1

The question (http://genealogy.stackexchange.com/q/2719/70) has been migrated to Photography SE.

There it has attracted one more answer than it had here which, although it has been upvoted on that site, does not actually answer the question. Meanwhile the answer supplied on this site has been deleted.

What is gained by this?

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

The question is on-topic for Photography SE, where there are more experts on the subject than there are likely to be here, and doesn't have any genealogy-specific elements that justified keeping it here. The answer supplied on this site is still there on Photography.SE. And the OP has accepted the new answer on Photography.SE, so they seem to believe it answers the question.

What is gained? The possibility for the question to find better answers.

The alternative would have been to close it as off-topic, which didn't seem helpful.

2
  • 1
    I would assume that this should only ever happen after consultation with the OP and a general consensus has been reached that the migration would be in the best interests of the question. I would further assume that there would have been an attempt and failure the make the question more related to Genealogy while still yielding a suitable answer for the OP...?
    – AvieRose
    Commented Dec 22, 2012 at 0:19
  • Migration is at the whim of the community - it will have been flagged (and voted) as off-topic. In that situation, migration seems to be the better avenue. Disclaimer: I didn't vote/flag it...
    – Andrew
    Commented Dec 22, 2012 at 9:53
3

We seem to get a lot of questions here that have a photography element to them, and considering that preservation of photographs and photographing records without destroying or damaging them is a major concern, I advise caution in these cases. opting to try to make the post fit before migrating it away.

Migrations should really only occur when the following has happened:

  • The question is closed as off-topic on the source site. In general, a question shouldn't be migrated to another site unless it's first deemed to be off-topic on the source site.

  • The question, although off-topic, is of a high quality, both in constructiveness and in providing plenty of detail. The question is about a real problem being faced.

  • The moderators discuss with the target community to see if the question is on topic there, and if it is, they migrate it. This also gives the community a chance to fix the problem.

If the question doesn't meet the above criteria, then it should just be closed as off-topic.

Thus, if a question can fit Genealogy SE or if it can be edited to fit Genealogy SE, it shouldn't be migrated away. In fact, many Stack Exchange sites share a heathy overlap. Just because a question is on-topic somewhere else doesn't automatically make it off-topic here.

My advice to moderators is this: If you think something should be migrated, post a link in the chat. You can also leave a comment on the post that you aren't sure the question 100% fits the scope. This will give the community time to weigh in and discuss alternatives before irrevocably kicking something out of the community. This gives people a chance to fix whatever problem exists with the post, and a chance to add value to this community. Hope this helps! :)

With that said, the rationale for migrating an off-topic question to another site is to give that question a chance to get good answers.

1
  • 1
    And for further reading, the blog post Respect the community -- your own and others', reminds us to "Be a bit jealous of your site" by not migrating posts away, simply because they can be asked elsewhere. This post reminds us that editing should always come first. This is very helpful advice for everyone! :)
    – jmort253
    Commented Dec 22, 2012 at 9:59

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .