I have noticed that dozens of old questions have been recently unilaterally closed in Web Apps SE as “needs details or clarity”, or closed as duplicates of questions also closed as “needs details or clarity”. (Some of them are also locked.) None of them have any comments indicating what specific details or clarity would make them reopenable, and this comment was left on those questions by the moderator who closed them:
This question doesn't meet the current quality standards.
The comment links to the help center article, “Why do I see a message that my question does not meet quality standards?”
That help center article is for users whose questions were automatically blocked by the SE server and are automatically notified that their “question does not meet quality standards”. However, the questions in question were posted successfully and not blocked, so that article should not apply to them.
I made this meta post because I’m puzzled that the “needs details or clarity” close reason has been connected with the message for questions that are automatically blocked by the SE server. I’m wondering whether this was one of the intentions or purposes for the “needs details or clarity” close reason.
Is it appropriate to close questions as “needs details or clarity” and direct the askers to the “Why do I see a message that my question does not meet quality standards?” help center article? Are those two connected? I want to know if this is an appropriate practice, SE-wide, not just specific to Web Apps SE.
