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I am aware that, if my answer is downvoted and I delete it, I gain my reputation back. But if two days later I change my mind and undelete that answer, and the votes stay the same, what happens to my reputation?

I ask because, while I assumed that my reputation would go back down, this doesn't seem to have happened when I tried it today (on these three answers). It has been over an hour at the time I'm writing this since I undeleted my answer(s), and I haven't noticed any reputation change.

I'm talking about your average, everyday, ordinary answers here (i.e. no Community Wiki special cases), by the way.

Is this a bug? Is it a cache delay? I find the latter hard to believe, because the cache delay when I first deleted the answer(s) was much shorter than an hour.

If this is a bug, it should be fixed to avoid abuse (someone could post an answer, receive downvotes, delete that answer, then later undelete it for 0 net reputation loss).

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This is because the rep cap eats the down votes in any answer of yours you linked.

A bit explanation:

  • you've posted an answer.
  • you got a down vote.
  • you have reached the rep cap and exceeded it (i.e. 200 reps from up votes per day)
  • you delete your answer, but the rep for the day you capped is recalculated, you get the down votes again recorded, but they are compensated by the up votes you got that day after reaching the cap.
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  • As I said in my question, this was two days after the question was deleted. I'll edit the question for clarity.
    – Sam Estep
    Commented Jun 27, 2015 at 23:30
  • @Red a link would help.
    – nicael
    Commented Jun 27, 2015 at 23:33
  • OK, thanks. I'm editing the question with more details.
    – Sam Estep
    Commented Jun 27, 2015 at 23:34
  • Which rep cap are you talking about? When I undeleted those posts, I was far below the rep cap for today. Is there a negative rep cap as well?
    – Sam Estep
    Commented Jun 27, 2015 at 23:41
  • @Red Now, is it clear?
    – nicael
    Commented Jun 27, 2015 at 23:45
  • Yes, that makes sense. But I haven't experienced this before. Previously, I have exceeded the rep cap, then received a downvote, but my reputation was not recalculated. Does this recalculation apply only for previous days, and not the current day?
    – Sam Estep
    Commented Jun 27, 2015 at 23:45
  • @Red for all your rep history.
    – nicael
    Commented Jun 27, 2015 at 23:45
  • Yesterday, three of my answers were accepted, so I effectively had a rep cap of 245. However, after I exceeded that cap, I received a downvote, but my rep for yesterday is (and I assume will continue to be) 243 instead. Why is that?
    – Sam Estep
    Commented Jun 27, 2015 at 23:49
  • @Red Because the downvotes was after you reached the cap. That's by design. In the case you ask, the downvotes you got on those answers were before the cap.
    – nicael
    Commented Jun 27, 2015 at 23:50
  • 2
    Oh, I see now. When a downvote is reapplied to an undeleted post, it acts as if it happened at the time when it was originally cast? That makes sense, thanks.
    – Sam Estep
    Commented Jun 27, 2015 at 23:51
  • @RedRobo Exactly.
    – nicael
    Commented Jun 27, 2015 at 23:51

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