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Is it worth extending the definition of repair for a notable question?

This question has been quite popular over the last year or so since it was posted:

How do I transfer data from old iPhone to my new Android?

On the surface, it's not the sort of question that we like around here. We want questions that extend a product's lifespan.

Oldturkey removed it as 'not repair-related' back in Nov 15 2013, Ryan reopened it three days later, and it's been open until yesterday when Oldturkey deleted it again.

Andy posted a useful answer that was accepted and received a number of upvotes.

When the question was removed from the site, Andy lost the reputation from the post. Naturally, he would like his rep back. :-)

I'm of two minds on this. On the one hand:

  • This is outside the scope of hardware repair, even though it is information that helps someone use their device better

But this post is particularly notable and may merit an exception to the policy because:

  • It's received 58,000 views — clearly Google finds this a useful resource. Removing it would not make the internet better.
  • The answer was accepted by the asker. Why this does not make the question more legitimate, it does show that we have a completely solved issue.

What do you guys think? Is it worth it to be a bit more flexible in situations like this, or is it opening us up to a flood of software questions?

Update

So that everyone can see the post we're referring to, I went ahead and reopened it and then archived it. That way we won't get any new answers on it and it won't be featured throughout the site, but Andy will keep the reputation. This may be a viable strategy for similar situations in the future, but I defer to the community for that decision.

Answer this question I have this problem too

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I reopened this answer because I believe it is repair-related as possibly useful to someone in the process of completing a repair.

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Agreed. Andy's answer was absolutely a good answer. I did think long and hard about the way we handled it in the past when it came to software/firmware related issues. The longer the question remained, the more inappropriate answers regarding all kinds of software it accumulated. I based my decision, that this was question was not repair related, on that. I do apologize for any trouble or disappointment this may have caused. May be it will be wiser in the future to consider those questions as part of a repair as well.

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It was a judgement call. You have the power to delete it because your judgment is respected. You put the thought into it and that is all that can be asked. Under the guidelines we have been given you made the call. You were not incorrect. But it does bring up the question of the guidelines and that is what is being debated now, not your actions. We don't have a conference table to sit around discuss calls like iFixit does, we have to use our own judgement. And we ain't been kicked off yet ;-)

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The tool that we haven't used before is Archive. Archiving a question leaves it on the site, but stops featuring it on device pages and doesn't allow any more answers to be posted. I think that's the appropriate action for questions that are resolved but keep attracting bad answers. Perhaps a better term than 'archive' is 'close'.

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Archiving sounds like the way to go for those particular questions. Keeps the add's and spam down

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But it sounds like we still have to use our own judgement in determining if the question is notable enough to leave up long enough to be archived.

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Yes it does. I believe that the accumulation of answers with nothing but "recovery software" and other spam ware links could be a good indicator of when to archive

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Tough question. While an occasional social question for some fun on the site seems beneficial and enjoyable, i.e. How to peel an orange, I think the site might get overwhelmed. I also does not sell parts. We might want to address system update and upgrade questions with a guide. Maybe a guide on how a modem and router should work along with known issues. Just thinking out loud here, If the question can be directed to a guide it might be OK. Some latitude might be given to our regular contributors as they spend a lot of time and work very hard for the site.

In the action section it could be voted on.

BTW I see my social commentary question about the Terrain "Happy" dancers was deleted. I asked it because I was so outraged about this arrest. The thought of these uptight fanatics having nuclear weapons and their intolerance scares the pee-pee out of me.

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I tried to migrate your Happy dancer post to meta because I thought it was pretty interesting. I share your outrage! Alas, our 'migrate to meta' button is broken this week — we're working on a fix as we speak. Someone else came along and deleted it I guess. :-)

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Happy dancers was not deleted but found its way to Meta "How do you fix these insane happy people in Iran

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Good evening you'all,

Sorry guys to step into that topic, but I'm looking at it with the fresh eyes of a new user on ifixit. Maybe it can help a bit, we often say that when we are too much into something we can loose sight of the big picture!

At first my reaction, was why would that question be closed, but after reading Kyle's post I remembered visiting ifixit.org and couldn't agree more with him! Especially that I live in Africa for now over 10 years and spending there 90% of my time there made sense... You can't imaging what we can find there, millions of people are making a leaving out repairing, recycling and selling goods bought from dumps in Japan, Dubai, Europe... whether vehicle spare parts, old laptops, desktops, televisions, DVD... Even myself I do lot of repair at the office, simply because I can't always buy something new or find a new spare to fix it (also because it is horrendously expensive in Africa), from desktop at the office where soldering of a power supply has become common (due to the irregularity of power and fluctuation of electricity), or buying a second hand compressor from a vehicle at a dump in order to customize it and find a way to fit it and replace it in one of my second hand Toyota Hiaces and Noah vehicles so that A/C can work and keep my clients/guests happy during their safaris... In Africa everything can and get reconditioned, sold again and reused, if there is a place on earth where the lifespan of an object live to its maximum it is in Africa! After all it is true, let's repair the world one device at the time!

Ifixit is this is the philosophy with my experience of/and leaving in Africa which made me madly fell in love with ifixit! I'll be in the US for another 3 weeks, but rest assured that on my return, in Tanzania, I will not only spread the word around for ifixit website to friends and acquaintances of mine, making a living out of repairs and selling second hands goods, but I will also try to continue contributing in passing the experience I've gain in Africa with repairs! I am convinced that ifixit should be actively promoted in Africa, it would improve and empower the life of 100'000s of people there, I'm also equally convinced that Africans could contribute !@#$ of a lot on ifixit, some of them have a master in repairing goods which are beyond repair! Don't get me wrong, ifixt it is equally important in our Western World, it has the power to create and raise awareness in the society we live in, where consumption is not for our primary and secondary needs, but simply a rotten way of living!

Let me finish on that topic by telling Kyle, that I would love to meet with him back in Tanzania, to show him around, my head is buzzing of ideas, there is so much he could do there! A thank you is not strong enough to express my gratitude for the awesome sites and more importantly for his vision, it will definitely make the world for some a far better place!

Now, let's get back to the topic of extending the definition of repair! On the other end, at least for me, leaving in Africa and not having necessarily access to proper fundies (specialist technicians /repairmen in Kiswahili), would most likely yield in having a device not used at its full potential, and therefore shorten its live; as I would probably buy another newer and easier model (when becoming available for a decent price), thus since I couldn't get the "know how" on using it. I guess that we could say that to a certain extend, it could still be argued, not using a device at its full potential would increase to risk of getting another device and therefore not extending the lifespan of the said device to its maximum! Consequently, to cut a long story short I would also look forward to have a portion of this website not only dealing with hardware, but also on "know how" questions additionally to repairs ones!

Maybe it could help resolve quite a few issues of about having to move questions to meta.ifixit, or archiving it, or closing it, or getting a guide done for it, additionally issues of reputations would be settled with it! As mayer addressed it in his post, users would spend a lot more time on the site and work a lot harder as well! Last but not least it would also make the issue of opening ifixit to a flood of software questions obsolete!

Well that's about it, I hope that you guys would give it some thoughts, and maybe consider/ reflecting on creating a portion of this site or maybe add another site, as ifixit.org for "know how/software" questions!

Looking forward to read more about it in the coming next few days...

Have a good night all!

Max ;)

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Kyle Wiens will be eternally grateful.