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I tried to delete a question recently. I get this alert box that asks me whether I'm sure that I want to vote to delete. That's fine, there's no need for something better. But then I get this:

Alert

How the hell am I supposed to know whether post 13382262 is important or not? Who knows, maybe that post should get deleted as well. That's not very helpful of the site.

Some points

  • You can't copy/paste an ID from the alert box.
  • You can't switch focus to the browser without dismissing the alert box.

Can we please get something more decent? No need to get fancy, a simple link to the duplicate would be sufficient, a proper model even better. Anything's better than the default alert.

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18
  • 1
    (Side-Note) I'm confused... That question is not closed as a duplicate... Am I missing something here?
    – animuson StaffMod
    Mar 24, 2013 at 20:40
  • 9
    A proper modal instead of a standard js dialog would be much better
    – Ben Brocka
    Mar 24, 2013 at 20:41
  • @animuson It's linked and closed, maybe that already counts?
    – slhck
    Mar 24, 2013 at 20:41
  • @animuson: Not sure, but that's the alert I got
    – Madara's Ghost
    Mar 24, 2013 at 20:43
  • 1
    @animuson Incorrect message about another post closed as a duplicate when voting to delete (one of the voters presumably voted as such, even though that wasn't the outcome)
    – Tim Stone
    Mar 24, 2013 at 20:46
  • Perhaps someone has marked it as a duplicate but it's closed as not constructive because that reason succeeded in getting 5 votes earlier?
    – Keelan
    Mar 24, 2013 at 20:50
  • 15
    Also 1 posts?!1!one That's needless pluralization and genericization!
    – Tim Stone
    Mar 24, 2013 at 20:50
  • I agree the way this information appears is intrusive, but it is also important. You should check the closed post, and reconsider your delete vote. Otherwise, an important topic may entirely disappear from the site, if you're shoot your delete votes like a machine gun
    – Ivaylo Slavov
    Mar 24, 2013 at 21:38
  • 6
    @IvayloSlavov: He's not complaining it's intrusive. He's complaining that for how important it is, it's awfully inconvenient to investigate it. It gives you an ID, which (AFAIK) you can't even copy-paste from a dialog box, so you actually have to type it in manually to get to the question it's telling you about.
    – animuson StaffMod
    Mar 24, 2013 at 22:15
  • Yes you can copy/paste, at least in Chrome on a Mac.
    – Rosinante
    Mar 24, 2013 at 23:39
  • 22
    -1 for not having memorized all post ids on the site (yet?).
    – yannis
    Mar 24, 2013 at 23:58
  • 2
    @Yannis: I immediately checked for downvotes. :P
    – Madara's Ghost
    Mar 25, 2013 at 7:14
  • @animuson, it seems I got it wrong then. Thanks for the correction
    – Ivaylo Slavov
    Mar 25, 2013 at 10:28
  • 5
    @animuson: Not only that! You can't copy/paste, you can't even switch focus to the browser without dismissing it! You practically can't do anything short of opening a new browser window, or memorizing the ID in your head to write it down after you close the alert box.
    – Madara's Ghost
    Mar 25, 2013 at 10:58
  • @MadaraUchiha That sounds like a real bug to me.
    – tchrist
    Mar 25, 2013 at 15:01

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
11

A possible (partial) solution to this would be to add another, Duplicates section in the right sidebar, where all the duplicates of a question are listed.

Example

This could be a partial solution, as it doesn't address the original problem (where the alert box is unusable), it does solve the mystery regarding what posts are closed as duplicates of this.

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1
  • 11
    9001 "Where are my legs?"
    – Mysticial
    Mar 29, 2013 at 18:46

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