Unless we hear otherwise. Are you interested in keep these open? Let us Know.
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1Here's a blog post on the thinking behind closing the tool recommendations. It is about concentrating on building an expert level site. You can always find out about new tools with a Google alert. vertabase.com/blog/pm-community-building-experiment– Mark Phillips ModCommented Jul 1, 2012 at 3:10
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2 Answers
TL;DR
Removing the ability to track on-topic questions about how to use or implement specific project management tools would be A Bad Thing™.
The Underlying Problem
The problem isn't questions about using tools, it's with questions asking for tool recommendations. By definition, the latter will solicit polling, debates, and unsubstantiated opinions.
On-Topic Tool Discussions
However, there are many tool-related questions that have a reasonable chance of being answered by applying a little scope. Consider an imaginary question such as:
My kanban doesn't contain a column for enbiggening therbligs. I've tried adding an enbiggening column, but kanban cards are queuing up in QA column without any therblig-related cards being pulled into enbiggening.
How can I properly represent embiggening on the kanban, and quantify the flow issue based on the information on the kanban itself?
Granted, this imaginary question assumes some context, and might have multiple valid approaches (this is a generic issue with any practice that includes soft skills and process analysis), but it is nevertheless about how to use or implement a given tool. This seems quite constructive.
Fix the Wiki and Handle Off-Topic Questions Normally
Rather than getting rid of the tools tag, we could update the wiki to reflect why one should apply the tag, rather than using a generic definition of what a tool is. Even if you can tag each question with a specific tool tag (e.g. kanban or kanban-card), having a superset tag may be quite useful.
In addition, questions marked tools will remain subject to the same sensible criteria as the rest of the site, and can be closed or deleted if they are off-topic, not constructive, or too listy in nature. We already have a process for handling those sorts of questions, so removing the tag seems like it might be solving the wrong problem.
answered Jul 13, 2012 at 14:29
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There is no plan to eliminate the tag, just closing tool recommendation questions. Your example question is on-topic and constructive enough that it would remain..... With that said, we have two problems: 1. Editing the wiki (feel free to give it a shot) and 2. What is the difference between tools and pm-software (I edited pm-software somewhat, but not tools)? Someone should probably pose a question about those tags as a new meta question.– jmort253 ModCommented Jul 13, 2012 at 20:21
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@jmort253 I radically revamped tools. Folks with tag-wiki review capabilities should take a look, and see if it passes muster. pm.stackexchange.com/tags/tools/info– Todd A. Jacobs ModCommented Jul 13, 2012 at 21:14
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@jmort253 I think the tag-wiki answers what I think about it, but perhaps you should ask it as another question so the discussion can get a full airing. Short answer: I think tools is a superset that contains pm-software.– Todd A. Jacobs ModCommented Jul 13, 2012 at 21:20
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Hi CodeGnome, here's a link to the question: meta.pm.stackexchange.com/q/389/34.– jmort253 ModCommented Jul 14, 2012 at 1:24
Yes I am, because I would like to know about new tools and how they are used by others.
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Also, it would help if you can find an example of one or two really outstanding tool questions so we're on the same page. Thanks again.– jmort253 ModCommented Jun 30, 2012 at 20:32
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@jmort253 I don't know what kind of tool related questions will pop-up in the future. I read an article which said that we had to let the thinks going because we wouldn't know what was coming. So, for me it's fine to close questions if you feel that they are not appropriate. I'm curios about what will happen. Voting would be nicer, though.The thing is that there are statements on meta what will happen, but I miss the reasoning.For example, I have no idea what Mark's motivation is.Maybe he is looking for better questions, or wants to get of beta... The same goes for the google related question– ZsoltCommented Jun 30, 2012 at 22:51
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I would like to know about new tools and how they are used by others.I think this might be different than what Mark is referring to. Mark's question targets "tool recommendations", whereas I think you're referring to questions about how to use a tool to solve a real problem.– jmort253 ModCommented Jun 30, 2012 at 23:30 -
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I was thinking of posting a question about what people would think about moving the list of tools into the pm-software tag wiki, since the Q&A part of the site isn't really designed for lists of things. Do you think this is a fair way to preserve the knowledge and also compile it into a central location? pm-software tag wiki– jmort253 ModCommented Jul 2, 2012 at 20:05
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Would the content of the pm-software tag wiki be on the main page ie if someone comes to the site the first time do they see that content?– Mark Phillips ModCommented Jul 2, 2012 at 20:07
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@Mark - To see a tag wiki: (1) Mouseover the tag until a big black tooltip appears. (2) Click "info". You'll see a page that looks something like this: pm.stackexchange.com/tags/dsdm/info. It could be a good reference to leave on closed tool recommendation questions. Or we could even put a list of tools in the FAQ? Any other suggestions?– jmort253 ModCommented Jul 3, 2012 at 4:13
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@MarkPhillips - I added some info on the pm software tag wiki info. Advantage: Any edits go through suggested edit queue, which helps reduce spam, yet still allows people to add suggested new tools without question disambiguation or spreading similar information across the site.– jmort253 ModCommented Jul 3, 2012 at 4:27