This is one of those seven essential meta questions of every beta and I feel it's going to result in a lot of discussion. Unlike other Stack Exchange sites, much of our documentation is probably going to be quite unique. Here is what superuser.com's documentation looks like for reference:
Super User is for computer enthusiasts and power users. …
Ask about…
- Specific issues with computer software, hardware or networking
- Real problems or questions that you’ve encountered
Don’t ask about…
- Anything not directly related to computer software or computer hardware
- Questions that are primarily opinion-based
- Questions with too many possible answers or require an extremely long answer
- Videogames, consoles, or other electronic devices, unless they connect to your computer
- Websites or web services like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress
- Shopping, buying or product recommendations
- Issues specific to corporate IT support and networks
I feel that we take a break from what is accepted as normal for this page with Software Recommendations, and that in addition to the sorts of questions you should ask, we should also cover the following in our documentation:
- What sort of questions are on topic
- What sort of questions are not on topic
- What is required for a question to contain "enough information"?
- How we're different from other Stack Exchange sites (I feel this should link off to a meta post discussing how recommendations are welcome here provided they meet our minimum quality level)
I do, however, think we should keep the section relatively short and punchy, to increase its impact and ensure it gets read more often than not. Any ideas on other things we should include in this section or feedback on my suggestions? - Post them as answers below.