# Should we have a "META" category?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253>\
**Category:** Meta Discussion\
**Tags:** proposal\
**Created:** [January 3, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253 "2017-01-03T00:15:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 13\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![juliohm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/juliohm/32/215266_2.png) [@juliohm](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/juliohm)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253/1 "2017-01-03T00:15:04Z")

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Should we have a “META” category to discuss this discussion forum, announce new categories, guidelines, etc?

I want to follow new categories yet to be created…

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**Author:** ![vchuravy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/vchuravy/32/8_2.png) [@vchuravy](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/vchuravy)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 1:51am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253/2 "2017-01-03T01:51:47Z")

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That is exactly the purpose of the _Site Feedback_ category

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**Author:** ![swissr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/swissr/32/208_2.png) [@swissr](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/swissr)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 10:02am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253/3 "2017-01-03T10:02:20Z")

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Why has a ~non-standard term like _Site Feedback_ be preferred over _meta_? In [Rust](https://users.rust-lang.org/) and the majority of the [discours our customer page](http://www.discourse.org/faq/customers/) there is a meta category.

(not really important, just wondering)

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**Author:** ![vchuravy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/vchuravy/32/8_2.png) [@vchuravy](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/vchuravy)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 10:05am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253/4 "2017-01-03T10:05:45Z")

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It is the default name when discourse is setup for the first time. For me the main reason not to change the name, is that _meta_ has another meaning in Julia (e.g. _meta_programming).

There was some discussion about this in the beginning [Discussion categories - #12 by jameson](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/discussion-categories/85/12)

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**Author:** ![swissr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/swissr/32/208_2.png) [@swissr](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/swissr)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 10:29am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253/5 "2017-01-03T10:29:42Z")

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Thank you!

I suppose you and Jameson are ‘deep into Julia’ and think about _meta-programming_ when hearing meta. A (relative) new Julia user might think of the _meta forum category_ when hearing meta.

If I had noticed the previous discussion I would have argued for a ‘meta-programming’ and a ‘meta’ category. Now it’s probably too late/unimportant to change. Or most people prefer ‘Site Feedback’.

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**Author:** ![juliohm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/juliohm/32/215266_2.png) [@juliohm](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/juliohm)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 12:00pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253/6 "2017-01-03T12:00:38Z")

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I vote for renaming `Site Feedback` to `Meta`.

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**Author:** ![vchuravy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/vchuravy/32/8_2.png) [@vchuravy](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/vchuravy)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253/7 "2017-01-03T15:18:45Z")

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I reworded the description of this category to highlight that it is for meta-discussion, I think that the argument against the name _Meta_ is valid and I have not heard any outstanding reasons why _Site Feedback_ is bad and a rename would be worth the trouble.

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**Author:** ![juliohm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/juliohm/32/215266_2.png) [@juliohm](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/juliohm)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253/8 "2017-01-03T15:26:00Z")

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@vchuravy I feel that `Site Feedback` doesn’t translate the intention of discussing new categories and other meta topics. I find it strange, it sounds like a default place where no one searches. For instance, I never imagined it was the place to discuss meta like in `StackExchange` websites.

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**Author:** ![swissr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/swissr/32/208_2.png) [@swissr](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/swissr)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253/9 "2017-01-03T17:23:19Z")

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@vchuravy: sorry, but I disagree. You write in the description “to come together and discuss all things Julia”. This is exactly what I understand as _meta_. Why not call the category what it is?

- _Site Feedback_ for me is much more limited in scope. Besides I did not find this term used even once when I looked at the [discourse customer pages](http://www.discourse.org/faq/customers/) I linked above. There was (one time) a _Forum feedback_ category or else _meta_ (or nothing).
- There is a [blog post](https://blog.discourse.org/2013/03/the-importance-of-meta-on-forums/) from Jeff Attwood about the importance of meta. The examples he gives fit the _meta_ categorization but not always the _site-feedback_ categorization (imho)
- (In the ‘official discourse forum’ there is a _meta_ (and _not_ a _site-feedback_) category. A bit confusingly they [mention](https://meta.discourse.org/t/what-is-meta-or-site-feedback/5249) site-feedback though)

In the previous discussion linked by you, @jameson was [critical towards meta](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/discussion-categories/85/12), on the other hand @StefanKarpinski was in favour of a [meta category](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/discussion-categories/85) and wanted to rename ‘Site Feedback’. There was not really an extended discussion about meta; maybe Jameson would have agreed that _meta_ is commonly used as a ‘meta-category’ for discourse instances? And that _meta-programming_ would work well? I don’t know.

Would a rename be worth the trouble? If more people are in favour of _meta_ I do think, yes. No need to not be (or become) mainstream here.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![juliohm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/juliohm/32/215266_2.png) [@juliohm](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/juliohm)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253/10 "2017-01-03T17:29:47Z")

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I second that, we could have a `meta` category and a `metaprogramming` category without ambiguity.

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**Author:** ![juliohm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/juliohm/32/215266_2.png) [@juliohm](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/juliohm)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253/11 "2017-01-25T16:22:14Z")

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Are we renaming `Site Feedback` to `Meta`?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vchuravy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/vchuravy/32/8_2.png) [@vchuravy](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/vchuravy)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253/12 "2017-01-27T00:30:23Z")

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Done just now. \<20 chars\>

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![vchuravy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/vchuravy/32/8_2.png) [@vchuravy](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/vchuravy)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/should-we-have-a-meta-category/1253/13 "2017-01-27T00:30:37Z")

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