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So, now that we are no longer in Beta, what is the next step for getting a custom theme? From what I understand, this used to be an automatic thing when sites graduated, with Stack Overflow's official designer creating something with the input of the community. Do we get something similar?

Someone was asking in chat, and I realized I didn't know the answer.

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  • 1
    That "someone" is me! :D
    – RoundHouse
    Nov 27 '19 at 1:33
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Realize that our designation of "no longer in beta" =/= "graduated". Stack Exchange wanted to recognize sites that function well, but don't meet the requirements for a full graduation (Mostly the 10 questions per day metric).

What it means:

  • Beta is removed from the site name
  • Moderator elections will occur (eventually)
  • Closed without comment flag (for moderators) goes away
  • Area 51 tag - Launched instead of Beta

A couple of key items that it does not mean:

  • Reputation requirements remain at beta levels (For example, trusted user and analytics kick in at 4k and 5k rep respectively. On a full graduated site, those kick in at 20k and 25k respectively).
  • Themes remain the province of fully graduated sites.

This change was not a graduation per se, but recognition that a site can function well, even if it doesn't meet graduation requirements. This is a natural follow-on from the announcement a few years ago that a site that had adequate moderation was in no danger of being closed any longer. Eventually theming may occur, but it's not planned any time in the near future.

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  • How many questions do we get in a day JohnP? Is it less than 1?
    – RoundHouse
    Nov 27 '19 at 1:40
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    They post the metrics pretty regularly in Meta. And... yeah.
    – Macaco Branco
    Nov 27 '19 at 2:23
  • @SeanDuggan Oh, sorry I didn't know.
    – RoundHouse
    Nov 27 '19 at 2:31
  • We'd like to get those metrics higher, but it's hard to do so organically.
    – Macaco Branco
    Nov 27 '19 at 3:39
  • @RoundHouse And I was wrong... we haven't updated those stats since we left Beta - martialarts.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/316/…
    – Macaco Branco
    Nov 27 '19 at 18:38
  • So, anything I need to know? Are you guys doing anything out of the ordinary to get more participation/involvement from practitioners and trainers? It seems it's going to be difficult to get 10 questions a day. @SeanDuggan
    – RoundHouse
    Nov 27 '19 at 21:03
  • We had an initiative going on where we were trying to post at least one question a week each, but it kind of petered out. I honestly don't know if I expect the volume to go up all that much. There aren't a lot of new problems in martial arts.
    – Macaco Branco
    Nov 27 '19 at 21:49
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Custom themes are not imminent.

As far as I know, Stack Exchange's priorities at this point are:

  1. resolving the current controversy involving a moderator removal If you spend any time on meta, this topic has dominated conversation for the past two months.

  2. moderator elections for graduated sites. There was some discussion of this being a manual process, and many sites graduated from beta at the same time. There is no clear timetable for when elections will occur.

So in short, do not expect to see a custom theme until after moderator elections.

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  • The controversy is heading to the courts. It is not going to be resolved soon and should concern all the users of stack. Then again, I might be a little biased here⸮
    – Sardathrion - against SE abuse
    Nov 28 '19 at 17:40
  • @Sardathrion-ReinstateMonica Yes, the whole situation is disappointing. I don't understand at all why this could not be resolved more amicably.
    – mattm Mod
    Nov 29 '19 at 3:12
  • Ego clashing? Internet drama? People forgetting the gold rule: do not be a dick!…
    – Sardathrion - against SE abuse
    Nov 29 '19 at 7:42

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