user65: IDE's such as Eclipse, Emacs and Vim can be used with extensions to program the board.

Are questions about installing IDEs being used to program the board on-topic?
Are questions about using IDEs that are being used to program the board on-topic?
Are questions about specific features of IDEs that are being used to program the board on-topic? Ex. code highlighting, code indentation, etc.
Are questions about uploading code through various IDEs on-topic?

For the purposes of this question, IDE refers to unofficial IDEs plus Arduino extension that may or may not be listed on Arduino.cc

user11: 
Are questions about installing IDEs being used to program the board on-topic?
No. But if an IDE has Arduino support maybe questions on how to set it up for arduino could be on topic.
Are questions about using IDEs that are being used to program the board on-topic?
Maybe. Again, if it's specific to doing something with Arduino it could be on topic.
Are questions about specific features of IDEs that are being used to program the board on-topic? Ex. code highlighting, code indentation, etc.
No. This deals with IDE features and has nothing to do with Arduino. The exception would be the official software provided by Arduino.
Are questions about uploading code through various IDEs on-topic?
Yes. It has to do with Arduino specifically.

Ask "What does this have to do with Arduino?" and if the answer to that question is not significant enough, then the question is probably off topic.

user52: My view on the four issues presented:

Installing IDEs should be off-topic unless the install process is substantially different when using the Arduino plugin.  (Example of exception: if you had to download Eclipse from an entirely different source, install it in some special way, etc., that would be fine here.)
If the question is about using the IDE itself, that should be off topic.  (e.g. "How do I create a project in Eclipse?"--no.  "How do I turn on/off Intellisense?"--no.)  If the question relates in a substantial way to using the Arduino extension to the IDE, that should be on-topic. (e.g. "How do I use the "--yes.)
No.  Specific features like code highlighting would be best asked on Stack Overflow, unless there is something very special about Arduino libraries that makes them hard to highlight, etc. 
I would contend this should be "yes."  Uploading is something that wouldn't typically be built-in to the IDE (and would be introduced with the Arduino plugin), or it would be something platform dependent (e.g. uploading to an AVR chip is different than an Intel chip, etc.)


65: <p>IDE's such as Eclipse, Emacs and Vim can be used with extensions to program the board.</p>

<ul>
<li>Are questions about <strong>installing</strong> IDEs <em>being used to program</em> the board on-topic?</li>
<li>Are questions about <strong>using</strong> IDEs <em>that are being used to program</em> the board on-topic?</li>
<li>Are questions about <strong>specific features</strong> of IDEs <em>that are being used to program</em> the board on-topic? Ex. code highlighting, code indentation, etc.</li>
<li>Are questions about <strong>uploading code</strong> through various IDEs on-topic?</li>
</ul>

<p>For the purposes of this question, IDE refers to <strong>unofficial IDEs plus Arduino extension</strong> that may or may not be listed on Arduino.cc</p>
 11: <ul>
<li><p>Are questions about installing IDEs being used to program the board on-topic?</p>

<p><strong>No.</strong> But if an IDE has Arduino support maybe questions on how to set it up for arduino could be on topic.</p></li>
<li><p>Are questions about using IDEs that are being used to program the board on-topic?</p>

<p><strong>Maybe.</strong> Again, if it's specific to doing something with Arduino it could be on topic.</p></li>
<li><p>Are questions about specific features of IDEs that are being used to program the board on-topic? Ex. code highlighting, code indentation, etc.</p>

<p><strong>No.</strong> This deals with IDE features and has nothing to do with Arduino. The exception would be the official software provided by Arduino.</p></li>
<li><p>Are questions about uploading code through various IDEs on-topic?</p>

<p><strong>Yes</strong>. It has to do with Arduino specifically.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Ask "What does this have to do with Arduino?" and if the answer to that question is not significant enough, then the question is probably off topic.</p>
 52: <p>My view on the four issues presented:</p>

<ol>
<li>Installing IDEs should be off-topic unless the install process is substantially different when using the Arduino plugin.  (Example of exception: if you had to download Eclipse from an entirely different source, install it in some special way, etc., that would be fine here.)</li>
<li>If the question is about using the <em>IDE itself</em>, that should be off topic.  (e.g. "How do I create a project in Eclipse?"--no.  "How do I turn on/off Intellisense?"--no.)  If the question relates in a substantial way to using the <em>Arduino extension</em> to the IDE, that should be on-topic. (e.g. "How do I use the "--yes.)</li>
<li>No.  Specific features like code highlighting would be best asked on Stack Overflow, unless there is something <em>very</em> special about Arduino libraries that makes them hard to highlight, etc. </li>
<li>I would contend this should be "yes."  Uploading is something that wouldn't typically be built-in to the IDE (and would be introduced with the Arduino plugin), or it would be something platform dependent (e.g. uploading to an AVR chip is different than an Intel chip, etc.)</li>
</ol>
