Give moderators the option to select a deletion reason when removing posts

Question

In the past few weeks, I've received a few emails from users asking me why I deleted their posts. It's almost always for answers deleted after being correctly flagged as "not an answer". Typically, the user just doesn't fully understand the Stack Exchange format, and thinks they're leaving a comment or reply. After linking them to the About page and the Why was my answer deleted page, they typically understand. Now, deleted posts already show a link to the deleted answers help page, which I guess people don't click much. So, I'm suggesting that we make it more obvious by specifically telling them why their post was deleted.

I'd like to see some way for moderators to optionally select a deletion reason when removing posts. Something similar to the rejected suggested edits reasons, which would show the user why their post was deleted with relevant links.

Here are some of the reasons I'd suggest:

Your post was deleted because...

• Comment as answer:

  it would be more appropriate as a comment. You can always comment on your own posts, and can comment everywhere once you earn 50 reputation points.

• Question as answer:

  it appears to be asking a related question. Instead of leaving an answer, you can ask a new question. Make sure to refer back to this original question, explaining what answers you've tried and why they didn't work.

• Me-too answer:

  it appears to be re-stating the original question. If you have the same problem as the original question, you can (if rep >= 15){up vote it to show your support} (if rep >= 50){or start a bounty} (if rep < 15){use the "was this post helpful yes/no" links to support it}.

• Thanks answer:

  it appears to be a response to another answer. If you'd like to show appreciation for an answer, you can (if rep >= 15){vote up the answer} (if rep < 15){use the "was this post helpful yes/no" links under the answer} to support the answer that helped you.

• Other:

  it does not fundamentally answer the question.

... For more information, see the About tour and "why and how are some answers deleted".

I think these cover all of the situations under which I would delete an answer and feel like the user deserves an explanation (albeit a canned message). If it's spam, gibberish, or otherwise obviously not genuine content, then the user shouldn't really be surprised when it's removed, or it might be appropriate to leave a comment. It's too much work to constantly be writing comments though (even with the pro forma comments script, it's kind of unofficial and inconsistent), so I think this would help a lot for making deletion more transparent to the user.

Example:

To avoid making this too difficult for the moderator should they not wish to add a reason, the deletion could still happen instantaneously, but a box could show up after the deletion occurs, asking if they'd like to select a reason. If they don't choose a reason, it would just remain with the current default.

Answer 1

Not a complete solution, but a decent workaround:

I've been able to approximate what you're looking for using the pro-forma comments script. My canned comments include:

We're a little different from other sites. We're a Q&A site, not a discussion forum, and we reserve the answer space for answers to the question that was asked. This doesn't answer the question so I'm deleting it. Please check out our short [tour] for more about how the site works. Thanks.

On $SITENAME$, we're looking for answers with some depth that explain why and how and that are ideally backed by facts, references, and personal experiences. Please see Why and how are some answers deleted and How do I write a good answer. Thanks.

This answer does not meet the standards of professionalism expected for $SITENAME$. Please read this link for more information if you have any questions. Thanks.

You can create whatever comments you want, and then select and add a comment with just a few mouse clicks before deleting the post. That's not as easy as delete -> choose from menu -> done, but it's way better than typing (or pasting in) those comments each time.

If you don't want to (or can't) use a userscript, often you can leverage the comments built into the review queue. You mentioned that most of your deletions are because of NAA flags. This probably means they're in the review queue, which you can access from the post timeline. From there, if you complete the review and choose "delete", you can choose a canned comment.