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Thought I would bring this discussion to Meta.

This question was approved to be migrated from programmers.se to WPSE: Proper way to create / manage gettext (.po, .pot) files?

While the question mentions WordPress, neither the question nor the answer has anything directly to do with WordPress. The question is a general question about tools for generating .MO/.PO files.

Why are such questions approved to be migrated? Moderators, of all people, should be policing such migrations to ensure that the question falls within our specific, defined scope.

WPSE is not a general catch-all for all questions related to web development (PHP, CSS, translation, etc.). Its scope specifically includes WordPress development. I believe that allowing migration (or failing to close WPSE-initiated) questions that are clearly outside of our scope is detrimental to WPSE, because it dilutes the scope, and the quality of questions/answers.

I know I'm probably the "scope nazi" around here, but I would like clarification/consensus on this point.

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I was asked about migration of this question behind the scenes and ok-ed it.

As I see it user is asking about i18n for (and only) WordPress, not technical concept in general.

In my opinion there are enough specifics about how WordPress (as software and as project) handles localization of core and extensions, as well as enough WordPress-specific tools to help with it that it is very reasonable to consider this in scope.

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  • Just because a question is asked in the context of WordPress does not mean that it is a question about WordPress. The specific question is about creating translation files for any given, arbitrary package (not even necessarily PHP, though we can assume that). In fact, it is a question about a "technical concept in general". Further, none of the "specifics about how WordPress (as software and as project) handles localization of core and extensions" have any direct bearing on how to answer this question. Consider: the most likely answer is use POEdit. How is that WordPress-specific?
    – Chip Bennett
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 17:09
  • @Chip the most likely answer is use POEdit curiously neither of two answers so far (one of which is admittedly mine) mention it, but point to WordPress-specific resources instead.
    – Rarst Mod
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 17:14
  • Actually, Scribu's answer does mention POEdit. It's one of the first tools listed under "Translation Tools" at the link he provides. At a minimum, the question needs to be re-written, to indicate that the question is, "how do I create translation files for WOrdPress" - but even then, given that the answer is a link to a Codex entry, the question is of dubious value for WPSE.
    – Chip Bennett
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 17:21
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Migrations do not have to be "approved". The community can vote to move a post to a limited number of sites, or a moderator can move a post to any site in the Stack Exchange network.

In this case, that's exactly what happened. Looking at the question on Programmers, you can see that a moderator there moved the question over.

Now, it is the case that Rarst was asked about the migration and he told ChrisF to migrate the post over. However, this is a courtesy and by no means expected when one moderator chooses to migrate a question to another site.

That said, it is a source of some agita on the Stack Exchange sites. However, you can always flag it for moderator attention and indicate that it's off-topic or that it should be migrated to another site.

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  • Migrations should have to be "approved". Moderators for the outgoing site of a question should only be able to propose a question be migrated, and that migration should have to be approved by a moderator for the incoming site. This seems to be a rather large oversight for the SE community.
    – Chip Bennett
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 18:18
  • @ChipBennett I appreciate what you're trying to say, but you are indicating not how things are, but how you would like them to be. The place to take this up is over on Meta Stack Overflow, as it's a fundamental issue with voting and moderator ability (note, I'm a moderator on Stack Overflow, and Meta Stack Overflow is considered the central hub for any questions regarding the nature of the functionality that applies to any of the Stack Exchange sites in general).
    – casperOne
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 18:22
  • @casperOne I want to note that to my knowledge standing recommendation is to raise issues on local stack's meta first, even if they touch whole network.
    – Rarst Mod
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 18:45
  • @Rarst If they touch the whole network, it might as well be asked on Meta Stack Overflow; it will end up being migrated there anyways, as it would affect the entire network and that's considered the "town hall" for all of Stack Exchange.
    – casperOne
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 18:52
  • @casperOne it's just how I was instructed to handle it (I think in moderator newsletter while back and somewhere else), fine by me either way
    – Rarst Mod
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 22:05

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