When migration of a question to a valid site is rejected, it leaves an awful dead end.
- The closed question looks off-topic, but it's not.
- The closed question looks like a dead end, hiding the real content from the user.
Getting to the real content in this case requires following an extended chain of events that have nothing to do with the content itself.
Stack Exchange is not a forum. People come here looking for answers. If they have to read the edit history or follow a discussion thread, we're not doing our job.
A Real Example
Let's say you're wondering when people first figured out that the atmosphere ends at a certain height. You go over to History of Science & Math and you find this question. It's exactly what you wanted to ask.
Go on, take a look.
Oh, it's closed. I guess there won't be any answers to it. That's too bad.
Don't worry, the question is still alive somewhere else, and it has several good answers!
You may have noticed these messages under the question:
How can it be off topic, you wonder? It's exactly the kind of question HSM is meant for. So, you head over to Meta and ask why this question is considered off topic.
It turns out that the question:
- is not off topic, but
- shouldn't have been migrated to the site in the first place.
Where's the content?
So where's the actual content? What happened to the original question and its answers?
In the "migration rejected" banner, do you see that link to history.stackexchange.com? Where do you think it goes? History.stackexchange.com?
Please. It goes to the revision history of the original question on history.stackexchange.com.
Once you're there, you don't want to return to the question you just came from, so click the link Return to Question.
Hooray! You've found the real content!
The closed question looks like a dead end with a bizarre message. The real question is still alive, but hard to find. That's not how Stack Exchange is supposed to work. What should we do instead?
