Recently @Catija replied to my answer (If more users could vote, would they engage more? Testing 1 reputation voting on some sites) about mandatory downvote reason (especially for 1+ rep users).
“I'd be more open to a multi-select for low rep users that allows them to pick valid reasons to downvote without giving a free text field.” – Catija Staff Mod
The proposal ( originally suggested in John Saunders comment Jul 4, 2009 ) is to
- add the quick list of reasons, so the users don't even have to type.
- Add an "anonymous" checkbox, defaulting to checked.
- The dialog can be shown to any users (not only low rep).
- For those, who have enough reputation to add comments, another option with free text “your own comment” can be shown.
- If the user already added a comment or upvoted one of existing comments, dialog can be suppressed.
Two points suggested in the comments by Aaron Bertrand, Staff
the proposal will be more valuable for answers, rather than for questions.
the downvoter name if they chose to be anonymous will not be shown on the site, but (in particular for free text comment) should be recorded in the system to be available to moderators if there is an abuse.
I found a couple of suggestions that were deleted just because they were posted as answers instead of as a feature requests:
Why isn't it required to provide comments/feedback for downvotes, and why are proposals suggesting this so negatively received? (the link may be not visible if you don’t have enough Stack Overflow reputation)
Please include a reason for the downvote:
- Too verbose
- Argument is unclear
- More research required
- Issue not addressed
- Duplication
- Other
Obviously there will be differences in popup layout & content for questions versus answers. Closing the dialog without providing an option will be marked as Other.
Why isn't it required to provide comments/feedback for downvotes, and why are proposals suggesting this so negatively received? (the link may be not visible if you don’t have enough Stack Overflow reputation)
keep down/up votes anonymous
when you vote on a question or comment, a small popup opens, and you get to click on what applies to you (at least one choice). For instance for an answer, it is:
- technically wrong
- off topic
- not justified enough
- a repeat
- outdated
- incomprehensible
- ...?
I searched for similar questions and many of them were closed as a duplicate. My suggestion is not a duplicate of Encouraging people to explain downvotes that was completed in 2009, but a new feature request to improve the current implementation.
Some clarifications based on comments and answers feedback
The idea to Encouraging people to explain downvotes is very popular (1245 votes). This suggestion is how to encourage them more with
- less effort (no need to type),
- allow to keep anonymous and
- allow even for those, who don’t have enough rep to post free text comments.
There are 246 questions linked to/from Encouraging people to explain downvotes. Many of them are closed as duplicates, but the big number is a clear indicator that the current system behaviour is not good and requires improvement(s).
The FAQ accepted answer Why isn't providing feedback mandatory on downvotes, and why are requests suggesting such negatively received? explains the reasons of the current implementation. However, most of points are not convincing and conclusions may be challenged. The current implementation may be redesigned to improve.
The difference with good suggestion Explaining downvotes, a new take on things is that proposed implementation is different. This request also intends to address the requirement to ask for downvote reasons for people with minimal reputation.
Some people think that knowing reasons for downvotes are useful only for the post author. Encouraging to explain downvotes is important to improve quality of posts, which will benefit the site in general. It also will benefit future readers who will see what is the problem with the post that downvotes thought about.
