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Q: The dawn of Documentation: a solstice update

Jon EricsonNormally Kevin does these updates, but I wanted to take an opportunity to talk about how Documentation is doing from my perspective as a community manager. For the last 3 years or so, building communities of specialists has been my specialty. In my experience, communities on Stack Exchange have s...

> Just this week, the executive team gave us a key metric for measuring success in the coming year: user growth. Obviously there’s a business reason for that goal, but it serendipitously benefits the quality of Documentation as well. As Eric Raymond notes, “Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.” Similarly, the more people who use Documentation to understand their code, learn a new feature or even answer questions on Stack Overflow, the more reliable the content will become.
 
2 hours later…
user315433
3:00 AM
7.5 hours until solstice, daylight will be coming back...
3:11 AM
@zaq it's all down here hehehe
We've stolen all your sunlight mwhahahahahaah
user315433
Well... that's a mixed bag, considering Australia's skin cancer rate.
user315433
Yeah... that's too dark. But not entirely my fault.
No it's not
You're fine :p
user315433
When I started typing "time until" in Wolfram Alpha, the only autocomplete suggestion was time until death in cold water.
user315433
Hence the darker mood.
user315433
3:29 AM
Robert Cartaino is inviting pro tem mod nominations for IoT site, which is usually the sign it's out of the woods. Yet,
user315433
Please note that with the anticipated slowdown in traffic during the end-of-year holidays, we will not be evaluating this site for public launch until after the new year. — Robert Cartaino ♦ 9 hours ago
user315433
3:53 AM
An interesting activity pattern: posted 5 answers in Dec 2010 - Jan 2011, took a break until mid-November 2016, and posted 69 answers since then. stackoverflow.com/users/444829/…. Almost 6 years of inactivity in between.
user315433
What's the record for largest gap between SO posts by a user? I think I tried to find out once and the query timed out.
@zaq BigQuery time?
user315433
Perhaps, I found rene's query for this purpose: meta.stackexchange.com/a/245977
user315433
> Male Enhancement Drugs are widely marketed,
user315433
user315433
4:16 AM
Why do some fields have to be named differently in BigQuery dump? Like owner_user_id versus owneruserid in SEDE.
user315433
!!/blame
@zaq It's zaq's fault.
user315433
You get an underscore... and you get an underscore...
user315433
4:28 AM
The query editor is nice, though. And for the data volume used, Google counts only the columns that the query deals with (so, without looking at post body the volume is under 1GB).
user315433
And the winner is: mransley with the gap of 2803 days. Posted an answer on Sep 26, 2008, came back to ask a question on May 30 of this year.
user315433
The longest gap between answers is 2772 days, held by Mel. Who only posted those two answers, on Sep 25 of 2008, and April 28 of 2016.
user315433
4:55 AM
Actually that's incorrect; I was looking at the longest gap between posts that simply happens to be between answers. The longest gap between answers (ignoring questions) is also 2803 days but by Mackaaij (who had some questions in between). And the longest gap between questions is 2802 days, by vengafoo. Amazing triple coincidence.
5:24 AM
HALLO MY PEOPLE!!!
MERRY HAT SEASON.
I have a suggestion for a hat? Where do I send it?
Here is what I'm thinking... We give A Special Hat away to all people that mark an answer as chosen without first upvoting that answer.
I call it the "Ass Hat."
What do you y'all think?
6:08 AM
Hi all--I'm experiencing something akin to what this post describes: CSS and JavaScript don't work across StackExchange, with a bunch of "StackExchange is not defined" errors. My particular error messages are a little different than in that question: net::ERR_INSECURE_RESPONSE instead of net::ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED. What's the best way to ask for help? Should I post a new question?
user315433
Are you using http or https?
user315433
But yes, posting a new question on meta is a reasonable thing to do. The chat is not very active this time of day.
user315433
> 13,002,208 questions
user315433
SO reached 13M today
@EvanCarroll what about the folks who have < 15 rep and can't upvote?
6:15 AM
We should concurrently give my hat all StackExchange employees for imposing such a silly limitation on democracy. There are plenty of hats to go around.
@zaq HTTP, but it seems Chrome at least is requesting the CSS and JS via HTTPS. https://cdn.sstatic.net/Js/stub.en.js?v=ca38476c955d Failed to load resource: net::ERR_INSECURE_RESPONSE
user315433
Yes, Nick flipped the switch on CDN a few days ago, all resources from there are https regardless of page protocol. But why should this be a problem... my Chrome 55 handles http:// stack overflow just fine
user315433
Is it some old version of Chrome, by any chance? Or some stale cache situation? (In which case, long-pressing the reload button while having devtools open can help)
It's Chrome 55.0.2883.87 m, but I've been having the same problem on Firefox and IE. Did a Empty Cache and Hard Reload--no change. :/
user315433
Do any https connections work for you? I guess it's something with your ISP.
user315433
6:31 AM
Yay, 20 Marshal badges! (newest one: Graphic Design)
@zaq Well, I've got Gmail open as HTTPS just fine. Also, StackExchange has the same problem for me at home and at work (different ISPs). Very odd.
Hm... I wonder if it might have to do with OpenDNS.
user315433
If you try to navigate to cdn.sstatic.net/Js/stub.en.js?v=ca38476c955d directly, does the js file show up?
Chrome gives a privacy error because there's a problem with the certificate (the Cisco Umbrella Root CA is not in the trusted certificates store). Firefox similarly says "insecure connection."
user315433
Hm, when I load that page the certificate issuer is "DigiCert SHA2 High Assurance Server CA"
... Innnteresting.
user315433
6:42 AM
Looks like an OpenDNS thing indeed, support.opendns.com/hc/en-us/articles/…
Wow. That's rather bizarre. I expect that's the solution--off to try it now. Thanks for debugging with me!
user315433
The article's advice would get the block page displayed correctly, but the root cause (the domain being blocked) would remain, if this is indeed the root cause.
Problem solved.
user315433
\o/
\o/ indeed!
Now to install the Root CA on my work computer too. ^_^
Thanks again!
 
2 hours later…
9:05 AM
Any chance for a staff reply here? While this seems to somehow "game" the system, it would also allow users to flag spam network wide without having to pollute their main account with unused child accounts.
 
1 hour later…
10:09 AM
Just wait 6 to 8 years and then declare bugs as not supported ;)
10:40 AM
we can delete vote this
Sure can
@Bart that was a Dutch strike ...
10:58 AM
:D
 
1 hour later…
12:02 PM
dump question: aren't chat.meta.se and chat.se not linked?
Linked as in ...
"other rooms you're in"
an animated avatar I do sense.
Ah, in that sense I believe they are different entities with separate accounts @5chdn
@Bart ok. confusing.
12:11 PM
There is MSE, SE, and SO when it comes to chat
 
2 hours later…
2:02 PM
@Bart indeed. Different servers, different database, different domains. /cc @5chdn
Same same, but different
3:01 PM
Do any of you happen to know if email to [email protected] is received by CMs? Or is there another way to contact a CM, doesn't matter who?
Anonymous
@Stijn It is.
@JeremyBanks OK, thanks, I found a comment implying that but couldn't find official confirmation :)
There's the option of stalking @Stijn. But none of the trees near Shog are comfortable to sit in for days ... or so I've heard.
@Bart I don't like always bothering Shog with my things :p
Btw, the "contact us" link has the same effect I think.
Anonymous
3:06 PM
@Stijn You're welcome. I think it may have been different in the distant past, but that's how it's been for a while. (Most of the emails that go there, they're most suited to handle; they can pass stuff along when appropriate.)
Anonymous
@ShadowWizard I've never seen it officially discussed, but I suspect one reason MSE's chat is separate is because we use it internally, so it's safer not to have other people with mod powers around. ;P
Anonymous
Though I guess there were other mods back in the MSO days.
Ah the good old MSO days. Life was so much grumpier and full of drama back then. I miss it.
Why don't you open a new account and then post about unexplained down votes?
persistent spammer ^
3:22 PM
@Bart heh
Robert Cartaino on December 21, 2016
It's hard to believe this has been a thing for eight years now. Every year since 2009, we've set aside this time of year to remember the people and the organizations who desperately need our help.
@rene I see you're nostalgic as well ;)
And I got a secret hat. Woohoo
@Bart it is that time of year I guess.
I can tell you that 100 comments flags on a day doesn't give you an hat. I might end up getting flag suspension though ...
I can help with that
3:38 PM
I'm sure your flippers are itching ...
my beak is twitchy
now I have the mental image of a blue-footed booby sitting behind a desk
going quack quack
I don't quack, I'm not a duck
I don't know what sound you make :D
You must like danger ...
3:51 PM
Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry
"It was then that the body was discovered, seemingly unharmed if not for the distinct blue footprints on the face"
@JeremyBanks oh, you mean the SE staff only rooms?
Anonymous
@ShadowWizard Yeah
Anonymous
In theory they're access-controlled beyond what moderators can see, but it's easier to mix-up moderator-only and staff-only compared with public. (Again this is just my personal thinking, I haven't actually discussed with team.)
3:58 PM
@JeremyBanks I see, and this also gives another reason not to appoint "ordinary" moderators on MSE... (:
@ShadowWizard you'd have my vote!
@Stijn heh, thanks!
I'll close MSE as duplicate. :D
Great. The "Just here for the hats" hats are rolling in from a lot of sites now.
4:17 PM
@ShadowWizard and here I hoped to become an MSE mod
That will bring a new view on moderation I guess ...
user315433
4:48 PM
@JeremyBanks I thought the direct recipients were the Operation Specialists (OS?) animuson and JNat, who would escalate to CMs when needed.
Anonymous
@zaq ...that is also plausible. :V
user315433
Abby T. Miller on April 22, 2015
The Community Team's first and most important job is to help you, the users. Every day, we hang out on meta sites and in chat, watching to make sure that someone is working on your problems. Until very recently, community managers also fielded each and every request that came through our support ticketing system.
user315433
What do the birds on the top photo stand for: users, or their problems?
definitely users
:P
user315433
> Once João and Kyle have tackled team@, there's no telling how many new and efficient ways they'll find to help make our team better at supporting our communities.
user315433
4:51 PM
How many ways have they found by now?
@zaq annoying noisy bastards, taking whatever they can, only to leave crap behind? Definitely users.
Gulls, or "air piranhas", can pick a man clean in minutes, leaving nothing but pockmarked bones. These deadly beasts are thus emblematic of our Ops team, who methodically tear down the body of problems built up among users leaving nothing but a white blank page containing only the words, "No tickets in this view".
(I have NO idea where that image came from)
Today's xkcd comic (Things You Learn):
user315433
I hope @bjb568 is not of the bitey kind.
wait, cat bites are bad?
I grew up getting bit by cats :-/
5:06 PM
explains a lot
hey, I just wanted to test that "always land on feet" thing. SCIENCE.
I consider cat bites to be the ones from tigers and mountain lions. The bites where your arm is ripped off. Yeah, call a doctor, or someone with a gun.
user315433
5:23 PM
This is what happens when administrative staff is forced to technology :). Apparently, poorly titled off-topic questions happen.
5:45 PM
@Shog9 rawr
user315433
6:21 PM
Been two weeks since A Temporary Tweak to Work Around Abusive Posting Patterns by Tim Post on meta.english.stackexchange.com and Temporary Anti-Spam measures are now in place by Tim Post on meta.workplace.stackexchange.com
user315433
I don't know what counts for success here, because the problem wasn't evident. Workplace sees steady increase in spam over months; looks like a normal side-effect of traffic growth.
user315433
ELU had a wave of weird posts, apparently coordinated or mechanical, but it was short lived. And wasn't really a huge wave to begin with.
user315433
What's the latest on this? The waves seem to have abated. Has the system learned how to block them automatically, or the attacker decided the returns aren't worth the effort? Have the flag weights been returned to the status quo ante? — Dan Bron Dec 13 at 14:07
8:27 PM
31 messages moved to Chimney
Oh no @TimStone is here. Everyone hide.
hides
8:48 PM
@bluefeet Woah
@TimStone jk
@bluefeet wait I thought @TimStone was the community manager with the monkey avatar
9:02 PM
he is Abominable right now
Can someone tell me if a user answers a question on one site and that question gets migrated to another site where said answerer is not a member, are they notified that their answer has been moved?
user315433
@JonnyHenly Yes, according to comments on this feature request: Notify users who answered when question is migrated by Gregg B on meta.stackexchange.com
Actually, according to meta.stackexchange.com/questions/212495/… they are notified
user315433
Yes, I edited my message after seeing the comments. Was fooled by the lack of status on the FR. As on Alert Answerers when a Question gets Migrated by dbyrne on meta.stackexchange.com
Oh good, I just saw someone's Stack Overflow answer which had been upvoted 43 times get migrated to Unix & Linux where they weren't a member.
I felt bad for them.
user315433
9:13 PM
> 16% of Stack Overflow questions start with "How". Next is "Why" at 1.8%, and "Android" rounds out the top 5 w/ 1.2% cloud.google.com/bigquery/public-data/stackoverflowpic.twitter.com/elt0fnBaEo -- Reto Meier at 9:39 AM - 21 Dec 2016
user315433
user315433
If, when, why, what, how much have you got...
user315433
So, 1.2% of questions have Android tag inserted in the title.
user315433
Should have linked to a view of the data, not the blog post...
9:38 PM
> I still remember when I first noticed in a chat conversation that I could modify the “thumbs up” Emoji to match my own skin tone. It gave me a feeling of inclusion, and I felt way more connected to that thumb symbol that was all over my messages.
Humanity is screwed.
I tried to put an emoji in my username yesterday but validation rules disallowed it :(
user315433
> Looks ok, but needs tests -- the function doesn't appear to have any existing tests...
user315433
sigh now I'll have to learn how to add stuff to a PR.
user315433
Also, not really my fault they don't have tests for that function...
user315433
10:41 PM
user315433
The startup messages in the accepted answer are noise, aren't they? stackoverflow.com/a/377463
user315433
Given it's a question with 179777 views...
user315433
I'm still 300 rep away from 2K, so here comes an edit suggestion with editing code (OMG).
user315433
10:57 PM
Things I'm hopeful for in 2017: (1) non-broken https on per-site metas.
@zaq I think they're getting close now
user315433
Yes, but they've been getting close for so long...
user315433
I do hope it's done in 2017. Any bets on the month when we see functional https network side?

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