Site Scope / Name Conflict at Documentation/Technical Communication

Question

Proposal: Technical Communication

NOTE: As a newcomer to this proposal, I apologize for jumping in and kicking sand all over everything. But, I think this is really important to address now, before the commitment phase.

The proposal currently titled "Technical Communication" started its life with the title "Documentation." Due to a name collision with Stack Overflow Documentation, SE Overwatch prohibited the use of the name "Documentation Stack Exchange" for the site. This resulted in the name change to the current "Technical Communication."

If the scope of the new site is to be restricted solely to documentation, then the name "Technical Communication" is a terrible fit for the site. Technical communication includes things like scientific articles, technical reports, patents, slide presentations, etc. I came to the proposal expecting it to be for technical communication broadly defined, and was caught off guard when all of the proposed questions related to documentation.

IMO: Something needs to change, either the site scope or the site name.

Answer 1

I see your point, and understand your concern.

Somehow, this reminds me of the Programmers vs Software Engineering dilemma. While It's true that many of the example questions posted so far are focused on documentation, this highly voted question is a good exception. I do think that the site description needs some modifications to make the scope more inclusive, and that's why I up-voted your contribution in the site description discussion.

Since the site name and scope are explicitly related, I'm confident that "Technical Communication" provides the appropriate scope that we want for the site. The fact of having lots of questions about documentation development should not rule out questions on the development of other technical documents such as the ones you mentioned, namely scientific articles, technical reports, etc. If the site goes live (which I really hope), efforts should be focused on developing a clear tour page and an enlightening help center that would dispel any doubts about the scope of the site.

In short, I agree that we need to modify the site description to make its scope more inclusive. "Technical Communication" is a good site name because it doesn't interfere with Stack Overflow Documentation and it provides the adequate scope for many related topics to coexist.

Thanks for your insistence and for raising awareness on this. It's better to have this discussion now than after the site goes live. I hope to see more contributions from you. Good job!

Answer 2

Relative to part of your question:

If the scope of the new site is to be restricted solely to documentation, then the name "Technical Communication" is a terrible fit for the site. Technical communication includes things like scientific articles, technical reports, patents, slide presentations, etc. I came to the proposal expecting it to be for technical communication broadly defined, and was caught off guard when all of the proposed questions related to documentation.

In my mind, 'Documentation' includes all of those subjects, and others. I'd include assembly instructions (i.e. bicycle), users manuals (i.e. toaster oven), legislative extracts, court reports (and summaries), and many others.

'Technical Communication,' while inclusive of such things, maybe, feels more restrictive. I think the live site will actually receive less traffic from extra-technical realms than it would have with the original proposed name.

I really hope that the Tour and Help Center work suggested by @Cebri does well at encouraging the diversity of document creators I'd hoped to see from the original moniker.

Relative to the lack of diversity in the proposed questions: I think most of them are from computer/tech types, and focus on what they know/do. More, early, interest in the site from professionals outside the computer realm will be, I think, critical to the eventual usefulness and growth of the site once it reaches beta.

Answer 3

I see from the downvotes this question has received that people are not happy about this. I ask everyone to consider, though: if If Technical Communication is chosen as the site name, the site will probably get many people wandering in like I did, expecting the scope of the site to include, e.g., preparation of scientific journal articles. Thus, there would likely be a continuous stream of off-topic questions coming to the site from OP's who make the same assumption I did.

Anyways—since the bulk of the proposed questions posted to the proposal thus far are focused on documentation, I assume there is some chance that most followers want to retain this scope. (To be clear, I'm totally on board with this, and am interested in participating on such a site! Sphinx is awesome.) It seems to me that the name has would have to have "Documentation" in it somewhere; it just has to be just something that stands sufficiently apart from "Stack Overflow Documentation" to avoid confusion. Some options I've thought of:

• Technical Docs (techdocs.stackexchange.com) – This is similar to a previous, poorly-received suggestion, however.

• Documentation Tools and Technique (doctools.stackexchange.com) – Descriptive, but probably too wordy.

• Documentation Best Practices (docsbestpractices.stackexchange.com) – Not my favorite, and it makes for a really awkward URL.

• Documentation Preparation (docsprep.stackexchange.com) – A bit awkward, kind of redundant, and having both words end in -tion is kind of annoying.

• Documentation Composition (docscomp.stackexchange.com) – This one seems worse -- 'composition' is too focused on the writing aspect, and it still has the double -tion.

• Documentation Development (docsdev.stackexchange.com) – Maybe somewhat better than Documentation Preparation? It at least gets rid of the double -tion.

• Writing Documentation (writedocs.stackexchange.com) – Not bad? Not sure I like using a gerund phrase as a title. Also runs the risk of collision with Write the Docs.

• Creating Documentation (createdocs.stackexchange.com) – More general than Writing, but doesn't seem like as good of a fit. Still has the gerund-phrase problem. Does avoid collision with Write the Docs.

Answer 4

I agree with the OP. The word 'technical' is too broad and vague that person who feels that he is a 'non-technical' sort of guy might leave the site without understanding that the site is meant for all communications required in professional arena (as previous answer mentioned - from manuals, templates, formats and best practices).

This even create a void in the potential traffic of university students (other than engineering or related 'technical' fields) who used to constantly search for presentations etiquette as well as documenting their projects, reports and papers of their subjects or fields. (This, I believe can also be termed as a 'professional communication' and an on-topic subject)

We must therefore ensure that site's name should clarify its scope and welcomes everyone who requires guidelines on official communication.

I 'committed' this site today. Meaning the site is in committed phase already and therefore I am not sure whether we can change the Site title and/or scope, but it is best if we can project and echo the site's scope more clearly especially to those who might repel themselves from word 'technical'