| URL | http://stackexchange.com/ |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Question & Answer |
| Owner | Stack Exchange Inc.[1] |
| Created by | Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky |
| Launched | August 2008 |
The Stack Exchange Network is a network of websites featuring questions and answers on a wide range of topics in different fields,[2][3][4][5] owned and operated by Stack Exchange, Inc., based in New York City.[1]
The website features the ability for users to ask and answer questions. Through membership and active participation, users vote questions and answers up or down and edit questions and answers in a wiki fashion. Users can earn reputation points and "badges" through site participation; for example, a user is awarded 10 reputation points for receiving an "up" vote on an answer given to a question, and can receive badges for their valued contributions.[6] By collecting reputation points, users are given more and more permissions, ranging from the ability to vote and comment on questions and answers to the ability to moderate many aspects of the site.[6]
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Stack Exchange’s first site, Stack Overflow, was created by Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky in 2008[7][8] as a more open alternative to earlier forums such as Experts Exchange. Soon after Stack Overflow exited from its beta phase, a few more sites were added to the network, starting with Server Fault, which entered public beta on May 26, 2009.[9]
The Stack Exchange platform was first released by Fog Creek Software as a solution for third-parties to create their own communities based on the software behind Stack Overflow and its sister sites.[10] Later, the site was repurposed so the community can collaborate in deciding on what sites should be added to the network.[11] Known by the community as the "Trilogy" sites,[12] the Stack Exchange network began with three sites:
Stack Overflow was created by Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky in 2008[7][8] as a more open alternative to earlier programmer forums such as Experts Exchange. The name for the website was chosen by voting in April 2008 by readers of Coding Horror, Atwood's popular programming blog.[13] On September 15, 2008 it was announced the public beta was in session and that the general public was now able to use it to seek assistance on programming related issues.
As of January 2011[update], Stack Overflow has about 450,000 registered users and 1.2 million questions. Based on tags assigned to the questions, the most common topics on the site are C#, Java, PHP, .NET, ASP.NET, JavaScript, C++, jQuery, iPhone, and Python.[14]
In April 2009, the owners of Stack Overflow began a private beta for Server Fault, a sister site. The site deals exclusively with questions and answers related to the field of system administration, designed for use by system administrators and IT professionals.[15] It went into open beta in May 2009, with registration open to all.
Based on tags assigned to the questions, the most common topics on the site are Linux, Windows, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, security, networking, SQL Server, Apache, Ubuntu and backups.[16]
Super User, a sister site dedicated to questions from all computer "power users",[17] rather than just programmers or system administrators, was launched publicly on August 18, 2009.[18]
Launched in February 2010,[10] Stack Exchange 1.0 was a product sold to third-parties to create sites based on the software that powers Stack Overflow, with the third-parties owning the sites they created.[19]
The sites that were created were all hosted by Fog Creek Software [20] with pricing for the platform based on the number of page views, starting at $129 per month for up to 1 million page views.[21]
MathOverflow was perhaps the most successful of these sites, and while no more 1.0 sites are being launched, some are still thriving, and others have been incorporated into the 2.0 platform.
In April 2010, with the help of venture capital funding,[22][23][24][25] Stack Exchange 2.0 was announced by Stack Exchange, Inc. (then Stack Overflow Internet Services, Inc.),[11][20] creating new free-of-charge sites owned by the owners of the Stack Exchange network (instead of by individual third-parties) with content publicly owned under a Creative Commons license.[11] New sites are proposed, voted on, and created using a crowd-sourcing process where people can propose ideas.[26]
The site creation zone of the Stack Exchange Network is called Area 51. It allows people to create expert and Q&A websites. The site itself describes the zone: "Area 51 is the Stack Exchange Network staging zone, where users come together to build new Q&A sites. New site ideas are proposed, discussed, and the best go on to beta. See the faq for more information."[27]
As of July 2011[update], 25 sites have fully launched, with another 33 in public beta.[28] Perhaps the fastest growing of these has been Ask Ubuntu which launched alongside Ubuntu 10.10[29] after receiving help from Canonical both in allowing use of their trademark, and in helping theme the site to follow the Ubuntu brand guidelines.[30]
One of the early sites using the Stack Exchange 1.0 software is Mathematical research Q&A MathOverflow[31] which is being used by many prominent mathematicians including a number of Fields Medalists. The network is using the Stack Exchange 2.0 to expand to cover other academic research areas like Statistics and Data Mining,[32] Theoretical Computer Science,[33] Linguistics,[34] Literature,[35] and Theoretical Physics,[36] Theology,[37] Economics,[38] and History.[39] The network also supports Q&A sites for general level questions.[40][41]
In April, 2009 Stack Exchange implemented a policy of "timed suspension",[42] in order to curtail users whose actions are deemed to be detrimental to the community. Criticism of this new feature has focused on the broad nature of such definitions. Critics also point to the authoritarian tone and punitive nature set by the new policy and the arbitrary judgement it allows. Users who are deemed problematic may be suspended for a period of time based on a moderator's judgement with the maximum of two week. The suspension can be accompanied by a temporary removal of the user's reputation score and an announcement on the user's profile page informing the community of the suspension and general reason.