New proposal, taking into account all the feedback here:
Site structure:
- A site has a concept of categories. Main-site content (the main Q&A) is the main category. Meta is another. (There could be others in the future, like blog posts or a sandbox or canonical posts.)
- The site provides clear affordances for switching among categories, such as tabs.
- A category may share a tag set with another category or have its own.
- By default, posts are shown only in their own categories.
- Moderators can additionally publicize a post in any category to the main category.
- Not MVP, but don’t preclude: users can choose to show all posts from selected other categories on the main page alongside the main Q&A.
Meta:
- The meta area, meta posts, and meta tags have clear visual differences from main-site analogues.
- There is a clear way to make a meta post. This could be a separate “ask on meta” affordance or a choice on the “ask question” page or something else.
- Meta posts use a tag set that is separate from the main-site tag set.
New post type: discussion (not required for MVP, but desired)
- A discussion is a top-level post (like a question), but the only supported responses are comments (which will be threaded, same as elsewhere).
- Comments on discussion posts will not be as aggressively collapsed as on questions and answers. (Ideally comments are expanded by default unless there’s a ridiculously large number.)
- A discussion can be resolved by either the author or a moderator. Resolving a discussion adds an answer in which the resolver describes the resolution.
- Discussion posts must be meta posts.