With the Exchanges that handle code based questions ( with the exception of Stack Overflow ) I feel you'll get more users that just grab the code and move on. Any question that isn't on the frontpage is going to get buried and only found through search when somebody is specifically looking for a solution ( unless otherwise linked ).

On the other hand, UXSE requires more of the users time to read and understand both the question and answer which I believe turns into a higher chance of getting upvoted. Niche questions will never get the same amount of views or votes as common ones. The factors on whether a question / answer is going to be well received ( views and votes ) are:

• How common is the question? ( niche vs common )
• How indepth is the answer given? ( explanation, not just copy / paste )
• How is the question being found? ( social media, blog, search )

Is it unfair? - maybe, I don't really think so. This isn't necessarily a forum but a resource to get your specific questions answered and help other in need.

Less likely for people to contribute? - I'm not so sure about this point either. People will always have questions that need answering and I still believe this is the best resource to get quality answers to WordPress specific questions. If they're not actively contributing now I don't believe that views, votes, or badges will convince them to start pitching in.

As you've pointed out above, the other code based exchanges have similar numbers, Stack Exchange is an obvious exception because it's a catch-all for code questions.

Perhaps it's that more people just use WPSE as a resource library rather than a interactive Q&A site, so that a higher portion of people visiting don't have the ability to up vote.

I would agree with this assertion but I don't believe it's a bad thing. Similar to The Codex or The WP Forums, both are great resources and both are maintained by volunteers. The Codex and Forum volunteers get almost no credit, no points, no badges when they add more information or answer questions yet they continue to thrive. People will contribute only if they want to and we can't force people to. Maybe we could do more to vote on questions but I don't believe votes alone correspond to contributions.

With the Exchanges that handle code based questions ( with the exception of Stack Overflow ) I feel you'll get more users that just grab the code and move on. Any question that isn't on the frontpage is going to get buried and only found through search when somebody is specifically looking for a solution ( unless otherwise linked ).

On the other hand, UXSE requires more of the users time to read and understand both the question and answer which I believe turns into a higher chance of getting upvoted. Niche questions will never get the same amount of views or votes as common ones. The factors on whether a question / answer is going to be well received ( views and votes ) are:

• How common is the question? ( niche vs common )
• How indepth is the answer given? ( explanation, not just copy / paste )
• How is the question being found? ( social media, blog, search )

Is it unfair? - maybe, I don't really think so. This isn't necessarily a forum but a resource to get your specific questions answered and help other in need.

Less likely for people to contribute? - I'm not so sure about this point either. People will always have questions that need answering and I still believe this is the best resource to get quality answers to WordPress specific questions. If they're not actively contributing now I don't believe that views, votes, or badges will convince them to start pitching in.

As you've pointed out above, the other code based exchanges have similar numbers, Stack Overflow is an obvious exception because it's a catch-all for code questions.

Perhaps it's that more people just use WPSE as a resource library rather than a interactive Q&A site, so that a higher portion of people visiting don't have the ability to up vote.

I would agree with this assertion but I don't believe it's a bad thing. Similar to The Codex or The WP Forums, both are great resources and both are maintained by volunteers. The Codex and Forum volunteers get almost no credit, no points, no badges when they add more information or answer questions yet they continue to thrive. People will contribute only if they want to and we can't force people to. Maybe we could do more to vote on questions but I don't believe votes alone correspond to contributions.