The recent Open Science SE site got shut down by StackExchange folks.
There is another proposal for the same right now http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/90201/open-science.
I am all for that proposal, trying to get open science going again on SE.
However, an alternative is Discourse, created by Jeff Atwood, etal.
Example forums:
- Atom editor - https://discuss.atom.io/
- Discourse meta - https://meta.discourse.org/
- rOpenSci - https://discuss.ropensci.org/
We could put up our own forum. Benefits:
- We, the people involved in the forum, would run the forum - it can increase in size slowly w/o having to be subject to SE's rules
- It has a lot of the same features of SE (great UI, markdown support, multiple login options, badges), minus voting/points
We would have to pay server costs, but that's minimal for such a potentially big group of people.
If you're not familiar with Discourse, visit one of the links above and peak through some of the discussion threads.
Totally fine if this is shot down - just thinking out loud
It looks cool - However, I think a site like this would work well on SE, and I actively support it. I would be careful if you try to run it somewhere else - You guys would be totally independent, and as such would be very vulnerable to any weakening events. If activity declines, if something happens, you are all on your own. At least with Stack Exchange, you have community managers and developers who are already active handling the "background stuff." Don't be discouraged by the fact that you have to restart.
I also want you to know that you have support from other communities. There are many science-related sites on SE, which created a little buzz about the proposal. You also have people, namely moderators who are active on very related sites, which are in the community willing to help. I've got some experience with the "open" aspect: I'm a moderator at the sister site Open Source. These members, and a few of them were fairly active during that closed beta, are more than willing to provide support and answers to the site-development questions that you may have.
Give it another try: You'll get both the professional Q&A format that make the Stack Exchange model successful, and if you would like extended discussions, there are live chatrooms that are available for community use. Since the community runs the site, you will be able to choose which sorts of questions are accepted and on-topic, and loosen up the discussion level a little bit.
I understand: closed betas are a little bit of a hassle sometimes, as the questions are out of the mind, and aren't "real-world situation" questions. Don't see it as an obstacle. There's an avid community interested in this that is from all over the world, and they would love to see the site succeed. Since many community members now have a feel with how the closed beta works, you have the ability to plan out questions, and make rough drafts on community-made site policies. Store any questions that you encounter in real-world situations, and when the closed beta on SE begins, ask them straight away. This will allow for the influx of questions that will make the beta, and hence the site successful.
If you do want to ask me questions, about the failed beta, or the future, I've created a chatroom linked with the new Area 51 proposal that currently exists, and it can be found here: http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/27080/discussion-for-open-science Simply give me a ping (@Zizouz212) and if I'm around, I should be there in a jiffy :)