Feedback on Updates to the FAQ

Question

I made some changes to the FAQ to reflect our meta discussions regarding the site scope. This is a work in progress and will most likely change again as we learn more about our site's issues and how to solve them.

Please take a look and give us your feedback.

Project Management SE FAQ

UPDATE:

After reading Pawel's answer, I was just going to add a section about how to ask if you are asking something that pushes the scientific boundaries of project management, and I realized I was repeating a lot of what I wrote for the advice to beginners section.

I feel like the advice there applies to both questions asked by beginners as well as the theory, cutting edge type questions Pawel and David refer to in other meta threads.

Here is what I started to write in the FAQ, (but didn't save). Maybe we can merge together the tips for beginners with the tips for asking in general?

Experimental Project Management:

PMSE strives to be a resource for both experts as well as enthusiasts. We hope some questions will push the scientific boundaries of project management and improve not just the Internet, but the field of project management itself. Here are some tips and guidelines to ensure these questions are answerable:

• Tell us plenty of details about your problem

• Explain what you may have already tried.

I think this section might be getting a little long, considering the FAQ covers a lot of other points which may repeat some of these points. (Moderators can only edit the first section in the FAQ, the rest is all boilerplate material that is the same across all sites).

UPDATE #2:

I revised the "Advice to beginners" section to target all askers but still mention that the advice targets beginners as well. I also added the summary Mark wrote to the beginning of the FAQ.

Answer 1

I think that our FAQ/Policy should explicitly say that answers will be deleted, unless they comply to certain rules.

Answer 2

1. About the scope

   Shouldn't it be directly stated that the site is about dealing with projects? I mean the only place where the word "project" appears is in "project management careers." We shouldn't assume that everyone who lands on the site actually know the whole story behind Stack Exchange.

2. About questions that shouldn't be asked

   Maybe we should follow up with the thread on questions that have different, possibly contradictory answers. Something like "Some of PM-related questions have many answers, e.g. they depend on a specific style of work or employed methods. That's OK. Note however, that the more context you share in your questions the less risk you will get contradictory answers."

Answer 3

I took a stab at a short intro/summary FAQ:

This is a site about project management by people who love the subject. It is for project management practioners, academics and amateur theorists. Answers should be based on knowledge of the field or experience. Questions should be genuine and should be about managing projects or the field of project management. Be respectful of the community and the time and dedication of its members. If you can Google it, don't ask it here.

We have vigorous discussions about the nature of the site itself. You can read the discussions here and here and other places on the Meta site. You can influence the direction of the site by participating in those discussions, and by commenting, editing and voting up or down questions and answers on the main site. This is a community site. Welcome!