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What is a “closed” question? How do they work?

What's the difference between closed and not closed questions on Stack Overflow (except tagged as closed of course). When you look at it, one can still down/up vote, add answers, add comments and so on. So what's the difference?

In my opinion if a question is closed there should be no activities allowed on this question (adding comments, answers, downvoting/upvoting, etc.) except for reopening. Otherwise it works like some sort of dummy to me.

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    ...closed questions shouldn't have answer activity. See the FAQ for details. Do you have an example of it being otherwise?
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 19:15

3 Answers 3

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You can't add answers to closed questions.

Comments are still allowed on closed questions so that people can tell the author why they voted to close, suggest improvements to the question, etc. You don't gain reputation for comments, which (hopefully) encourages people to leave proper Answers when it's appropriate.

In addition to closing questions, we can also lock and delete them. Each level restricts a little bit more access.

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  • If you treat comment as an answer yes you can, you can also do everything else as if question was still open and no you can't see "Anwer Question" button but it really is silly that you can have all activities in closed question.
    – There is nothing we can do
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 19:21
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    @atch: "If you treat comment as an answer..." Don't do that. A comment isn't an answer.
    – Bill the Lizard Mod
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 19:22
  • @Bill but I just answered to your question by adding a comment so one can do and it should be prohibited in robust system. Don't ya think so?
    – There is nothing we can do
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 19:26
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    @atch: I didn't ask a question. You left a comment on my answer, which should be allowed. Questions, Answers, and comments all serve different purposes. The system cannot automatically detect when you leave an answer in the comments or a comment as an answer. It's up to you to put your posts in the appropriate place. If people don't do that, they will get cleaned up when (if) someone flags them for a moderators attention.
    – Bill the Lizard Mod
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 19:30
  • @atch Your concern is that there is activity in something that is "closed". Voting is not halted because it provides a necessary measure to rate the existing content, and comments are allowed because it allows discussion of information, and is especially useful for discussing opposition to a close.
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 19:34
  • @atch: I've tried to clarify my answer.
    – Bill the Lizard Mod
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 19:34
  • @Bill either you do not wan't to understand or you can't, it must be one of those two. I'm not talking only about this stupid comments as answers. What I'm talking about is the whole activities you can have on closed questions (except having Answer Button of course).
    – There is nothing we can do
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 19:36
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    @atch: I'd vote for "can't understand", because I can't either.
    – mmyers Mod
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 19:39
  • @atch: Please read my answer again, as I've updated it. I've tried to explain why some activities are still allowed on closed questions, while answering is not.
    – Bill the Lizard Mod
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 19:39
  • @atch The point of "closing" is not to halt all activity, as you appear to be implying. All closing is meant to do is restrict answers from being posted. There are separate mechanisms for halting other forms of activity. There is no "bug" in closing unless actual answers are being posted.
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 19:45
  • @ccornet: Well said. There is also a "Locked" status, which is apparently what @atch believed "closed" is.
    – The Unhandled Exception
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 20:37
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What's the difference between closed and not closed question on SO (except taged as closed of course).

It's not tagged as such, but rather marked as such.

When you look at it, one can still down/up vote, add answers, add comments and so on.

You can't post answers.

So what's the difference.

You can't post answers.

In my opinion if question is closed there should be no activities allowed on this question (adding comments, answers, down/up voting etc) except for reopening.

That's what locking questions is for.

Otherwise it works like some sort of dummy to me.


(source: socialmediamarketing.com)

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    How did you get a picture of one of our testers?
    – mmyers Mod
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 20:00
  • Well Said Voyager. Blunt, but well said :-) I'd upvote if I hadn't squandered my votes for the day again...
    – The Unhandled Exception
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 20:38
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In addition to the other answers here, there is a grace period for adding answers after a question is closed. If you see answers being added to a closed question, this is why.

I'm not 100% sure of the amount of time, but I think it's something like 10-15 minutes. (This should be added to the FAQ).

People typing their answer when a question gets closed are shown a warning bar at the top of the screen saying that the question is closed, although they are still able to submit their answer within the grace period.

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  • Huh, I never knew there was a grace period. That's actually good to know, and certainly should be in the FAQ.
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Commented May 18, 2010 at 20:02

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