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The Ask Question page need to give users more info/feedback when the 'Question you're asking appears subjective and is likely to be closed'' warning is shown.

I was shown this warning while asking this question and it is frustrating to not be given any advice on how to improve the style/wording.

I am a reasonably experienced StackOverflow user and am well aware of the whole subjective argument so it was easy enough for me to sort out.

But if an inexperienced user got this, they wouldn't have a clue what it meant or how they were supposed to fix it. All it really needs is a link to a relevant page (see link above maybe) explaining how to 'unsubjectify' your question.

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Well, since you're mentioning this on the UI StackExchange meta, I think it's worth noting that we currently don't have the same opinion about subjective questions. In UI, it's almost impossible not to ask a subjective question. So in terms of how it should work here ideally, I'd think about removing the subjective warning and instead adding a warning when you seem to be asking a list question. List questions can be inferred from words like "best", in your example.

But yes, the feedback should be more clear.

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  • As users (uh, me) move between various SE sites, the different thresholds/standards/opinions regarding subjective questions can be confusing. While I absolutely get the need for differing standards between sites/communities, I think the info explaining each site's standards should be more accessible, especially for new users. That said, UI.SE is still in beta so this is just part of the definition process.
    – Dhaust
    Commented Oct 13, 2010 at 22:59
  • It's still in beta, but what you're suggesting is also a network-wide problem. Not sure posting the suggestion here on UI meta will reach the right people, but not sure where else to do it. Perhaps on StackOverflow meta, which has a lot more traffic?
    – Rahul
    Commented Oct 14, 2010 at 7:35
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I agree; I turned off the subjective warning indicator for UI.

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  • Thanks, good decision. Rahul hit the nail on the head with his answer. And as per his comment, probably not a bad idea to mirgrate this to meta.SO as it is a network wide problem. The only problem I can see is that each SE site may need a different solution, as indicated by the solution used here.
    – Dhaust
    Commented Oct 17, 2010 at 23:31
  • And how does it feel to have 101 rep again? Been a while huh? ; )
    – Dhaust
    Commented Oct 17, 2010 at 23:34
  • I wish I could post images of dancing bananas in comments. ... But I guess it's a good thing we can't.
    – Rahul
    Commented Oct 26, 2010 at 20:16

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