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There is a consensus that we have to do something to address posts that are off topic. See all the previous meta posts:
Add a “Closing > Off-Topic > Not about Blender” reason
How should I flag tutorial requests?
Cleaning up our custom close reasons
Custom off-topic close reasons: 2014 in review (yes it is from two years ago)

I propose adding a "off-topic" close reason, which would link to our off topic list.

Remember we are limited to only three custom close messages, and we already have two of them used. Here are the two current custom close messages.
We have the bug report reason:

This question appears to be about an issue caused by a bug in Blender. These should be reported to the official bug tracker.

The second is too localized:

This question is too localized in its current form and is unlikely to be applicable outside of a very narrow context. Consider broadening the scope of this question in order to make it more useful for future users of the site.

Now my question is what should the wording be for the third close reason.

closing > Off-Topic dialog

I think there will be agreement that it needs to deal with other off topic questions. Some examples: "How does my picture look", "How to do this in 3ds max" or this question (10k only link, community deleted it).

Finally here is my wording:

Blatantly off-topic (this question has nothing to do with blender, or is off topic for this site).

Let me reiterate that I'm 100% ok with changing, rewording, or using a completely different close reason. This post is just to get feedback on the new close reason (which we really do need).

Whatever we end up using I just want it to fill the need for a close reason to use for questions that have nothing to do with blender or any part of our scope.

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    $\begingroup$ Not really much of a fan of that wording ("blatantly" in particular seems too strong IMO). How about something like "This question doesn't appear to meet the site's topic requirements"? On a related note, I think the definitions of "support requests" and "hotkey questions" in that meta post could use an updated looking-at (not to mention source code questions). it feels like a fair number of our current valid questions could arguably fall under those categorizations. $\endgroup$
    – gandalf3 Mod
    Nov 17, 2016 at 5:27
  • $\begingroup$ I do like it, but I agree "Blatantly" can sound a bit strong, though I can't really come up with a better wording. Maybe Evidently or Totally off-topic - This question doesn't seem to be about, nor remotely related to Blender specifically ? English is not my first language so the nuances of the language may elude me. $\endgroup$
    – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Mod
    Nov 18, 2016 at 3:14
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    $\begingroup$ My biggest complaint is that the "belongs on another site in the Stack Exchange network" only lets you recommend meta.blender.se. This should be a fill-in-the-blank or a listing of many SE sites (not all, but like code review, stack overflow, graphic design, computer graphics, photography, etc.). $\endgroup$
    – JakeD
    Nov 19, 2016 at 19:24
  • $\begingroup$ @pycoder I know how you feel, see my answer here for why we don't have more options, and what to do instead. $\endgroup$
    – David
    Nov 19, 2016 at 22:05
  • $\begingroup$ Perhaps instead a simple This question doesn't seem to be specifically about Blender would suffice. Because most of the time the user does happen to be using Blender, and said task could even be done in Blender but it is more of a general question about 3D modelling or about other related tasks like parallel software/OS/file management $\endgroup$
    – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Mod
    Nov 22, 2016 at 2:28

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Two general themes to the custom off topic close reasons that I find myself sadly using quite a bit (but with different wording) are:

This question is off topic because it has absolutely nothing to do with blender.

and

I'm voting to close this question as off topic because it shows very little to no effort researching and/or writing this question.

Perhaps the third custom close reason should be used for people either new to Stack Exchange, new to Blender, or both. (This question is off topic because it appears as if the OP didn't even try to find an answer himself, and instead whipped together a poorly written post demanding an answer)

Of, even better - here's my blend. Fix it. Now. My project is due - tomorrow.

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