Not sure where to post this--forum question

[RRiver]

I received an email notification to the "Motorcycle Project Idea" but the notification leads to a "Server Error 404" page. Seems the posting is gone. Someone did reply to the post with something about professional and questions should be work related. A review of the polices doesn't suggest any such thing and the post wasn't moved to a forum like "Engineers With Hobbies." What's going on?

I'm retired. Most of what I do is at my own expense for a large automotive museum's library and engineering data archive or put another way, not work related. With deference to TMI, is my participation here a violation of the sites policies?

There is no forum here where I can ask this question of administrators or moderators so here you go.

 

[3DDave]

It's a sometimes uneasy balance - for the most part posts are to be for professional endeavors or having some direct relation to what a day-to-day engineer might face. I don't believe there is a way for posts to get moved; no evidence of it that I have noticed since I joined. I think that if it might show up on another site dedicated, for example, to custom motorcycles, then it's either there or in the hobbies section.

If in doubt, search for similar posts to see what has been discussed. Politeness has been rewarded - name calling or hair pulling, not so much.

It's not my site, so these are personal observations that may or may not properly reflect the attitude of management.

As this is an off-topic thread, expect it to be taken out.

 

[RRiver]

Dave,

Thank you. My only intention with this post is to be polite but even more so, respectful of the site. Just FYI, the post in question wasn't mine but although the post may or may not have been work related, I don't believe that was identified on way or the other, some of the answers dealt with day to day considerations an engineer will\can come up against. If it does get taken out, that's fine. I'm not about to get angry over it. There's just no specific forum to go to with my question. Thank you again.

 

[Compositepro]

I saw the post but can't recall any details. This site is for trained engineers to give tips to other trained engineers. It is not for non-engineers trying to learn the basics of engineering. That is what schools are for. The policy is loosely enforced but the intent is to maintain the site so that the core audience of engineering professionals does not get annoyed or bored by the quality of the postings. If you do not already understand the difference between torque and horsepower, you should not be posting here.

 

[BrianPetersen]

I recall the post, too, and it sounded like a hobbyist trying to do something questionable, as opposed to something resembling a quasi-valid engineering problem.

There's plenty of other hobby-projects going on, but there doesn't seem to be any issue with writing or asking about those, as long as the subject matter is somewhat topical and of interest to the forum section in question. (and in my opinion, that is as it should be.)

 

[IRstuff]

Obviously, it's a bit subjective, but one of the posting policies for rejecting postings is

Leeching (members posting only questions, and never helping others)

In that vein, DIY and hobby posters who aren't engineers are likely to never be able to help engineers in their work questions. However, some DIY and hobby questions can potentially lead to insightful responses and discussion, and therefore, those questions are worth saving for posterity, since members often ask new posters to do a site search for previous responses to questions.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

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