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There are currently 2 proposals for Gardening, but as a more general case, I'd like to know how we will handle duplicate proposals?

Is there a way to close/merge them?

These are the Gardening ones:
- Gardening
- Gardening and Farming Organically

But as I said, I'm interested in discussing the general case

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The two examples are not duplicates of eachother. Gardening and Organic Gardening/Farming are very different since the methodology for handling things like bugs and fertilizer are extremely different. –  cmcculloh Aug 28 '10 at 14:01

6 Answers 6

up vote 4 down vote accepted

For those with sufficient reputation (at least 2000), there is an option to close a proposed site as a duplicate:

alt text

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Oh, I can't see that yet –  jmfsg Jun 1 '10 at 21:05
@Juan: yeah, I can only see it on my own proposals, and the link to the content policy is broken –  Kyle Cronin Jun 1 '10 at 21:12

Simple Answer: Let the community decide.

If there are people who want "Organic Gardening" in addition to "Gardening" (obviously there are a few in this case) then let it follow it's path. It will succeed or not succeed on it's own merits. No need for Big Brother to play his hand. (God, what would we do without George Orwell?!?)

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As on the trilogy, you can close as duplicate if you have enough reputation.

However, we allow a little more overlap in Area 51 proposals, especially in the discussion phase, as a way to decide what exactly the site should be. The two proposals in question are:

which are probably different enough to allow them to both stand. Users can vote whether they'd rather have an Organic Gardening site or a general Gardening site.

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The question the more-restrictive "organic" community needs to ask themselves is if there is anything inherently unique about those EXPERTS that they would want to have their own community: tolerance, scope, reciprocal interests, etc. –  Robert Cartaino Jun 1 '10 at 21:04
Speaking for this case specifically, as one of the GaFO followers I don't mind if it's merged into a more general site. –  Ether Jun 1 '10 at 23:06

Where the site proposal participants (both the original proposer and quesiton suggesters) on two sites clearly have the same basic audience in mind, I think a merge makes sense, and the tools exist.

But when the groups have a legitimate difference in interests, it needn't turn into a battle of wills. Overmerging of two (or more) unwilling groups just means watching a proposal get re-edited every 5 minutes until the name calling starts in the comments.

It's clear that @Ciaran and his Organic Gardening community are more personally committed to the organic aspect than the gardening one. I'd guess that they'd rather discuss organic laundry than commercial farming.

While @Gnoupi is right that they don't own the proposal, forcing a merge here doesn't make a ton of sense to me, any more than it would make sense to force "Gamers" into a "Leisure Activities" site that includes reading. Maybe it's good for them, but they're not going to stay, because books don't let them get fragged by European adolescents online, and that's what they're interested in talking about.

The organic group is really about organicness (organicity?), not gardening, and it will be big enough to stand on its own, or it won't.

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There is a [Close as duplicate] reason for proposals, just like any question on Stack Overflow (with sufficient reputation).

Merging is a bit trickier. Likely, the community should have a "discussion" along side the remaining proposal to include any elements or scope changes from the closed proposal that you wish to retain.

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In reference to this specific case, there's no question that merging "Gardening and Farming Organically" into a more "general" site shouldn't happen. Gardening without paying attention to organic principles is a very different activity from organic gardening.

These are two DIFFERENT proposals. I proposed "Gardening and Farming Organically" and I would delete the proposal before I allow a merge to happen. If you want a non-organic gardening site then please follow the "Gardening" one.

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"I proposed "Gardening and Farming Organically" and I would delete the proposal before I allow a merge to happen.". Not that I would want to burst your bubble here, but if the community decides it should be merged, it's not your own choice to refuse it. You proposed it, you don't own it, ultimately. –  Gnoupi Jun 2 '10 at 9:47
If this were to happen I would be very upset and I will be taking any steps I can to prevent this. please see this question meta.stackexchange.com/questions/52122/… –  Ciaran De Buitlear Jun 2 '10 at 10:33

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