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Let's clarify rules on crossposting for Codidact Power Users
I received a mod warning on https://powerusers.codidact.com/warning and I am now confused about some rules on Codidact Power Users. In this meta question, I'll focus on the rules around crossposting, e.g. posting the same question on both Codidact Power Users and Stack Exchange.
I read on Post on Stack Exchange and Codidact that crossposting is allowed. I was not aware of any other rules but the mod warning I received seems to introduce some rules on crossposting:
- don't submit too many crossposts (no idea if that means 1/week, 1/day or 10/day)
- must link to the other posts
- wait some time before crossposting (i.e., don't post the same question on two sides at the same time)
Questions:
- Is this list of conditions correct and comprehensive?
- Can someone clarify how many crossposts are allowed (e.g. how many crossposts per day) and how much time one must wait before crossposting (e.g., if one posts a question on Stack Exchange, how long does one have to wait before being authorized to post the same question on Codidact Power Users)?
I posted a more general question on https://meta.codidact.com/ but I was told that the specifics depends on the exact Codidact site, so I'm posting the question here.
Part of the mod message about crossposts.
Hello,
You have posted a large number of questions that are cut-and-paste copies of questions from other sites such as Reddit and Stack Exchange. These questions do not link to the other posts, nor have you edited them to improve them based on what you have learned elsewhere. In some cases, you have cross-posted the same question to multiple sites at the same time. Moderators have asked you to change this behavior but you have not.
There are several issues here:
This kind of cross-posting wastes the time of people answering the question. They won't know that you already got an answer on Reddit or that discussion on SE led you to edit the question there. This is disrespectful of our community members' time and attention.
Excessive copy-pasting from elsewhere makes Codidact look like a scraper site. We're not.
The sheer *volume* of these crossposts takes attention away from other questions.
This must stop.
For transparency, here is the entire mod message, but let's focus solely on crossposts in this meta question. E.g., let's ignore the quality debate.
Hello,This message is from the Codidact community team.
You have posted a large number of questions that are cut-and-paste copies of questions from other sites such as Reddit and Stack Exchange. These questions do not link to the other posts, nor have you edited them to improve them based on what you have learned elsewhere. In some cases, you have cross-posted the same question to multiple sites at the same time. Moderators have asked you to change this behavior but you have not.
There are several issues here:
-
This kind of cross-posting wastes the time of people answering the question. They won't know that you already got an answer on Reddit or that discussion on SE led you to edit the question there. This is disrespectful of our community members' time and attention.
-
Excessive copy-pasting from elsewhere makes Codidact look like a scraper site. We're not.
-
The sheer volume of these crossposts takes attention away from other questions.
This must stop.
In addition, the quality of the questions is often low, with little explanation and screenshots in place of text. We'd like you to slow down and focus on quality.
This doesn't mean you can never ask a question you've asked elsewhere. But do it one site at a time, link to the prior versions, and thoughtfully incorporate what you learned when you write the new question here. Share what you've tried already, just like if you had consulted the documentation or used a published example, and incorporate it. When you post a question on Codidact that you have previously asked somewhere else, the version on Codidact should be the best version of the question, not a blind copy. Slow down and be mindful of the other members of the community.
We are revoking the Participate Everywhere ability on your account across the network. This imposes a rate limit on questions. When you have enough positive activity to demonstrate that you have improved, you will re-earn the ability.
We are also reviewing your activity and expect to delete many of these questions. This will be a human review, not a SQL query, so it will not be instantaneous.
We welcome your participation with original quality content and hope you will also try answering other people's questions. A community has its best shot at success when people work together toward a shared goal -- asking, answering, editing, and making Codidact the best place it can be.
If you have questions about this message, you can send email to [email protected].
This is a formal warning from the moderation team. In the event of continued violations of the site rules, your account may be suspended. If you have any questions regarding the site rules, you can ask them in the Meta category of this site or on meta.codidact.com. If you have any questions about this warning or would like to dispute it, contact us.
☐ I have read this warning and will follow the rules from now on.
2 answers
I suggest that we don't allow direct cross-posts at all.
If you have a problem, about which you've previously asked somewhere else, you can write a new question about the problem -- in particular taking into account what you learnt and tried in the mean time.
The post should be unique content, not something copy & pasted. And you should nevertheless link to previous related questions and also link from the previous questions to your new post to avoid wasting time of users, who consider helping you as well as users who might have the same problem.
And when asking new questions, keep in mind that PU is a small community. If you get a couple of votes in either direction, don't ignore them as a few users who allegedly don't understand how the site works, that's probably the whole of the active users. Same for comments. Also consider that users might want to see a variety of content, please don't drown out everybody else's activity. The goal is not to ask as many questions as possible, the goal is to contribute high-quality content to a library of knowledge.
Update January 2026
Given the supportive voting on this and other answers about this topic, I added a paragraph about cross-posting to our FAQ.
1 comment thread
Stop being a rules-lawyer. Instead, read the room and try to fit in. If you actually give that an honest try instead of arguing about every detail you can get away with, you and the site will be better off.
I read on Post on Stack Exchange and Codidact that crossposting is allowed.
The post you reference is very old, from five years ago. Codidact was very new then with little history to learn from. It was already pointed out 11 days ago in your Codidact Meta question that there was more recent and specific discussion about cross posts. An answer by Monica on Main meta about copying content from elsewhere is at +33 -0 votes. An answer by samcarter on meta here about why cross posts are bad for the site is at +8 -0. Clearly, the users overwhelmingly agree with both posts.
Now you come here, 11 days later, with the same argument that has already been shown to be outdated. That indicates you learned nothing from your earlier post, or that your purpose is only to maximize what you can get away with regardless of what the users think.
However, on Codidact, the users are the site. Codidact is small, and the Power Users subset even smaller. 34 (counting the OP too) to 0 on main meta, and 9 to 0 on Power Users are both a very strong consensus for their respective places. Going against either of those posts might be tolerated for a while, but will annoy the users and will be seen as rude. There should be no surprise when a mod eventually takes action after you persist.
Is this list of conditions correct and comprehensive?
Can someone clarify how many crossposts are allowed
You're being a rules-lawyer again. I think most here don't want to waste time arguing over exactly how much annoyance will eventually cause a mod action.
The users have spoken. Ignore them at your peril.
Neither of these posts gave clear guidance. Just like yours. Hence my question here trying to clarify it.
Then you haven't been listening. Both the posts I cited clearly show what the users think is OK and what's not. Doing those things that the users overwhelmingly disagree with is going to piss them off. Again, it should be no surprise that eventually results in mod actions when persistently done.
Until you lose the rules-lawyer mindset, you will continue to have trouble. Think of how the other users will receive your posts, not what technicalities you can argue to get away with.
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