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Let's do another one of these. :)

There are lots of metrics we can use to "measure" a site, and we do, but none of them matter as much as having a healthy and happy site full of interesting questions and expert answers.

So, let's talk about site health. Specifically, your site health.

Below you'll find ten questions randomly selected from Jewish Life and Learning. Review them and take a look around the Internet as if you were trying to find answers to them. Are they interesting questions? Are the answers we have better than what Google has to offer? Are they easily found?

Upvote the corresponding post in this "thread" when our answer is better. Downvote when Google wins. If we're kinda on par with Google, just use common sense and your expertise to guide your vote. :)

Comment to let us know your thoughts... and if you need help, use our handy dandy guide.

(This evaluation will close on May 4, 2012.)

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10 Answers 10

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4

Nursing in the bathroom

Better than, worse than, or similar to other sites out there?

2
  • Result #1 on my search terms and pretty good answers. +1.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented Apr 24, 2012 at 16:36
  • +1 I searched for halacha nursing bathroom and found our content at the top, followed by two other clearly on-point pages. Our content includes two answers and multiple comments, documenting and referencing multiple points of view on this issue (one of which is one of the other two pages). The other two pages each reference one point of view. Our content could stand to be improved, though, by promoting some comment material to answers.
    – Isaac Moses Mod
    Commented Apr 25, 2012 at 17:32
4

Should the shaliach tzibbur check the tzitzis of a tallis given to him to daven?

Better than, worse than, or similar to other sites out there?

2
  • +1: first result and good quality.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented Apr 24, 2012 at 16:17
  • +1 I searched check tallit|tallis chazzan and found our content as the second link, with none of the other links on the first page obviously pointing to this sort of issue. We have a good, well-sourced answer.
    – Isaac Moses Mod
    Commented Apr 27, 2012 at 16:46
2

Product liability in halacha

Better than, worse than, or similar to other sites out there?

1
  • Very nice answer and first result on my search. +1.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented Apr 24, 2012 at 16:33
2

Did the prophets practice magic?

Better than, worse than, or similar to other sites out there?

1
  • We're good, and result #3 on my search terms (though #2 is also good). That counts as a +1.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented Apr 24, 2012 at 16:31
2

Cole slaw in the Cholent on Shabbos

Better than, worse than, or similar to other sites out there?

1
  • Tough one to rate because the question is (IMO) poor in that it combines two not completely analogous questions into one. The answer addresses both, pretty well (and very well considering the question quality), but I'd never Google both together. Googling them separately, I get us right on top for cole slaw and below the fold for soup. Overall +1.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented Apr 24, 2012 at 16:15
2

Kiddush BeRov 'Am

Better than, worse than, or similar to other sites out there?

1
  • +1: #1 Google hit on my search terms; we've good answers.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented Apr 24, 2012 at 6:20
1

Papaya - Ha'Etz or Ha'Adama?

Better than, worse than, or similar to other sites out there?

4
  • according to anna, it's +1, as our answer is on page 2 when searching for "bracha on papaya" and is good. However, there is a full page of answers answering perfectly before, so if I were searching, I wouldn't have found it,
    – ertert3terte
    Commented Apr 24, 2012 at 6:14
  • Par: +0. Good answer, but not sure I'd call it "stellar", and, as @ShmuelBrin notes, it's on page 2.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented Apr 24, 2012 at 16:09
  • The question is not, "what bracha do you make on papaya?". For that, there are a hundred perfectly valid answers available. The question is, "why is there a dispute on its bracha?" For that, we are the #2 hit on google, and the simplest and most readable answer. +1
    – HodofHod Mod
    Commented Apr 30, 2012 at 2:42
  • @msh210 @ ShmuelBrill ^^^ courtesy pings
    – HodofHod Mod
    Commented Apr 30, 2012 at 2:46
1

How come Sepharadim say "Boreh peri haGEFen" but "Shelo Asani AVed"

Better than, worse than, or similar to other sites out there?

5
  • +1: #3 hit on my search terms; decent answer, better than the first two hits.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented Apr 24, 2012 at 6:33
  • low on mine: <hagafen hagefen aved eved>
    – ertert3terte
    Commented Apr 24, 2012 at 6:46
  • @msh210 the interesting thing is that when I click that link, the only result is Shmuel's comment above!
    – HodofHod Mod
    Commented Apr 29, 2012 at 17:12
  • My search terms (why hagefen but aved) show us as the top answer. +1
    – HodofHod Mod
    Commented Apr 29, 2012 at 17:18
  • @HodofHod (re "the interesting thing"), me, too, now. When I wrote the above comment, though, I was being truthful. I don't know what's going on with Google.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented Apr 29, 2012 at 18:03
0

Seared Sushi Bishul Yisroel

Better than, worse than, or similar to other sites out there?

4
  • Oddly, Google, on my search terms, doesn't show any useful pages, even though our page should show up among those results! Not sure what's up with Google. But I guess that's a -1, then.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented Apr 24, 2012 at 16:27
  • @msh210 the problem seems to be that google doesn't recognize "sear" as a synonym for "seared". Switch the two, and we're the first hit. Also, we're the first useful hit for [seared sushi kosher]. +1
    – HodofHod Mod
    Commented Apr 30, 2012 at 2:53
  • @HodofHod, it certainly used to recognize such variants (outside of quotation marks).
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented Apr 30, 2012 at 5:00
  • @msh210 It still does, but it's imperfect (surprise, surprise). This seems to be one example where their synonym database is lacking.
    – HodofHod Mod
    Commented Apr 30, 2012 at 5:18
-1

The number of Challot on Shabbat and salt

Better than, worse than, or similar to other sites out there?

1
  • Tough one to rate, because the "salt" part of the question was (as noted in answers) based on a mistaken hypothesis; thus, Googling for it messes up the results (whether from our site or from others). But my search terms showed our site nowhere among the results, and the first result was a nice answer elsewhere. -1.
    – msh210 Mod
    Commented Apr 24, 2012 at 16:22

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