Should we have an official rule against asking the same question on more than one SE site?

Question

Someone posted the question Circuit for RF Splitter, and @TylerStone pointed out that essentially the same question had been asked on electronics.SE. Everyone all over the web knows that cross-posting is rude, and I presume that we frown upon it here. But I looked at the Help article What topics can I ask about here?, which I understand is controlled by the moderators, and I see that nothing is said about asking the same question on more than one SE site.

Should we have an official rule against asking the same question on more than one SE site? Perhaps we could add something like, "Posting the same or a very similar question on more than one Stack Exchange site is considered rude, and is discouraged. Such questions may be closed on the grounds that they belong on another Stack Exchange site."

By the way, when I voted to close the question I mentioned on the grounds that it belongs on another Stack Exchange site, I was forced to indicate which site it belonged on, but the only choice was ham.meta.stackexchange.com. Since that didn't apply, I had to cancel my vote to close. Is that another setting that the moderators control?

Answer 1

Should we have an official rule against asking the same question on more than one SE site?

I don't recall if/where it's written “officially”, but the Community FAQ for Stack Exchange Sites says not to crosspost. Crossposting should be discouraged, such as by by closing the question on whichever site it is least on-topic at.

If there is some value in a crossposted question's answers but it is off-topic, the best thing to do is arrange for it to be migrated to the more appropriate site, where it can be merged with its duplicate on that site — the answers become answers to the other copy of the question. (This should only be done in coordination with a moderator of the target site, since it requires specific action on their part to merge rather than merely close as duplicate.)

By the way, when I voted to close the question I mentioned on the grounds that it belongs on another Stack Exchange site, I was forced to indicate which site it belonged on, but the only choice was ham.meta.stackexchange.com. Since that didn't apply, I had to cancel my vote to close. Is that another setting that the moderators control?

It's a per-site setting, which has to be configured by Stack Exchange employees rather than moderators per se so we can't just do it at whim. It sounds reasonable to add Electrical Engineering to that list but that should be its own Meta question.

If a question needs migration to a site not on the list, use a custom flag (“in need of moderator intervention”). Moderators can migrate to any site. However, remember that migrations are primarily for good content that can be salvaged from being off-topic by migration. If it's a well-written question or answer, migrate it; if it's an off-topic question with no answers, just close it.