Auto Comment for Off Topic -> Minimal Understanding

Question

When someone votes to close an issue as...

Questions asking for code must demonstrate a minimal understanding of the problem being solved. Include attempted solutions, why they didn't work, and the expected results. See also: Stack Overflow question checklist

^{subcategory of off-topic}

They see that wonderful list of things to remember. However, the OP doesn't. At least, not until the post is closed.

I think having an automatic comment, that says something along the lines of,

Please check that your question follows the Stack Overflow question checklist

Would be beneficial to the OP, and give them a (potential) chance to edit their question before it's closed. I don't know what the reopen rates are, but I believe they're pretty low.

I do think that a nicely formatted FAQ page would have a better effect than the list there. Bright colors, screenshots, arrows, etc.

Answer 1

Pekka's comment looks to be a pretty good idea: Once there are multiple close votes of the same type on a question, start showing a box similar to the on hold/closed box with text such as:

Some members of the community think that this question should be put on hold because it is [reason]. You may want to edit and improve your question so this doesn't happen.

[reason details]

This box would only display to the asker and would trigger a mini-notification on appearance (which is cancelled if it's successfully put on hold).