Monica
(I know this is buried in chat somewhere, but rather than digging for it I think it'd be better to have a meta question.)
My existing SE community is interested in joining TopAnswers. (I'll make a specific request on the question for that purpose.) If we do that, how can we import content? In particular:
- If we import everything, then (a) *can* we and (b) how would imported content get wired up to owners who create accounts here later?
- If we import only per-user, after the user is created here, does that include importing questions (asked by other people) so we can import a user's answers?
- Is an import one-time or can it be updated? For example, if a user continues to participate on SE and then wants to bring new or edited posts over (that were already brought over once), is that possible? Or does importing create a fork and it's up to the user to choose where to participate after that?
- How does import handle edit history and the attribution thereof?
- I assume we're doing the right things with attribution. What does that look like?
- I don't have to attribute my *own* content to SE, right? After all, it's my copyright and I can directly license it to TopAnswers.
Top Answer
Paul White
This answer will likely age quite quickly, but just to document what we have been doing so far:
## Import
Import has been done on an **ad-hoc basis** by individual users.
On request, they are granted access to an "import question from SE" button on the main page. This allows an existing question to be imported, and optionally one or more of the answers. Any answers by the importing user are automatically included.
The point of this was (a) to give people a way to archive their best content; and (b) seed the site with posts so we can see how the design and tooling might scale (or not).
There is currently no mechanism to import Q & A ***in bulk***.
The feature is quite basic at present. A dialog box pops up asking for a question id or url, and optionally one or more answer ids/urls, separated by a space:
There is some automatic markdown translation, but it is best to review the result of the import anyway.
They can now link their SE accounts to their account here on TopAnswers by following the steps [here](/meta?q=409#a647). If they do that, every post imported from SE is automatically linked to their TA profile.
There is no *requirement* for the importer to have a post (question or answer) on the source page, but we have generally only been importing stuff where the importer has made a contribution.
## Attribution
Attribution is handled by links at the top of the Q & A here, with a link to the SE user, the original post, and the CC licence. [For example](https://topanswers.xyz/databases?q=227):
We don't currently link to the edit history since the [CC FAQ](https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/Frequently_Asked_Questions#How_do_I_properly_attribute_a_Creative_Commons_licensed_work.3F) says:
> Additionally, you may satisfy the attribution requirement by providing a link to a place where the attribution information may be found.
The link to SE is skipped if the importer is the original author of the SE post. For example, when I imported [my own DBA Q & A](https://topanswers.xyz/databases?q=207):
Answer #2
ffff0h
> I assume we're doing the right things with attribution. What does that look like?
There are a number of imported questions over on Databases. Here's just one: [Why does changing the declared join column order introduce a sort?](https://topanswers.xyz/databases?q=225) Note the "imported from SE" in the header.