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In my continuing effort to be a better flagger, I'd like to know your thoughts on how/why is this not off-topic: Application for sketching ideas on a computer.

It was simply flagged as off-topic and ruled "invalid".

EDIT: Since starting this thread, the question has been closed as "off-topic". So why is my "off-topic" flag still marked as invalid?

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  • 6
    Something tells me it's going to be off-topic pretty quickly now.
    – McCannot
    Jul 28, 2011 at 15:52
  • You flagged this as off-topic and someone marked your flag as invalid?
    – M. Tibbits
    Jul 28, 2011 at 15:55
  • @M. Tibbits: Yes, my flag was marked invalid. To be safe, I simply selected the "does not belong here -> off-topic" option.
    – Sparky
    Jul 28, 2011 at 15:57
  • the option "does not belong here" should list some multiple choice options and/or give a text box in which to suggest a destination site.
    – IAbstract
    Jul 28, 2011 at 15:59
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    I just voted to migrate to Programmers, but I didn't remember to check the post date. That's actually an old question. The occasional old post getting migrated isn't a huge deal, but as a matter of general SE policy, migrations of questions posted before the destination site existed aren't welcome. That aside, I could see the question fitting on Web Apps as well.
    – Pops
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:00
  • Perhaps the mod who marked your flag wanted you to mark Programmers. Could someone mark his flag as 'disputed'? (Note, I too just voted to ship it to Programmers).
    – M. Tibbits
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:00
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    @Popular - naughty, naughty. It's a shopping recommendation, therefore off topic.
    – ChrisF Mod
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:03
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    @IAbstract: "If you're not 100% sure where it belongs, simply mark it off-topic." is what I was previously told here in meta on a similar matter. Since I was not 100% sure, I simply followed previous moderator advice.
    – Sparky
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:03
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    @Popular: why wouldn't we migrate questions to appropriate sites ...regardless of said site's 'born on date' versus question's "born on date"?
    – IAbstract
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:03
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    @IAbstract, I think it's a silly policy, but that's what the majority of people seem to want. There are loads of Meta questions on the topic.
    – Pops
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:04
  • It's just been closed as "off-topic" but my off-topic flag is still "invalid"?
    – Sparky
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:12
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    @Chris, my mistake, I figured it was kinda borderline and chose the wrong way because it was Programmers and not another site. I haven't used Programmers much since the Great Strictification, or whatever it was called when they reined in the more ridiculous posts. I'll go to Programmers' /review page now as penance....
    – Pops
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:16
  • It's not a shopping recommendation, it's a software recommendation. There's a huge difference.
    – Lance Roberts
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:29
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    Don't worry about it, Sparky672. It was off-topic, you flagged it as such, you did the right thing. I have no idea why your flag was marked invalid, and clearly the consensus here agrees with you. Look at flags in aggregate, don't worry about specific cases until a pattern develops. With a flag weight of 616, I'd say it's clear you're doing things correctly.
    – McCannot
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:45
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    Just remind yourself that flag weight isn't about getting a high score, and it's not really even about marking things that don't belong. It's about notifying the moderators of stuff in ways they find helpful.
    – McCannot
    Jul 28, 2011 at 17:01

5 Answers 5

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I can't imagine how it's not off-topic. I also don't think it clearly belongs in any other particular place, either. It's not really even programming-related and is more of a poll or request for suggestions than something with interesting depth. Also, it's ancient, so there's little point to migrating it.

Closing as off-topic without migration strikes me as perfectly reasonable here.

Edit: Ah, I love the new 4-out-of-5 rule. Thanks to whoever else voted just "off topic". :]

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Answering to why the flag has been rejected as invalid, but the question still closed as off-topic, I will say that who marked the flag as invalid are not the users who voted to close the question.
10k users can see some of the flags that were before seen just from the moderators; to be precise, they can see those flags that don't use a custom reason. It could also mean that who saw the flag decided it was not worth closing an old question, when there are more recent questions that would need to be closed.

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The question is nearly three years old. It just got bumped because of a recent answer. There was no Programmers back then.

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    It's not suitable for Programmers anyway. I might be OK for Super User but reads like a shopping recommendation to me. Anyway it's not going to Programmers now.
    – ChrisF Mod
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:02
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That is the community at work for you. I would imagine that it is acceptable because it is programming related. Now that StackExchange is a family of sites rather than a trio, we should be quicker to point out a relevant site to which it should be migrated rather than simply noting that a question is off-topic ...IMHO.

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    Sigh, I was scolded for doing that once. "If you're not 100% sure where it belongs, simply mark it off-topic" is what I was previously told here in meta.
    – Sparky
    Jul 28, 2011 at 15:58
  • Marking it off-topic is too generic now and implies that the question has no home ...
    – IAbstract
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:00
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    @IAbstract: Not really. Just "off-topic" is the correct choice if it belongs on a site with no migration path from its current location.
    – McCannot
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:05
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    See third paragraph in answer posted by @Shog9 here only a few weeks ago. "For future reference, if you don't know where a question belongs, but feel it's off-topic... then just flag it as off-topic."
    – Sparky
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:08
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    @McCannot: Of course, in that case, you should also be flagging for mod attention.
    – mmyers
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:08
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    @mmyers: Right. It should still be closed as off-topic on SO, though. I don't see value to leaving questions like that sitting open until a mod has time to deal with it.
    – McCannot
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:11
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It belongs on Programmers, they explictly state they're all about whiteboard questions.

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  • I agree ...I would have expected to see this migrated. And it should still be migrated.
    – IAbstract
    Jul 28, 2011 at 15:56
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    It does not belong on Programmers. It's a shopping recommendation.
    – ChrisF Mod
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:03
  • @ChrisF, no it's a software recommendation, on SU it would get the software-rec tag.
    – Lance Roberts
    Jul 28, 2011 at 16:17
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    @Lance Yeah, that's still off-topic.
    – user149432
    Jul 28, 2011 at 18:06

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