@Jenayah What about tag rep.?

@ModusTollens Good point. Maybe prefixes or suffixes of some sort could be used? For example, maybe code-lang:Java vs island:java vs drink:java? Wikipedia does something similar with the category in parentheses at the end.

Or, perhaps, we can just keep the sites separate, like they already are, without needing to twist ourselves into knots to work around potential issues.

@fbueckert I guess it's more like the evil we know vs the evil we don't know. Each has it's own issues. However, I personally think that having a single site would have less issues.

I would disagree. Strongly. We're trying to group expertise. For instance, I don't know the first thing about quantum mechanics, and only a smattering of physics. Those questions are noise to me; mixing it with the things I actually want to look at just makes it harder to find things I actually want to see.

@fbueckert What about filtering by tag?

Why do I need to put in extra work to see my expertise?

@fbueckert How hard is it? The old domains can redirect to tag pages. And the big advantage of tags is that they aren't mutually exclusive.

Again, why do I have to put in extra work? I don't want a firehose of questions, most of which I'll never be interested in. Why do you want to make it harder for people to find questions they might be able to answer?

@fbueckert Currently, it can be quite difficult to find relevant questions if they overlap with and are posted on the "wrong" site.

And you'd like to compound that issue by just dumping all of them into a single site? Pass.

@fbueckert How would that compound the issue as long as the questions are properly tagged? If it fits multiple topics, it can be tagged with all of them.

You just said it's difficult to find relevant questions due to overlap. Proper tagging didn't help that, what makes you think it'll help with only a single site? Cross-posting is a problem, not a solution.

@fbueckert The problem with cross-posting is that there are multiple, separate copies of the question. And how does proper tagging not help?

You're assuming A) people use the right tag, B) there's never any confusion, and C) that people will properly filter their results as well. You're also putting a whole lot of extra work on the curators, who will need to edit, re-tag, and fix all these new questions to make sure they're properly organized.

@fbueckert You're assuming people always use the right site. Also, one-way semi-synonyms would help (e.g. [tag:code-lang:python-3.7] implies [tag:code-lang:python-3] implies [tag:code-lang:python] implies computer-programming).

@SolomonUcko No, I'm assuming members on each site know their own site well enough to know what does and doesn't fit.

And can curate accordingly.

Instead of needing to sift through a firehose of questions, many of which they won't understand, to find, edit, fix, tag, and organize the few they'll be able to find.

The existence of a specific tag will help in some cases, but in many, context plays a very large part.

For instance, we have sites like code-review, I'm sure you know about, and sites like software engineering, which is for softer type programming questions. And then add in SO, for the hard programming problems.

How, exactly, would a single site help figure out what kind of help the asker is looking for?

@fbueckert Couldn't those just turn into tags?

Also, if a question is mis-tagged, those familiar with the tags that were put on it could notice and fix it.

Again, why do I have to put in extra work?

You haven't answered that in any sense.

I don't want to have to filter the hose of questions into what I want to see.

That's the purpose of the subsites.

@fbueckert This way, you can more easily view questions from all the topics you are interested in, for example.

@SolomonUcko No, I have to put in extra work to throttle the hose to only see specific types of questions.

I just said I didn't want to do that.

The only advantage I see to a single site is that askers no longer need to think about where they ask questions.

And that's an advantage I very much do not want to give anyone; I want askers to think about where they ask their questions. It's the first step in ensuring we get a properly formulated question.

@fbueckert Good points...

As it stands, we already have people asking if they can crosspost their questions across multiple sites.

OOC, if we originally had just a single, multi-topic site, would you advocate for breaking it up? I think one important thing to keep in mind is that there has to be enough of an advantage to switching to convince people to switch. And each model has advantages and disadvantages.

That, to me, tells me they haven't thought their problem through properly yet. And they need to do that before they ask their question. Not only will they get better answers, but they'll ask a better question by putting in that effort.

I think the only way to know what will happen is to try it, which could just end up being a waste of effort.

Each model has advantages and disadvantages, sure. But...I'm not seeing a compelling argument as to why a single site would've been a good thing in the first place.

@fbueckert Couldn't tags have rules for question formats?

@SolomonUcko People already don't read tag descriptions.

@fbueckert True. Maybe they could have a message asking them to make sure to read the rules if they add a tag with rules? Hmmm...

For instance, my main site is Arqade. There's a game called Glitch.

Askers use it all over the place when they think their game is glitching.

There's already a warning at the top of the tag that says it shouldn't be used to describe game glitches.

@SolomonUcko One thing I've learned is that people. Don't. Read. Especially newcomers.

All they want is their problem solved. Rules are for other people. Just solve their problem.

That's probably because the tag name is confusing. What about game:glitch or videogame:glitch? I think improving the tag names would also help somewhat.

@SolomonUcko It's also because the askers didn't bother to read.

And is a very good sign their question isn't up to par.

@fbueckert Also, people don't necessarily follow site rules either.

If anything, it's a first pass filter to make it easier to close their question.

I think with that I've made my point. The advantage of moving everything to a single site is minimal, while the disadvantages are huge. I see no reason to entertain the suggestion further.