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If we check Area51, we are going superb.

We got excellent in all type, what we are lagging behind is answer ratio. It is 1.5. We should make efforts to increase it 2.5.

I think that will let us to come out from beta phase.

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    $\begingroup$ The answer ratio will be directly related to the number of participants our community has. For example, someone may ask a question and they could get a different answer depending on the type of chemist that contributes. My answers will likely come from a physical chemistry/theoretical chemistry perspective, a far cry from what an organic chemist may have. Those of us who are computational chemists may not be eager to leave a near identical reply if an answer that is given only requires tweaking and a bit of extra info. A diverse and involved community will automatically resolve this ratio. $\endgroup$ Sep 15, 2014 at 19:19
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    $\begingroup$ I agree with @LordStryker. If there was a computational/ theoretical chemistry motivated answer already, I would leave a comment if I thought it could be improved. I do not need to restate what was already given. I personally would always favour quality over quantity. There are more chatty places like academia.se, where there are many points of view that can be expressed. Homework questions for example often only require one answer, as there is usually only one solution. $\endgroup$ Sep 16, 2014 at 3:24

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we are going superb

We are doing a phenomenal job, actually. We have a solid core of users that work extremely hard to ask and answer great questions, and we're constantly trying to hammer out policies for improving the site. I'm biased about how great our users are because it's our own community, but from an objective standpoint, I think we're in great shape.

I think that will [let] us to come out from beta phase.

Unfortunately, having "excellent" in all of those categories is neither sufficient nor necessary to come out of Beta.

Those statistics are part of a benchmark that, in my opinion, needs to be normalized by the type of site. Sites that are a bit more subjective like Workplace (which graduated from beta a few months ago now) will have a lot more answers per question than a science site like Biology or Chemistry.SE, for example.

I'm certainly not advocating having one answer per question, as I think it's great to have multiple perspectives, but I wouldn't want users to "force" answers just for the purposes of bolstering a statistic.

We (the moderators) are just as anxious to graduate as you are, but the best route is the one that we're already taking: providing quality questions and answers and improving those Q&As that don't arrive that way.

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  • $\begingroup$ For the true stats junkies, you can always check out stackexchange.com/sites?view=list#traffic (and all of the other parameters) as to how we compare to both beta and graduated sites. $\endgroup$
    – jonsca
    Sep 14, 2014 at 4:06
  • $\begingroup$ Wow, we really tackled that unanswered questions problem - I haven't even noticed :D $\endgroup$ Sep 16, 2014 at 3:19
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I was looking through the stack exchange blog post that discusses "graduation" from beta. I'd think there's also an issue with the number of members with enough reputation.

Consider the all-time reputation list which shows we only have a few members with 10k+ reputation. A "graduated" site supposedly requires 10k reputation points to access moderator tools.

From the blog post linked above:

If the site needs interim reputation levels, that is a strong indication that the site isn’t ready to graduate.

The advice given on the linked post is to keep voting and keep asking and answering.

Personally, I think the site is doing great. I re-discovered it and found some great questions and some really great answers.

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    $\begingroup$ I think we should move forward the way we are moving, and maintain quality of site. $\endgroup$
    – Freddy
    Sep 15, 2014 at 17:43
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    $\begingroup$ Yes, that's basically what I'm saying. Of course it doesn't hurt to spread the word to others about using the site either. :-) $\endgroup$ Sep 15, 2014 at 17:46
  • $\begingroup$ I absolutely agree, this could be a huge problem. There was a glitch a few weeks or months ago, where the reputation levels were increased to the levels of graduated sites. Closing and or reopening would be a task that would have been almost impossible from the queues. Also mind that there are some high rep user not active anymore. Since I joined about half a year ago I noticed a lot of new dedicated users emerge and I hope this trend continues. I am trying to work here as much as I can, but I am aware that this won't be lasting forever and this might be true for a lot of users. $\endgroup$ Sep 16, 2014 at 3:12
  • $\begingroup$ This is definitely one of the factors, but as you observe, we are making substantial progress. We have a solid core of 3K (reputation) users and that's really the most important thing. 10K users can field some flags, but most and more of these are being directed into the queues at this point. We also have enough moderator support at this point such that it's not critical to have those extra hands. In the end there's a "je ne sais quoi" factor that goes into whether a site is truly ready, which isn't something that can really be pinned down by one statistic or another. $\endgroup$
    – jonsca
    Sep 16, 2014 at 4:10
  • $\begingroup$ And yes, absolutely feel free to invite colleagues or any one else you think would benefit. There are a group of badges that you can get for sharing links that get a lot of traffic, so share away! (within reason of course) $\endgroup$
    – jonsca
    Sep 16, 2014 at 4:13
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We got excellent in all type, what we are lagging behind is answer ratio. It is 1.5. We should make efforts to increase it 2.5.

I appreciate your enthusiasm, but who is the we that should make efforts?

As of now, the top five (ten) users on chemistry.SE have provided a total of 1246 (1924) answers. Not too bad, isn't it? Being among these, your motivational call leaves me unimpressed.

No offense, but to me, your call to arms lacks something substantial: Leadership by example.

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  • $\begingroup$ by using "we" i mean to say all the users in Chemistry S.E. at last everyone contribution is necessary. $\endgroup$
    – Freddy
    Sep 18, 2014 at 5:06
  • $\begingroup$ @hey I also note that this is calculated based on the total number of questions (~4000) so to raise the bar, we need to increase the number of answers on a few thousand questions or so. $\endgroup$ Sep 23, 2014 at 3:58

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