Each Stack Exchange site has the same kind of style. How are these styles maintained in a uniform fashion? Is there some sort of base template that each site shares and overrides as necessary?  And similarly, how does each site implement the notification system? Is each site responsible for implementing it, or is there an underlying framework that is utilized?  I'm gearing up to implement a system that has base functionality shared across multiple sites, so I'm very interested to hear how it's been done before.
11844
What tools and technologies are used to build the Stack Exchange Network?  See also:
48874
What is the reasoning behind the design decision to allow users to create a display name which matches another existing users exactly?    This is opposed to the common practice of enforcing unique user names, and I'd really like to learn something.
30884
Update:         See:       I'm the new product manager for the . I’m excited to announce that the top bar design that has been on Stack Overflow for several months is coming soon to the Stack Exchange network.   What took so long?  This was a big change and we really wanted to work out the kinks on Stack Overflow before we pushed to all sites in the network. For example, we recently released some changes to how the review queue menu works in order to address an overall drop in reviews since the new top bar shipped on SO (see  for details). We also adjusted the location of some items, such as the help link, to address feedback.  To meet the needs of the network we needed to adjust some aspects of the design to work with the full range of sites. The design is coherent with the SO design, but isn’t exactly the same. The biggest difference is that site name and Questions/Tags/Users navigation remain below the top bar. This was needed in order to work with sites with long names and/or custom skins.  Most importantly, the site switcher and other key controls will be in the same location across the entire network   New top bar on Stackoverflow.com:   New top bar on webapps.stackexchange.com:   New top bar on gaming.stackexchange.com:    New top bar on a beta site with a long site name:    New top bar for high rep member:    New top bar for moderator:   Why change the top bar?  If this change is new to you, then check out the  blog post and the meta post  for more details.
56410
I've heard bits and pieces from various sources, but I would really like to know, what does the Stack Exchange staff do to launch a new site? What are the milestones? I'm talking about Area 51 milestones, reviews to leave private and public beta, other reviews that might happen along the path during a public beta, etc. I'd just like to get an idea of what Stack Exchange Employees do when when it comes to launching a new site.  If possible, I would like to know approximate days of the week, site milestones, etc, with the understanding that things change based off of holidays and other special occasions.
29549
I have noticed there is a Stack Overflow in language differs from English which is global and mostly used by programmers.  I think there is no need for a site in other languages. Otherwise we will end up with 127 StackOverflow sites. I am afraid that we will lose the amount of people sharing data.
1039
I frequent Stack Overflow a lot and there are many questions that get downvoted because they don't fit in the "Code only" question format. There are many users who will immediately downvote people for asking the question in the wrong place, but whoe never provide suggestions about WHERE they should be asking that question.  My question is: Is there a good description of what types of questions are acceptable in each of the Stack Exchange family of sites?    I know there is an FAQ, but this really does not address which types of question is fit for each site.
121485
Since the Stack Exchange sites run on one clock, and a clock that is not common to most of us (such as those of us in the US), can we display a clock with the site time (UTC) displayed somewhere on every page, such as at the bottom with the other text?  That way we are more aware of when the days turn over, and ecetera...  close votes, delete votes, flags, and normal votes would also benefit from this as well (thanks @Grace Note!)...    What do you guys think? yea or nay? thoughts?
44369
Is it possible to search for a question across all Stack Exchange sites in the Android app?   Right now I can search in only one specific site at a time.   If not, can you add that feature?
116674
A member of one of the sites I participate in is experiencing a bug exclusively on that site. Since being concrete is generally helpful, .  There is some concern over whether bugs get noticed on per-site metas, so I figured I'd ask to clarify: if we post a bug or a feature request on a per-site meta, do the Stack Exchange devs notice it, just like if it were posted on Meta Stack Exchange? Or do bugs and feature requests requiring their attention exclusively need to go here?
82402
Notes:  Answers will occasionally be moved to the  when there are too many of them. When using them to report bugs, keep an eye on the post.    This site, Meta Stack Exchange, is usually used as a &quot;test bed&quot; for pending changes happening to the way text is rendered on all network sites. Changes to text rendering that are going to be rolled out to the network are usually deployed here first to test them out and fix any potential glitches. Currently, there are no such changes pending, but if there were, keep in mind that text posted here may render differently from the other sites until the changes roll out to them as well.    As per Jeff's suggestion in : You can use this question as a formatting sandbox. You can:  edit  itself ( questions such as this one require only 100 reputation to edit instead of 2,000) post answers to this question (This question might be , requiring earning 10 reputation on this site to answer) post comments to this question or its answers test suspected bugs with the editor or the rendering post ponies (only when mods are asleep)   Beware that since the  in December 2010, and  added in March 2011, no syntax highlighting is applied unless the question's tags or an inline hint enable it. So, to test highlighting here in the sandbox:  , you can use GitHub-flavor fenced code blocks in your posts, specifying the language after the opening fence: ```html While not hinted otherwise: &lt;html&gt;&lt;/html&gt; source &lt;b&gt;goes&lt;/b&gt; &quot;here&quot;. ```  ```js var a = 3; while (not (a &gt; 0)) {     alert(&quot;JavaScript code &lt;b&gt;goes&lt;/b&gt; here.&quot;); } ```   Or:  Create code blocks in any way (using the fence notation above, the four-space indent form, or using HTML &lt;pre&gt;&lt;code&gt; tags).  Save your post.  Use your browser's developer tools to edit the resulting HTML. To open developer tools, press F12, or ⌥⌘ I on Mac.  Find the &lt;pre&gt; element and add the attribute class=&quot;prettyprint&quot;, or change it into one of the valid syntax hints linked above, like class=&quot;lang-vb prettyprint&quot;.  Run the following in the location bar: javascript:prettyPrint(); or prettyPrint() in the console.     Answers that are considered annoying or obnoxious, or that cause breakage for users, will be deleted. This is .
106002
Initially I thought that Meta Stack Overflow was the common meta for all SE sites.   Then I noted that  has its own meta site.   It took a while for me to learn that even Server Fault has its own meta site.  Looking at my reputation points, I see difference between Stack Overflow and Meta Stack Overflow, but not between the other sites and there corresponding meta sites.  Now, is Meta Stack Overflow in some sense the master meta site of all or not?
25980
suggested to have templates for tags. Their example was with the  tag on Stack Overflow.  I'm suggesting a more general approach:  Templates, Mark II  I suggest that each site will have a template. That template will prefill the  textbox when a new question is asked. However, it will be completely optional.  Something like (for Stack Overflow):  ## The Problem ## { Please tell us what the problem is with as many details as possible.   Include language, operating system, and any other relevant information.   Remember to add the relevant tags below, too. } ## Attempted Solutions ## { Please tell us what you've tried so far. Have you tried searching Google?    What queries? } ## Existing Code ## { Do you have any existing code to show? Please keep it short and simple.    We should be able to detect the problem right away. }   Why am I suggesting this?  Well, it seems as though most users will stick with the default. They don't bother to read, and so prefilling the question form for them with information that we know might be relevant, will forceWe'll get to that in a second them to actually stop and read.  Scenarios:   Best case: User arrives to ask a question, actually reads the template, fills the correct information in the placeholders. (Yeah, because that'll happen a lot) Neutral: User simply removes all of the template text and rewrites their own question. Result is exact same as we have currently. Worst case: User will ignore or misunderstand the template, will use it wrong or not at all and we'll get something like  &lt;template text here, still unfilled&gt; &lt;(crappy) question&gt;   This can be solved in a couple different ways. We could detect the template tags (i.e. { }, subject to discussion), and throw an error when a user attempts to post with them still available. We could also act more autonomously and remove placeholders which still exist.    Some more points:   Templates should be per-site, not per-tag. Sure, there are differences between the tags, but all questions are expected to have the same general information, and this isn't meant to be a rule, but a guideline to help write better questions. Site templates should be editable by that site's mods, like close reasons. We could autofocus on the first placeholder, and perhaps implement TAB to jump from one placeholder to the other, similar to mixins in IDEs. This doesn't have to be implemented everywhere. This suggestion makes sense to Stack Overflow or Superuser, but not to Anime &amp; Manga or Gaming All of the details are subject to discussion, and all discussion is welcomed.
35936
I've seen a few users mention that certain SE sites like  and  are unique, as they were originally created as Stack Exchange 1.0 sites.  As a fairly recent user, I don't know what Stack Exchange 1.0 was like. The current version of Stack Exchange is the only version I've ever known.   What was Stack Exchange 1.0? What changed between SE 1.0 and 2.0?
4289
I see that the  contain some usful links:        But it seems that it's kinda weird and out of context. When exactly would a user that want to contact Stackexchange will find these links useful? What is so special about those links as opposed to a link to  for example?
81568
Who is responsible for defining a site logo? I mean, there are moderators of the site that define it, or stackexchange defines it?
121766
What's the best blog post/video/tweet/whatever to explain how the Stack Exchange system works to regular people? I am trying to gauge interest for a new Stack Exchange site, but I want to explain it to people as best (and preferably) as visually as I can. Any YouTube clips breaking it down?  anyone?  Note: I am fully aware of , but mine is about Stack Exchange, not Stack Overflow.  Most people think I'm describing traditional forum software, which they know sucks. Is there some way to describe the magic of how the design of the Stack Exchange system actually produces useful results very quickly? I can describe generally that it is a Q&amp;A site that users vote on the answers, but Stack Overflow feels like so much more. Am I perhaps thinking too big about this?
99586
There's a great thing, stack exchange application (I'm using it's version for iOS). However, it has bugs so I want to know - is it correct to create threads for bug-reports on meta site? SE application isn't part of web-environment, so I doubt. Same question about feature-requests.   If it's not a good idea to create bug reports/feature requests for SE application here, then where that should be asked?