderated Q&A site would be a huge asset to the community, yet we are stuck based on arbitrary SE rules for new communities.

Yeah, it is frustrating.  It may have been worth going with an open-source version back at the beginning, but I think at this point we're far enough along that we may as will stick with Stack Exchange.

I'm in and I'll see what I can do to get a few people on board.

Jered
I also did a quick writeup of this effort on my site (http://bitcoinreference.com/)

Thanks guys.  :)


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Smalleyster on July 19, 2011, 09:29:36 PM
One established StackExchange user committed for ya.

I also took the liberty of copypasting an excerpt from your post onto the facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/bitcoins) which has a bit over 4K users. Hopefully that'll get you some nibbles too.

Just did the very rare (for me) Like!

I had to unlike virtually all of my other likes due to their constantly spamming me.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on July 19, 2011, 09:54:53 PM
Also, remember to link your existing Stack Exchange accounts to your Area 51 account, so that we'll get credit for your reputation on the other sites.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: bitplane on July 19, 2011, 11:42:05 PM
Okay, count me in!


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Furyan on July 20, 2011, 05:55:11 PM
Count me in.  I'm light on reputation over at Stack Overflow but what I have is now included in your count...


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: lemonginger on July 20, 2011, 06:52:44 PM
yeah we def need more established SE users to join up....


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on July 20, 2011, 09:29:24 PM
yeah we def need more established SE users to join up....

Any ideas on how we can promote it to them specifically?


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Smalleyster on July 20, 2011, 09:31:43 PM
yeah we def need more established SE users to join up....

Any ideas on how we can promote it to them specifically?

I was going to sign up until the comment about area 51. I deal with enough kooks now as it is.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on July 20, 2011, 10:03:23 PM
I was going to sign up until the comment about area 51. I deal with enough kooks now as it is.

"Area 51" is what Stack Exchange calls their staging area for new sites.  It has nothing to do with aliens or conspiracy theories.  :P


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Smalleyster on July 20, 2011, 11:56:45 PM
I was going to sign up until the comment about area 51. I deal with enough kooks now as it is.

"Area 51" is what Stack Exchange calls their staging area for new sites.  It has nothing to do with aliens or conspiracy theories.  :P

Well frankly if they want professional merchants to trust or use the site then they should strongly consider renaming it to "staging area for new sites" or something sensible.

Very few merchants have a sense of humor when it comes to handling their money.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: lemonginger on July 21, 2011, 02:05:18 AM
This is why I think that a SE site maybe not the best idea. SE has historically had a very specific audience (programmers), only recently branching out, and anyone that finds the site now essentially just sees a frozen site where they can't ask any questions....


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Smalleyster on July 21, 2011, 02:34:31 AM
This is why I think that a SE site maybe not the best idea. SE has historically had a very specific audience (programmers), only recently branching out, and anyone that finds the site now essentially just sees a frozen site where they can't ask any questions....

And that cycles us back to here!

Dump all the fringe political crap and promote growing the bitcoin eonomy is my vote.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on July 21, 2011, 03:39:06 AM
Well frankly if they want professional merchants to trust or use the site then they should strongly consider renaming it to "staging area for new sites" or something sensible.

Very few merchants have a sense of humor when it comes to handling their money.

ಠ_ಠ

This is why I think that a SE site maybe not the best idea. SE has historically had a very specific audience (programmers), only recently branching out, and anyone that finds the site now essentially just sees a frozen site where they can't ask any questions....

That's exactly the sort of audience that tends to be interested in Bitcoin, though.  Really, I can't think of an easier audience for us to appeal to, except maybe libertarians.  The question is just how to get the proposal seen by more people with existing SE accounts, either within the current Bitcoin community or otherwise.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: nmat on July 21, 2011, 03:56:34 AM
Well frankly if they want professional merchants to trust or use the site then they should strongly consider renaming it to "staging area for new sites" or something sensible.

Very few merchants have a sense of humor when it comes to handling their money.

Stack Overflow is probably the best programming-related website in the world (and there are many!). Any serious programmer knows stackoverflow and has asked question/searched for answers there.

What you see now has nothing to do with a future bitcoin website there. This is a staging area only. Neither the skin nor the name will be the same. We only want to create a Q&A site about bitcoins using the same software as Stack Overflow, Super User, etc.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Smalleyster on July 21, 2011, 04:03:32 AM
Well frankly if they want professional merchants to trust or use the site then they should strongly consider renaming it to "staging area for new sites" or something sensible.

Very few merchants have a sense of humor when it comes to handling their money.

Stack Overflow is probably the best programming-related website in the world (and there are many!). Any serious programmer knows stackoverflow and has asked question/searched for answers there.

What you see now has nothing to do with a future bitcoin website there. This is a staging area only. Neither the skin nor the name will be the same. We only want to create a Q&A site about bitcoins using the same software as Stack Overflow, Super User, etc.

I thought the goal was for a "real user/merchant support site".

Merchants want to know how to make money easily right now.

Not programming, not poliics...MONEY...NOW.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on July 21, 2011, 04:36:15 AM
I thought the goal was for a "real user/merchant support site".

Merhants want to know how to make money easily right now.

Not programming, not poliics...MONEY...NOW.

We are not looking to direct merchants to the Bitcoin Stack Exchange right now, because there is no site for it yet.  All that exists right now is a PROPOSAL to create a Bitcoin site on the Stack Exchange network.  In order for the folks that run Stack Exchange to turn this proposal into an actual site, they require a certain minimum number of people commit to using it.

The point of this thread is to get current members of the Bitcoin community to sign on the proposal, so that when the site does launch, and all those merchants show up asking questions, there are plenty of people ready to answer them.  This will happen IN THE NEAR FUTURE, NOT RIGHT NOW.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on July 21, 2011, 07:41:25 AM
Updated the original post.  We need more users with 200+ reputation, so I posted some tips on how to gain reputation.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on July 29, 2011, 07:12:29 AM
We need 40 more users, 39 of which need to have 200+ reputation.  However if you don't have that much rep, don't hesitate to join; new signups keep our proposal near the top of the main list where more people will see it.  Also, gaining 200 reputation isn't that hard, see the OP for some ideas.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: laanwj on July 29, 2011, 07:20:07 AM
stack exchange is not only programmers! they have question sites for:

- physics
- fitness
- diy
- cooking
- english language
- philosophy

...and so on, and some of these are quite popular. All of these have different themes, the ufo stuff is only the "new topic" request site :)

It is actually very suited for questions by merchants, because the system rewards people that give sensible answers, so the overall quality of answers is high.

Let's hope that we are able to cross the threshold.





Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: nmat on July 31, 2011, 07:58:22 AM
Bump because I like this idea and because I just got to 200 rep  8)

Also, here's the list of websites: http://stackexchange.com/sites


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: metacontent on August 10, 2011, 05:45:29 AM
This is an interesting idea. I commited! Wooo


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Drifter on August 10, 2011, 07:47:43 PM
Am I wrong to assume this is something like Quora? I believe Quora is US only right now, but it sounds like a similar concept. Obviously more technical centered questions would be at stackoverflow but the same could be done at Quora I believe. Wish they'd open up in more countries, though.


http://www.quora.com/Bitcoin for anyone who hasn't been there yet.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: error on August 10, 2011, 07:49:41 PM
Am I wrong to assume this is something like Quora? I believe Quora is US only right now, but it sounds like a similar concept. Obviously more technical centered questions would be at stackoverflow but the same could be done at Quora I believe. Wish they'd open up in more countries, though.


http://www.quora.com/Bitcoin for anyone who hasn't been there yet.

I don't think any serious Bitcoiner is going to ever seriously consider going there.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: epetroel on August 10, 2011, 07:54:47 PM
Great idea, I'm in with 35k rep.


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: nmat on August 11, 2011, 03:54:19 AM
I was reading through the example questions and I didn't anything like:
"I am using X GPUs with miner Y and I get error Z. What's wrong?"

This kind of question is very frequent. I wonder if they are on-topic or not...


Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: lemonginger on August 11, 2011, 04:14:41 AM
Quora is definitely the rising star but is much more conceptual than gritty hands on specific questions (and doesn't have the same type of topic based organization). SExhange is definitely used by tens of thousands of programmers every single day but personally I think they are going off the rails a bit with all their spinoffs.

But really on relevant thing is that everyday we don't have a useful edited attractive Q&A site, is another day I'm frustrated. Can we set a time limit on this experiment at which point we move to one of the open source clones?



Title: Re: Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 11, 2011, 05:27:37 AM
I was reading through the example questions and I didn't anything like:
"I am using X GPUs with miner Y and I get error Z. What's wrong?"

This kind of question is very frequent. I wonder if they are on-topic or not...

I would consider that on-topic, and assume others would as well.  It's a straightforward technical question.

But really on relevant thing is that everyday we don't have a useful edited attractive Q&A site, is another day I'm frustrated. Can we set a time limit on this experiment at which point we move to one of the open source clones?

I understand your frustration, but we're pretty path-dependent at this point.  The value of giving up on Stack Exchange diminishes the closer we get to the site launching.  What kind of time limit would you set?  I estimated a while back that we'd reach the required numbers around the end of August, and that still seems accurate.

Promotion seems to have a big effect on the number of people we get.  Since the post on /r/Bitcoin yesterday, we've gotten 6 more high-rep users.  That was the second time a Bitcoin Stack Exchange post had been made there.  Do you have any ideas for other places to promote it?


Title: Re: [75% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: BitcoinPorn on August 11, 2011, 06:26:03 AM
You should focus efforts on creating an official set of forums now, a stack exchange site seems so silly in comparison to that necessity.   That Stack Exchange site is going to overpopulate with projects pleasing only other developers and programmers without that large forum of the general public to get a overall grasp of what is going on with Bitcoin.

As much as they are allowed other questions, I think you all know that is not what the site goes for.


Title: Re: [75% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: nmat on August 11, 2011, 06:43:42 AM
You should focus efforts on creating an official set of forums now, a stack exchange site seems so silly in comparison to that necessity.   That Stack Exchange site is going to overpopulate with projects pleasing only other developers and programmers without that large forum of the general public to get a overall grasp of what is going on with Bitcoin.

As much as they are allowed other questions, I think you all know that is not what the site goes for.

Programming questions will be most likely redirected to Stack Overflow. And there are already a bunch of bitcoin questions at superuser completely unrelated to programming.


Title: Re: [75% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 11, 2011, 11:27:31 PM
You should focus efforts on creating an official set of forums now, a stack exchange site seems so silly in comparison to that necessity.

I should?  Why?  I don't see the need for a single "Official Bitcoin Forum".  If you do, then maybe you should be working on that.

Quote
That Stack Exchange site is going to overpopulate with projects pleasing only other developers and programmers without that large forum of the general public to get a overall grasp of what is going on with Bitcoin.

As much as they are allowed other questions, I think you all know that is not what the site goes for.

I don't quite understand what you're saying here.


Title: Re: [75% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: BitcoinPorn on August 12, 2011, 03:21:56 AM
I don't quite understand what you're saying here.

And you never will :(


Title: Re: [75% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 12, 2011, 11:36:45 AM
I don't quite understand what you're saying here.

And you never will :(


Perhaps you could clarify?


Title: Re: [75% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: nmat on August 12, 2011, 12:01:23 PM
That Stack Exchange site is going to overpopulate with projects pleasing only other developers and programmers without that large forum of the general public to get a overall grasp of what is going on with Bitcoin.

As much as they are allowed other questions, I think you all know that is not what the site goes for.

To get an overall grasp of what is going on with Bitcoin you go to a news site like reedit or bitcoin news. A Q&A site is to get support, which is really difficult to get in this forum. Specific programming questions will be redirected to StackOverflow. You can take a look here (http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/30763/bitcoin-crypto-currency?phase=definition#tab-top) to see the type of questions we will answer at Bitcoin Stack Exchange.


Title: Re: [78% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Anonymailer on August 12, 2011, 10:34:58 PM
A BTC SExchange would be awesome! We're almost there, come on experienced stackoverflow users!


Title: Re: [78% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: nhodges on August 13, 2011, 09:20:59 AM
I've committed to the proposal!


Title: Re: [78% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Vladimir on August 13, 2011, 09:58:23 AM
The Stack Exchange is quite an interesting idea. However I can now offer an alternative. https://bitcoin.org.uk is offering bitcoin merchants, pool, software developers to set up their own support forums (even with subforums) with full moderatorial privileges. The software is fairly fully featured already.

At the moment 3 merchants already have established a 'shop' there, myself, MMC pool and flexicoin.





Title: Re: [78% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 13, 2011, 08:25:42 PM
The Stack Exchange is quite an interesting idea. However I can now offer an alternative. https://bitcoin.org.uk is offering bitcoin merchants, pool, software developers to set up their own support forums (even with subforums) with full moderatorial privileges. The software is fairly fully featured already.

At the moment 3 merchants already have established a 'shop' there, myself, MMC pool and flexicoin.

I don't think your offering and the Bitcoin Stack Exchange fulfill quite the same purpose.  That said, I think what you're doing is a good idea, and I've added it to the list of forums on the bitcoin.it wiki.


Title: Re: [80% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 14, 2011, 07:20:50 PM
We hit 200 signups!  Just need 20 more users with 200+ reputation.


Title: Re: [85% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 16, 2011, 03:05:14 AM
We're getting close enough that I feel comfortable shamelessly bumping this to keep it on the front page.


Title: Re: [85% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 16, 2011, 08:55:07 PM
Made a post (http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/jkusz/bitcoin_stack_exchange_is_85_complete_only_needs/) on /r/Bitcoin.  There have been two other such posts, and both brought in a good number of new users.  Hopefully this one will get us there.


Title: Re: [91% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 17, 2011, 07:38:15 PM
Bump, because this is more important than threads like "Justin Beiber & Bitcoin".


Title: Re: [91% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: enmaku on August 17, 2011, 07:40:22 PM
Bump, because this is more important than threads like "Justin Beiber & Bitcoin".

I somehow missed that one... And now I feel strangely compelled to look it up...

DAMN YOU INTERNETS!!!

Edit: oh jeebus I wish I hadn't...


Title: Re: [91% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Phinnaeus Gage on August 17, 2011, 07:52:52 PM
Bump, because this is more important than threads like "Justin Beiber & Bitcoin".

Bump, because this is as important as threads like "Justin Beiber & Bitcoin". I've been watching and reading this thread and everything written at http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/30763/bitcoin-crypto-currency?referrer=qst3DhfKtxHspDOgXlkhmg2 because it shows great promise. Lucky for you that a snide comment, directed towards me, doesn't negate, in my mind, what a useful service you are planning to offer the Bitcoin community. Unless, perhaps, I didn't get the memo outlining that this is an excellent business strategy and should be implemented immediately. Until I receive such a memo, I'm very careful on what, and how, I post on this, or any other, forum. Never alienate a single customer--he may tell 10 friends, then they tell...

Keep working on this, Chris Acheson. I truly look forward to its release.


Bump, because this is more important than threads like "Justin Beiber & Bitcoin".

I somehow missed that one... And now I feel strangely compelled to look it up...

DAMN YOU INTERNETS!!!

Edit: oh jeebus I wish I hadn't...


Are you stating, enmakus, that there was nothing at all in that thread that you can extract, or found useful, for the betterment of Bitcoin?


Guys, wake up. This is a great idea. Maybe Justin Bieber wasn't the best example, but this could very well work, done to the right person.

You are all blundering idiots for turning this thread into a bunch of misreadings, jokes, and going completely off topic.


Title: Re: [91% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: enmaku on August 17, 2011, 08:55:51 PM
No, I'm sorry I looked it up because there is rampant stupidity on the internet. Something as simple as "maybe we should get a celebrity to endorse bitcoin" brought out some real brainiacs just because the first celeb suggested was Bieber. Personally my vote is in for Vin Diesel - he's a huge nerd, has been spotted playing D&D on set and has a tattoo of his D&D character's name. If anyone in Hollywood can grok bitcoin, I think he's a good bet.

That said, I've wandered off-topic. The StackExchange site is at 91% now! So much progress so quickly...

It's probably better to say that this thread is far more important than the i0coin and ixcoin forks that I've been poking at for a few days which have recently represented 3/5 of the "last posts" section for a few days now.


Title: Re: [91% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 17, 2011, 11:38:53 PM
Bump, because this is as important as threads like "Justin Beiber & Bitcoin". I've been watching and reading this thread and everything written at http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/30763/bitcoin-crypto-currency?referrer=qst3DhfKtxHspDOgXlkhmg2 because it shows great promise. Lucky for you that a snide comment, directed towards me, doesn't negate, in my mind, what a useful service you are planning to offer the Bitcoin community. Unless, perhaps, I didn't get the memo outlining that this is an excellent business strategy and should be implemented immediately. Until I receive such a memo, I'm very careful on what, and how, I post on this, or any other, forum. Never alienate a single customer--he may tell 10 friends, then they tell...

Whoa there killer, it was meant as tongue-in-cheek.

I would say that it was a joke, but I really do believe that infrastructure needs more focus than promotion does right now.  Also, realistic, immediately-attainable goals need more focus than fanciful, far-off goals (such as "pin the logo on the celebrity").

That said, thank you for your support.

It's probably better to say that this thread is far more important than the i0coin and ixcoin forks that I've been poking at for a few days which have recently represented 3/5 of the "last posts" section for a few days now.

Yeah, those too.  I wish I'd never waded into them.  They're fascinating to watch, but I've wasted far too much time doing so.


Title: Re: [91% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: BitcoinStars.com on August 17, 2011, 11:45:52 PM
We wish with nothing but success for your project  8)


Title: Re: [91% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Phinnaeus Gage on August 18, 2011, 12:58:01 AM
No, I'm sorry I looked it up because there is rampant stupidity on the internet. Something as simple as "maybe we should get a celebrity to endorse bitcoin" brought out some real brainiacs just because the first celeb suggested was Bieber. Personally my vote is in for Vin Diesel - he's a huge nerd, has been spotted playing D&D on set and has a tattoo of his D&D character's name. If anyone in Hollywood can grok bitcoin, I think he's a good bet.

That said, I've wandered off-topic. The StackExchange site is at 91% now! So much progress so quickly...

It's probably better to say that this thread is far more important than the i0coin and ixcoin forks that I've been poking at for a few days which have recently represented 3/5 of the "last posts" section for a few days now.

Thank you for bringing Vin Diesel to my attention. Nice choice, but as I've mentioned for it to this work properly, the celeb would have to choose to do this on their own, opposed to being drafted from the Bitcoin community. Of course, a bug in their manager's ear won't hurt at all, because the more the celeb makes, the more the manager makes. Think about that fact I just now thought of. Here's a great YouTube video of Vin Diesel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj7omP42j2k


Bump, because this is as important as threads like "Justin Beiber & Bitcoin". I've been watching and reading this thread and everything written at http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/30763/bitcoin-crypto-currency?referrer=qst3DhfKtxHspDOgXlkhmg2 because it shows great promise. Lucky for you that a snide comment, directed towards me, doesn't negate, in my mind, what a useful service you are planning to offer the Bitcoin community. Unless, perhaps, I didn't get the memo outlining that this is an excellent business strategy and should be implemented immediately. Until I receive such a memo, I'm very careful on what, and how, I post on this, or any other, forum. Never alienate a single customer--he may tell 10 friends, then they tell...

Whoa there killer, it was meant as tongue-in-cheek.

I would say that it was a joke, but I really do believe that infrastructure needs more focus than promotion does right now.  Also, realistic, immediately-attainable goals need more focus than fanciful, far-off goals (such as "pin the logo on the celebrity").

That said, thank you for your support.

It's probably better to say that this thread is far more important than the i0coin and ixcoin forks that I've been poking at for a few days which have recently represented 3/5 of the "last posts" section for a few days now.

Yeah, those too.  I wish I'd never waded into them.  They're fascinating to watch, but I've wasted far too much time doing so.


See how different this dialog is going oppose to me calling you a (insert any bad word here), and it all would of started because of a simple misunderstanding. I'm sure you've witnessed many back-and-forth exchanges on this board that didn't end well. I'm 51 with a lot of life experience under my belt, therefore I know how to handle ridicule (for lack of a better word). There's folks here a heck of a lot younger that simply post FU at the FIRST sign of being criticized. But enough said of that for it's Bitcoin...(needs a great Water Under the Bridge analogy--any suggestions).

You are so correct in stating that infrastructure is more important than promotion. It's somewhat akin to me wanting all of us to grow a garden, but no one has figured out how to get the land to do such. A lot of us are even making the mistake of harvesting the crops, before the seeds are planted in the ground, of which we don't have yet.

LMAO ---> Pin the Logo on the Celebrity

Your welcome ---> You have my support.

(I just reread this post after posting it and realized what I just did. First comment that Vin Diesel is a good idea, then agree with enmaku that we need infrastructure first--Pin the L on my forehead).


Title: Re: [91% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 18, 2011, 01:29:51 PM
See how different this dialog is going oppose to me calling you a (insert any bad word here), and it all would of started because of a simple misunderstanding. I'm sure you've witnessed many back-and-forth exchanges on this board that didn't end well. I'm 51 with a lot of life experience under my belt, therefore I know how to handle ridicule (for lack of a better word). There's folks here a heck of a lot younger that simply post FU at the FIRST sign of being criticized. But enough said of that for it's Bitcoin...(needs a great Water Under the Bridge analogy--any suggestions).

Ironically, being more argumentative and confrontational would probably gain this thread more attention.  Just look what happened with ixcoin; I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have taken off (such as it did) without all the haters repeatedly bumping that thread when it first showed up.

Also, 94%.  O_O


Title: Re: [91% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: nmat on August 18, 2011, 01:50:48 PM
Ironically, being more argumentative and confrontational would probably gain this thread more attention.  Just look what happened with ixcoin; I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have taken off (such as it did) without all the haters repeatedly bumping that thread when it first showed up.

Also, 94%.  O_O

Well, 224 committers in 3 months is not bad at all. We just need more SE experts (apparently they don't hang around here much). Anyway, it should launch next week, at most.


Title: Re: [91% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: epetroel on August 18, 2011, 04:16:59 PM
...We just need more SE experts (apparently they don't hang around here much).

Might want to post some comments on the bitcoin questions over at the personal finance SE inviting them to check out the bitcoin proposal:

http://money.stackexchange.com/search?q=bitcoin

That could help to pick up some interested users.


Title: Re: [91% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Phinnaeus Gage on August 18, 2011, 05:32:22 PM
See how different this dialog is going oppose to me calling you a (insert any bad word here), and it all would of started because of a simple misunderstanding. I'm sure you've witnessed many back-and-forth exchanges on this board that didn't end well. I'm 51 with a lot of life experience under my belt, therefore I know how to handle ridicule (for lack of a better word). There's folks here a heck of a lot younger that simply post FU at the FIRST sign of being criticized. But enough said of that for it's Bitcoin...(needs a great Water Under the Bridge analogy--any suggestions).

Ironically, being more argumentative and confrontational would probably gain this thread more attention.  Just look what happened with ixcoin; I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have taken off (such as it did) without all the haters repeatedly bumping that thread when it first showed up.

Also, 94%.  O_O

I don't know where you get off tearing my post apart like that. I put a lot of work into into that post. Never in my wildest dreams did I even imagine that my post would be used in such a fashion. Why don't you take your teeny ass fingers over to the Justin Bieber forum and type your crap. I want this member banded for life on this forum.

How's that for being more argumentative and confrontational? I could have done better, but I was laughing so hard while typing. I enjoyed your post, Chris. Cheers.


Title: Re: [91% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 18, 2011, 09:51:07 PM
Might want to post some comments on the bitcoin questions over at the personal finance SE inviting them to check out the bitcoin proposal:

http://money.stackexchange.com/search?q=bitcoin

That could help to pick up some interested users.

I tried that with one of the bitcoin questions on Stack Overflow, but it felt too much like spamming.  Not sure if it's actually against the rules, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is.


Title: Re: [94% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 19, 2011, 04:08:15 AM
Our "commitment score" now seems to be the limiting factor that we need to increase, at 94%.  We need more users regardless of reputation level (though not many more) in order to increase it.  We only need 4 more high-rep users.


Title: Re: [94% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 19, 2011, 04:53:36 PM
Hey guys, guess what?

Bump.


Title: Re: [94% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Phinnaeus Gage on August 19, 2011, 05:20:34 PM
Hey guys, guess what?

Bump.

500 lashes with an el dente noodle.

And:


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7N3ELvhGJ70/Thbq3xC8GHI/AAAAAAAAJ0E/A6O56j1QPjA/s1600/No_Soup_For_You.png


Title: Re: [95% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 19, 2011, 11:02:51 PM
95% commitment score.  Probably need about 10 more signups in total.


Title: Re: [96% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 20, 2011, 03:32:26 AM
One more bump before bed.  Need TWO more high rep users, and 4% more commitment score (so maybe 8 users total).  C'mon guys, I want to see this thing done when I wake up tomorrow.


Title: Re: [96% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: phelix on August 20, 2011, 10:31:35 AM
what was the problem with shapado again? http://bitcoin.shapado.com/ (http://bitcoin.shapado.com/)

of course this has to run non-commercial and with a couple of well trusted moderators.


Title: Re: [96% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 20, 2011, 04:53:46 PM
what was the problem with shapado again? http://bitcoin.shapado.com/ (http://bitcoin.shapado.com/)

of course this has to run non-commercial and with a couple of well trusted moderators.

This was discussed in one of the original Stack Exchange threads.  Some folks are of the opinion that SE has better features than the alternatives, though I can't comment on that myself.  One big advantage is that the Bitcoin SE will get traffic from the rest of the SE network, which will allow it to grow faster than an alternative Q&A site would.  Bitcoin itself will also gain more attention as a nice side effect.

At this point there wouldn't be any value in switching, as the site will launch in the next few days and will have a pre-existing userbase.  The Bitcoin Shapado site doesn't appear to have any users at all.


Title: Re: [97% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: enmaku on August 20, 2011, 05:38:34 PM
97%!!!


Title: Re: [97% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: lemonginger on August 20, 2011, 05:40:39 PM
go go go!


Title: Re: [98% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 20, 2011, 11:09:29 PM
98%, and we have all the high-rep users we need!


Title: Re: [98% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: nmat on August 20, 2011, 11:59:01 PM
http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/7610/capturadeecr20110821005.png

8)


Title: Re: [99% complete] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 21, 2011, 01:59:58 AM
:D

Just in case anyone isn't aware, once we do hit 100% there will be a bit more waiting for the Stack Exchange staff to actually set up the site, according to what I've read.  Might be a few days?  After that the site will be in private beta for a week with just those that are currently signed up, and then will be opened to the public.


Title: Re: [100% complete!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 21, 2011, 03:07:15 AM
"This proposal has reached 100% commitment. We are preparing for its launch and expect to create it soon."  :D


Title: Re: [100% complete!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: enmaku on August 21, 2011, 03:24:34 AM
WE DID IT!!!!! WOOOOT!


Title: Re: [100% complete!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Anonymailer on August 21, 2011, 09:31:27 AM
Wheee it got done! Congratulations all! Our very own stackexchange :D


Title: Re: [100% complete!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: BitcoinPorn on August 21, 2011, 12:04:52 PM
Congrats to all the devs, programmers, merchants, and of course just some 'general' users.. who have been wanting this for a while.  Now don't forget to keep visiting all the dirty Bitcoin communities just because there is a cleaner one now, remember the roots of Bitcoin when there was one true 'community' representing all aspects of the crazy people who loved Bitcoin early on :(

I can't wait for the first big project to come from users of that site, I hope it's big


Title: Re: [100% complete!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: nmat on August 30, 2011, 12:03:51 AM
It's been almost 10 days and the site is still "preparing for launch". Does anyone know what is going on? The title was also changed from "Bitcoin and cryptocurrency" to Bitcoin. Why was that?

I opened up the forums today and I saw lots of threads related to sex so I remembered this...  8)


Title: Re: [100% complete!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: geek-trader on August 30, 2011, 12:20:31 AM
It's been almost 10 days and the site is still "preparing for launch". Does anyone know what is going on? The title was also changed from "Bitcoin and cryptocurrency" to Bitcoin. Why was that?

I opened up the forums today and I saw lots of threads related to sex so I remembered this...  8)

The sooner we get a reasonable alternative forum to this cesspit, the better. ("this cesspit" being bitcointalk.org, of course)

The scams, the trolls, the wild accusations.  This place sucks.  I used to come read all the time, mostly the gambling forum, but the new rules there have killed it.

The Stack Exchange forum can't come soon enough.


Title: Re: [100% complete!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on August 30, 2011, 02:22:21 AM
It's been almost 10 days and the site is still "preparing for launch". Does anyone know what is going on? The title was also changed from "Bitcoin and cryptocurrency" to Bitcoin. Why was that?

I opened up the forums today and I saw lots of threads related to sex so I remembered this...  8)

The sooner we get a reasonable alternative forum to this cesspit, the better. ("this cesspit" being bitcointalk.org, of course)

The scams, the trolls, the wild accusations.  This place sucks.  I used to come read all the time, mostly the gambling forum, but the new rules there have killed it.

The Stack Exchange forum can't come soon enough.

Yeah, they left us to sit for longer than I expected.  I did some digging around in the Area 51 discussions, and apparently they try to launch new sites on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.  Last week they launched the Christianity Stack Exchange, which was the only other 100% committed proposal.  We're still the only proposal at 100%, so it should launch either tomorrow or Wednesday.  One of the staff members changed the name of the proposal (to just "Bitcoin") today, so it looks like they're working on it.


Title: Re: [100% complete!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: phelix on August 30, 2011, 09:05:48 PM
it is quite impressive how slow this goes. has it been two month now or longer? at shapado it took 15 minutes....  ::)   just sayin...   :P


Title: Re: [100% complete!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: nmat on August 30, 2011, 09:51:26 PM
it is quite impressive how slow this goes. has it been two month now or longer? at shapado it took 15 minutes....  ::)   just sayin...   :P

Just launched the private beta. There's a lot of action going on right now. Let's see how this goes. 8)

Public beta begins in a week and everyone can join then.


Title: Re: [Private Beta] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Stephen Gornick on September 02, 2011, 10:16:02 PM
I hadn't participated in many other stackexchange sites, so wasn't aware of the restrictions those sites have.

Some decent questions are getting closed as a result and now display the message:
Quote
this question will likely solicit opinion, debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion.

Opinion?  Debate?  Extended discussion?  Oh the horror!


Title: Re: [Private Beta] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: nmat on September 02, 2011, 10:28:45 PM
Opinion?  Debate?  Extended discussion?  Oh the horror!

Yes, it is not a forum and it can not replace some of the forum's features. It's just question and answer. Questions that do not have a "right" answer (either because they are too vague, ambiguous or controversial) are closed. It keeps things clean, but limits functionality.

But it's very early beta so what is a good question and a bad question is still unclear. Anyway, you can take a look around meta (http://meta.bitcoin.stackexchange.com/) if you want to ask specific questions about the site itself.

And you can cast reopen votes ;)


Title: Re: [100% complete!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: D.H. on September 03, 2011, 06:34:44 AM
it is quite impressive how slow this goes. has it been two month now or longer? at shapado it took 15 minutes....  ::)   just sayin...   :P

I'm sure the StackExchange people could have set up a site in 15 minutes too but there's a thought behind why they don't. There's a thought behind getting a certain number of commited users before launching a site. People who find a site with no activity will quickly leave it.

The Shapado site now has 1 question, the StackExchange site has 143 (after 3 days).


Title: Re: [100% complete!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: phelix on September 03, 2011, 07:49:17 AM
it is quite impressive how slow this goes. has it been two month now or longer? at shapado it took 15 minutes....  ::)   just sayin...   :P

I'm sure the StackExchange people could have set up a site in 15 minutes too but there's a thought behind why they don't. There's a thought behind getting a certain number of commited users before launching a site. People who find a site with no activity will quickly leave it.

The Shapado site now has 1 question, the StackExchange site has 143 (after 3 days).

because it is advertised by the stackexchange fans all the time.

btw: are there people affiliated with stackexchange arround here? full disclosure!

don't get me wrong. I have used stackoverflow for quite a while and really like it. but all the advertising of something that would be much easier to have at another site makes it feel awkward.



Title: Re: [Private Beta] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: wareen on September 03, 2011, 08:43:57 AM
don't get me wrong. I have used stackoverflow for quite a while and really like it. but all the advertising of something that would be much easier to have at another site makes it feel awkward.
I don't think that we could have the same "much easier" anywhere else - it's not only the functionality of the site but also its reputation and high quality standards. The combined userbase of the Stackexchange network is huge compared to Shapado sites, same thing for traffic rankings, google hits etc.

I think its quite an accomplishment for Bitcoin to have its own Stackexchange site and not only do I expect it to be a great place for merchants and users to get quality support for Bitcoin but also a good way to show that Bitcoin is serious.

btw: are there people affiliated with stackexchange arround here? full disclosure!
I don't think so - I for one have only registered because of Bitcoin. But hey, if people at Stackexchange would really want Bitcoin that much then we should be happy about that ;)


Title: Re: [100% complete!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: D.H. on September 03, 2011, 12:14:55 PM
because it is advertised by the stackexchange fans all the time.

If you refer to this thread then I agree that the constant bumping by Chris Acheson was a bit excessive. It's not in line with normal forum etiquette. But this thread (where Shapado also was mentioned a few times) does not explain the 143:1 question ratio.

I think that people are just enthustiastic about Bitcoin and want it to get some good exposure. A StackExchange site has a greater potential of accomplishing that than a Shapado site.

Quote
btw: are there people affiliated with stackexchange arround here? full disclosure!

I'm not, and I doubt that there are, but I don't know for sure.


Title: Re: [100% complete!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on September 03, 2011, 12:19:48 PM
because it is advertised by the stackexchange fans all the time.

If you refer to this thread then I agree that the constant bumping by Chris Acheson was a bit excessive. It's not in line with normal forum etiquette.

Eh, I was impatient, and it's not like normal forum etiquette is observed around here anyway.


Title: Re: [100% complete!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: D.H. on September 03, 2011, 12:50:37 PM
If you refer to this thread then I agree that the constant bumping by Chris Acheson was a bit excessive. It's not in line with normal forum etiquette.

Eh, I was impatient, and it's not like normal forum etiquette is observed around here anyway.

I don't personally have a big problem with it but it would be understandable if people did (yes, along with a lot of other stuff on this forum). I'm a big fan of the StackExchange site and I'm glad that your bumping got it started but to someone who is not interested in it I don't think that "Eh, I was impatient" would count as a very good excuse for constant bumping.

But this is getting off-topic, if we wanna continue this discussion it should probably be in the Meta forum.


Title: Re: [Private Beta] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: phelix on September 07, 2011, 06:51:04 PM
Quote
Warning: this site is currently in private beta for at least a few more days

what the f***? now that I am all excited. I am gonna increase the questions on the bitcoin shapado site by 100%! there you go! http://bitcoin.shapado.com  ;D


Title: Re: [Private Beta] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: D.H. on September 07, 2011, 07:32:20 PM
Quote
Warning: this site is currently in private beta for at least a few more days

what the f***? now that I am all excited. I am gonna increase the questions on the bitcoin shapado site by 100%! there you go! http://bitcoin.shapado.com  ;D

It just went public! :)

http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com


Title: Re: [Private Beta] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: Chris Acheson on September 07, 2011, 07:46:24 PM
It just went public! :)

http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com

Edited the original post.  :D


Title: Re: [Public Beta now open!] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: lemonginger on September 09, 2011, 03:17:09 PM
Going well so far. It took a while, but we seem to have a good starting number of intelligent askers and answerers. Will be interesting to view the growth over the next few months of the public beta period.


Title: Re: [Private Beta] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: phelix on September 11, 2011, 05:43:23 AM
I hadn't participated in many other stackexchange sites, so wasn't aware of the restrictions those sites have.

Some decent questions are getting closed as a result and now display the message:
Quote
this question will likely solicit opinion, debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion.

Opinion?  Debate?  Extended discussion?  Oh the horror!
+1 feels like an iron maiden and thus can be a little frustrating.   ;)

I try to see it not as some people enjoying their new powers but as a counter point to this noisy and funny forum. My question sure would have stirred emotions. Maybe it will become a little more relaxed after a while.

edit: also there was a reasonable explanation


Title: Re: [Private Beta] Want Bitcoin to have a real user/merchant support site?
Post by: D.H. on September 11, 2011, 07:25:57 AM
Opinion?  Debate?  Extended discussion?  Oh the horror!
+1 feels like an iron maiden and thus can be a little frustrating.   ;)

It's not that people don't want debate and extended discussions, it's just that the StackExchange site is not the place for it. Different sites have different purposes. Your question would have been closed by the StackExchange moderators (employees) if the community hadn't done it first. None of the sites in their network allow debate or extended discussion. The sites are not forums, they are Q&A sites.