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What's the story with the new about page? It's fancy now. I like it, and I suspect it'll be more useful for new CV users this way. (Side question: Should we link to it from the FAQ?)

I will say that I wish the old info were still accessible somewhere, as I thought that information was useful enough that I discussed it on several occasions.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you for bringing this to our attention. But what specifically is your question? $\endgroup$
    – whuber Mod
    Commented Jan 20, 2013 at 20:18
  • $\begingroup$ I'm mostly wondering what the story is. Based on your response, I'm guessing you didn't know about this, & the SE team just decided to improve the about page. As side questions, I wonder if there should be links b/t about & FAQ, b/c both will have useful info for newcomers. I'm also wondering if the old info still exists anywhere, or can be appended, just b/c I thought it was insightful about the nature of CV (albeit probably less useful for most users). $\endgroup$
    – gung - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Jan 20, 2013 at 20:41
  • $\begingroup$ It's a system-wide change to all the "About" pages AFAIK. I agree that links can help. Mods can create links by modifying the first section of the faq. We can't do anything directly to change the "About" page. $\endgroup$
    – whuber Mod
    Commented Jan 20, 2013 at 22:14
  • $\begingroup$ Mods can also alter the "Get answers to practical, detailed questions" section, @whuber. $\endgroup$
    – Aarthi Staff
    Commented Jan 21, 2013 at 20:30
  • $\begingroup$ @Aarthi I see the "edit" controls now: thank you for pointing this out. $\endgroup$
    – whuber Mod
    Commented Jan 21, 2013 at 21:03
  • $\begingroup$ Another relevant post on meta: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/164778/… $\endgroup$
    – whuber Mod
    Commented Feb 1, 2013 at 21:32

1 Answer 1

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From the meta post:

We've been working hard on ways to help improve the experience of new users, and one of the best ways to do that is to help teach them the basics about how our sites work before they run afoul of them.

This will improve their odds of having a good first experience, speed up how quickly they can become contributing members of community, and head off the frustrations they sometimes have as a result of crashing into one of the many things that make us... different.

There's more commentary and information in the link, but that's the gist of it -- we changed it because the old version wasn't helping new users. I firmly believe the new version does.

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    $\begingroup$ Thanks for letting me know. Could you guys also add a link at the end to the FAQ? I saw your comment that the mods could do it to the "Get answers... " section, but that doesn't seem like the ideal place. Also, does the old info still exist anywhere? I suspect it may not have been very helpful for most people, but I did think it was insightful. $\endgroup$
    – gung - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Jan 21, 2013 at 20:41
  • $\begingroup$ @gung That's a conversation your community will need to have. :) $\endgroup$
    – Aarthi Staff
    Commented Jan 21, 2013 at 21:31
  • $\begingroup$ @gung Apparently, we can also edit the foreword ("Cross Validated is a question and answer site (...)"). An alternative place would be the "Browse new questions, or ask your own" section, but this is beyond our mod privileges. $\endgroup$
    – chl Mod
    Commented Jan 21, 2013 at 22:16
  • $\begingroup$ @chl, I would imagine the forward makes more sense as a place to have a brief note about the FAQ w/ a link. $\endgroup$
    – gung - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Jan 22, 2013 at 14:01
  • $\begingroup$ @gung Done (though a bit late, sorry)! $\endgroup$
    – chl Mod
    Commented Mar 11, 2013 at 13:03

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