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Problem background

This question is addressed to you, ♦ moderators. There is e.g. this question 10k+, which is full of very useful information. It's been a community wiki with more than 17k views with 51 answers.

The question is off-topic, there's nothing to discuss, but why it was deleted ? Couldn't you just lock it as you did with a several posts around ? The biggest problem is that our community can't even undelete it because it's protected by the ♦ law.

So now it's a community wiki question, which can't be seen nor even undeleted by the community.

Question

Could you undelete that question and let the community decide what to do with it? And if that is possible, could you lock that question to keep its content visible and as it is?


P.S. those reopen votes are there because of curiosity. We shall keep that question closed.

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  • 11
    So you don't have a problem with Bo Persson, Ben Voigt, John Saunders, joran, and kapa, then? Feb 20, 2014 at 20:48
  • 6
    Suggestion: focus on this question in particular, rather than community wiki posts (or moderators) in general. Feb 20, 2014 at 20:50
  • 5
    @Brad, no, because they have lower privileges, so that we could undelete the question by ourselves. With that diamond delete vote we can't. That's not fair.
    – TLama
    Feb 20, 2014 at 20:51
  • 5
    I find it mildly amusing that the overwhelming majority of these hidden features are documented. Feb 20, 2014 at 20:55
  • 5
    How is cw relevant to any of this?
    – yannis
    Feb 20, 2014 at 21:01
  • 3
    @Yannis, ok. Take it just as a question. Guys, could you stop being so pedantic, please ? Don't you just see it ? There's a useful question with lot of information which we would like to undelete because it can be useful to other people (let's call this group of people community). But we can't. That's all...
    – TLama
    Feb 20, 2014 at 21:04
  • 3
    If you agree a question should be closed, you should also agree that it needs to be deleted.
    – slhck
    Feb 20, 2014 at 21:05
  • 4
    @slhck Not talking about this question in particular, but that a question should be closed does absolutely not mean that it also should be deleted
    – Lamak
    Feb 20, 2014 at 21:09
  • 2
    I'll restate, TLama. Many community wiki questions deserve to be deleted. It's not a "get out of deletion free" card. Focus your question on this post in particular, or a specific class of posts, and you'll likely get a better response. Feb 20, 2014 at 21:11
  • 6
    I should point out that, in general, we now shy away from using binding delete votes on highly voted questions like this. The moderator who acted on this will need to comment on their reasons for casting the final vote, but I will note that the following flag was on that question: "This question serves no purpose. Of the 51 answers only 2 or 3 are actual hidden features of Delphi (assuming easter eggs can be considered features). The rest were pulled directly from the Delphi documentation." Feb 20, 2014 at 21:15
  • 3
    @TLama I don't think you have to be a Delphi programmer to be qualified to vote on Delphi questions Feb 20, 2014 at 21:24
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    @TLama It's a different community, really, and just like getting used to Stack Overflow it takes a little time steeping in the community to "get" meta. But it can be worth it, if you have strong opinions on the direction of Stack Overflow. There are many who hold views similar to yours.
    – Pollyanna
    Feb 20, 2014 at 21:56
  • 4
    @TLama There's nothing wrong with posting suggestions/questions/whatever. however, you need to have a thick enough skin to survive people disagreeing with you en masse. Most of the folks here at Meta are the most active, interested folks on SE/SO; we are here because we care a lot about how SE/SO works and is run. As such we have strong opinions and will strongly express them. So please keep making suggestions - just don't be defensive if they're shot down.
    – Joe
    Feb 20, 2014 at 21:56
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    @davidkonrad Why is experience about a specific language needed to judge the quality of a question? I'm not so hung up on languages as you seem to be. You don't need to know anything about Delphi to know that this particular question is poor. It would be a poor question if you replaced Delphi with any other language. Feb 21, 2014 at 5:48
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    @davidkonrad The question wasn't closed because of its lack of usefulness. Although as it happens, it is neither useful nor of reasonable quality. Feb 21, 2014 at 6:34

2 Answers 2

11

For the record, I cast that vote to delete because my conclusion was the same as Brad noted a flagging user had cast. It really was not exceptional in any way, except it did have a halfway decent view count. The answers were mostly just random junk, really.

But the content was not all that great at all, and it was not even a highly-voted post.

I don't know if I would have deleted that question today; my own opinion has wandered a bit more toward being cautious with that kind of deletion.

I know it can't be community-undeleted, but if lots of people want it restored, I'd be OK doing that. It's really a "meh" for me, at this point.

Also; Be careful about assuming that lack of participation in a tag equates to lack of knowledge of the related topic. For example, your assumptions about my lack of experience with Delphi may seem justified by my complete lack of participation in the related tags, but not entirely by reality. I am passingly familiar with it and have done some tiny work with it... also, don't forget that knowledge of the topic is not always required for such things.

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  • Thanks to animuson! @Andrew, sorry if it sounded somehow offensive to you. It wasn't meant to be (to anyone). It just drove me mad when we couldn't undelete it by ourselves. Thanks for your offer anyway!
    – TLama
    Feb 24, 2014 at 14:38
  • 1
    @TLama Oh, no. There was nothing offensive in what you posted. I should probably have worded my closing note a little more clear in that regard. It's a common - and not altogether unfounded - assumption that lack of activity in a tag suggests lack of knowledge of the related technologies. Feb 27, 2014 at 14:58
  • I disagree that deleting questions like this makes StackOverflow a better site. I think that this has basically been a sideways, backwards move. Apr 3, 2015 at 18:21
10

Could you stop deleting community wiki questions?

What you should be specifically asking for here is a "Historical Lock" which allows the question to remain visible, but not open for further activity:

What is a historical lock, and what is it used for?

I don't believe this question meets the requirements for such a lock, but that is somewhat subjective.

Your best bet is to explain how this question meets the requirements for a historical lock, rather than attacking moderators or others about a question which is obviously not appropriate for the site.

Note that these days merely meeting the basic requirements isn't enough - a question has to show significant value to the community to be eligible.

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