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Welcome to the Power Users community on Codidact!

Power Users is a Q&A site for questions about the usage of computer software and hardware. We are still a small site and would like to grow, so please consider joining our community. We are looking forward to your questions and answers; they are the building blocks of a repository of knowledge we are building together.

Comments on Let's clarify rules on crossposting for Codidact Power Users

Parent

Let's clarify rules on crossposting for Codidact Power Users

+1
−1

I received a mod warning on https://powerusers.codidact.com/warning and I am now confused about some rules on Codidact Power Users. In this meta question, I'll focus on the rules around crossposting, e.g. posting the same question on both Codidact Power Users and Stack Exchange.

I read on Post on Stack Exchange and Codidact that crossposting is allowed. I was not aware of any other rules but the mod warning I received seems to introduce some rules on crossposting:

  • don't submit too many crossposts (no idea if that means 1/week, 1/day or 10/day)
  • must link to the other posts
  • wait some time before crossposting (i.e., don't post the same question on two sides at the same time)

Questions:

  • Is this list of conditions correct and comprehensive?
  • Can someone clarify how many crossposts are allowed (e.g. how many crossposts per day) and how much time one must wait before crossposting (e.g., if one posts a question on Stack Exchange, how long does one have to wait before being authorized to post the same question on Codidact Power Users)?

I posted a more general question on https://meta.codidact.com/ but I was told that the specifics depends on the exact Codidact site, so I'm posting the question here.


Part of the mod message about crossposts.

Hello,

You have posted a large number of questions that are cut-and-paste copies of questions from other sites such as Reddit and Stack Exchange. These questions do not link to the other posts, nor have you edited them to improve them based on what you have learned elsewhere. In some cases, you have cross-posted the same question to multiple sites at the same time. Moderators have asked you to change this behavior but you have not.

There are several issues here:

  • This kind of cross-posting wastes the time of people answering the question. They won't know that you already got an answer on Reddit or that discussion on SE led you to edit the question there. This is disrespectful of our community members' time and attention.

  • Excessive copy-pasting from elsewhere makes Codidact look like a scraper site. We're not.

  • The sheer *volume* of these crossposts takes attention away from other questions.

This must stop.

For transparency, here is the entire mod message, but let's focus solely on crossposts in this meta question. E.g., let's ignore the quality debate. Hello,

This message is from the Codidact community team.

You have posted a large number of questions that are cut-and-paste copies of questions from other sites such as Reddit and Stack Exchange. These questions do not link to the other posts, nor have you edited them to improve them based on what you have learned elsewhere. In some cases, you have cross-posted the same question to multiple sites at the same time. Moderators have asked you to change this behavior but you have not.

There are several issues here:

  • This kind of cross-posting wastes the time of people answering the question. They won't know that you already got an answer on Reddit or that discussion on SE led you to edit the question there. This is disrespectful of our community members' time and attention.

  • Excessive copy-pasting from elsewhere makes Codidact look like a scraper site. We're not.

  • The sheer volume of these crossposts takes attention away from other questions.

This must stop.

In addition, the quality of the questions is often low, with little explanation and screenshots in place of text. We'd like you to slow down and focus on quality.

This doesn't mean you can never ask a question you've asked elsewhere. But do it one site at a time, link to the prior versions, and thoughtfully incorporate what you learned when you write the new question here. Share what you've tried already, just like if you had consulted the documentation or used a published example, and incorporate it. When you post a question on Codidact that you have previously asked somewhere else, the version on Codidact should be the best version of the question, not a blind copy. Slow down and be mindful of the other members of the community.

We are revoking the Participate Everywhere ability on your account across the network. This imposes a rate limit on questions. When you have enough positive activity to demonstrate that you have improved, you will re-earn the ability.

We are also reviewing your activity and expect to delete many of these questions. This will be a human review, not a SQL query, so it will not be instantaneous.

We welcome your participation with original quality content and hope you will also try answering other people's questions. A community has its best shot at success when people work together toward a shared goal -- asking, answering, editing, and making Codidact the best place it can be.

If you have questions about this message, you can send email to support@codidact.org.

This is a formal warning from the moderation team. In the event of continued violations of the site rules, your account may be suspended. If you have any questions regarding the site rules, you can ask them in the Meta category of this site or on meta.codidact.com. If you have any questions about this warning or would like to dispute it, contact us.

☐ I have read this warning and will follow the rules from now on.

History

2 comment threads

-1 because you were already shown the post you reference is outdated. (4 comments)
Copy and paste oversight? (2 comments)
Post
+6
−0

I suggest that we don't allow direct cross-posts at all.

If you have a problem, about which you've previously asked somewhere else, you can write a new question about the problem -- in particular taking into account what you learnt and tried in the mean time.

The post should be unique content, not something copy & pasted. And you should nevertheless link to previous related questions and also link from the previous questions to your new post to avoid wasting time of users, who consider helping you as well as users who might have the same problem.

And when asking new questions, keep in mind that PU is a small community. If you get a couple of votes in either direction, don't ignore them as a few users who allegedly don't understand how the site works, that's probably the whole of the active users. Same for comments. Also consider that users might want to see a variety of content, please don't drown out everybody else's activity. The goal is not to ask as many questions as possible, the goal is to contribute high-quality content to a library of knowledge.

Update January 2026

Given the supportive voting on this and other answers about this topic, I added a paragraph about cross-posting to our FAQ.

History

1 comment thread

What if a previous question received no answers? Is crossposting allowed then? (15 comments)
What if a previous question received no answers? Is crossposting allowed then?

Thanks for clarifying.

If you have a problem, about which you've previously asked somewhere else, you can write a new question about the problem -- in particular taking into account what you learnt and tried in the mean time.

What if I have a problem, about which I've previously asked somewhere else, but received 0 answers and no feedback justifying rewriting a new question about the problem? Is crossposting allowed then?

samcarter‭ wrote 3 months ago

If a question received no answers, wouldn't this this be a good opportunity to improve the post in order to increase the chances to get an answer this time?

Franck Dernoncourt‭ wrote 3 months ago · edited 3 months ago

samcarter‭ I typically write the initial question in a way to maximize the chance of getting an answer. However, some communities are quite inactive. E.g. on http://superuser.com less than 50% of questions are answered (http://superuser.com/questions?sort=newest says 67% but they don't take into account all the questions automatically removed on the grounds of not having received answers.). It's even worse on https://old.reddit.com/r/techsupport/ and Quora is a total shitshow.

samcarter‭ wrote 3 months ago

You willing choosing to post on inactive sites is really no justification for cross-posts.

  1. Which active site do you recommend?
  2. What if I have a problem, about which I've previously asked somewhere else, but received 0 answers and no feedback justifying rewriting a new question about the problem? Is crossposting allowed then?
samcarter‭ wrote 3 months ago · edited 3 months ago
  1. Pick one site, whose philosophy you like -- then help this site with good quality content instead of just focusing on quantity.

  2. If a question received no answers, wouldn't this this be a good opportunity to improve the post in order to increase the chances to get an answer this time?

Franck Dernoncourt‭ wrote 3 months ago · edited 3 months ago

If a question received no answers, wouldn't this this be a good opportunity to improve the post in order to increase the chances to get an answer this time?

If a question received no answers and one doesn’t see a way to improve the post, is it allowed to cross-post it to Codidact Power Users?

samcarter‭ wrote 3 months ago

One can always rewrite a question, tailor it more to the audience of the target site, taking into account the users preferences for textual descriptions vs. screenshots etc.

Franck Dernoncourt‭ wrote 3 months ago · edited 3 months ago

samcarter‭

tailor it more to the audience of the target site, taking into account the users preferences for textual descriptions vs. screenshots etc.

What's the difference between https://superuser.com's audience and https://powerusers.codidact.com's audience? I am unaware of any, but perhaps I missed something.

ArtOfCode‭ wrote 3 months ago

I have to be honest, Franck Dernoncourt‭, this is starting to feel like rules-lawyering until someone says "yes, you can cross-post". That's not a particularly charitable interpretation, I admit, and I would like to assume good faith, but there's only so far that can be stretched. It seems to me that the spirit of the guidance you're being given is quite clear - this community does not want direct copy-pasting of questions posed elsewhere, so improve on what you already have before bringing it here (or bring it here first!), and cross-link other attempts. That feels pretty clear to me.

ArtOfCode‭ I’m not trying to “rules-lawyer” my way into a yes. I’m genuinely trying to understand where the practical boundary is, so that I, and other users, can avoid repeating actions that already resulted in a mod warning.

I understand Sam's answer, which is clear: direct copy-pasting is not allowed. One part I’m still genuinely unclear about, and this is where I may be missing something, is the practical difference between the audiences of Superuser and Codidact Power Users. From my perspective, both seem to target technically proficient end users asking about operating systems, software, and workflows, and I’m not aware of any strong divergence in scope or expectations.

Franck Dernoncourt‭ wrote 3 months ago · edited 3 months ago

When I’m advised to “tailor the question to the audience”, I understand that in principle, but I don’t currently see what concrete changes would follow from that distinction in this particular case. If there are differences (e.g. preferred depth, assumptions about user expertise, tolerance for screenshots vs. text, scope boundaries, etc.), I’d genuinely appreciate having them spelled out, because that would help me meaningfully adapt future questions rather than just rephrase them superficially. I'm new to Codidact, while you and Sam are old users, so I assume you know that distinction. I don't.

ArtOfCode‭ wrote 3 months ago

I’m not aware of any strong divergence in scope or expectations.

Neither am I - Power Users is similar in terms of scope & audience to Super User. The community here is different and is definitely smaller, but addresses many of the same things.

samcarter‭ wrote 3 months ago

If there are differences (e.g. preferred depth, assumptions about user expertise, tolerance for screenshots vs. text, scope boundaries, etc.),

Users have for example commented below your posts about the usage of screen recordings vs. screen shots vs. textual descriptions of the problem. You could consider such preferences when tailoring questions to PU.

Franck Dernoncourt‭ wrote 3 months ago · edited 3 months ago

samcarter‭ thanks, I heard similar feedback on superuser.com, so if I add more texts to posts I'd do it for both Codidact and super user (They even deleted one of my bug reports on meta stack exchange for having an animated gif. So Codidact and Stack Exchange are equally annoying on that point and both equally pushing people to use AI). Only a small minority of my questions rely on screenshots or gif though.

Skipping 1 deleted comment.