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For all of my questions I have received great answers. I have implemented the answers in code and they work. I now feel compelled to vote to close the questions because I don't believe there are more or better answers out there.

Should you vote to close your questions that you feel have been answered sufficiently? Would allowing more people to answer dilute the existing, good answers?

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Please note that a long time ago, you could single-handedly close your own question which makes this FAQ more relevant.

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5 Answers 5

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I don't think you should vote to close your own questions just because they are answered. There are very few questions that have a definite answer that will never change, or that cannot be improved upon.

Someone might come in three months, a year, or even later, and become aware of a caveat that nobody knew about in the accepted answer. Maybe there was a flaw in the approach and it was discovered later. Maybe it doesn't work anymore because Windows version X doesn't support feature Y anymore. Maybe the question was about Internet Explorer 10 and the correct answer changes for Internet Explorer 11. Maybe you asked the question in regards to today's modern browsers, but the answer doesn't work in the as-yet-unreleased super-duper-browser that will dominate the market in 3 years.

The way I look at it, these questions and answers are not just for you, but for anyone who might have the same question in the future. Just because an answer works for you now doesn't necessarily mean it will work for someone else in the future. By letting the question remain open, you give the chance for other people to contribute an even better answer later.

Also, closure usually implies that there is something wrong with the post, e.g. it does not meet the guidelines for an on-topic question today.

The only reasons why you should vote to close your own questions are:

  • Your question has been asked in a different post which has a better answer (in this case, vote or flag your question as a duplicate, then approve it).
  • Your question meets the criteria for closure for any other reason, even if it was OK at the time it was posted.

If your question starts to attract bad answers and/or trolling, that is not a reason for closure. Instead, flag your question for moderator attention and ask that it be protected or locked.

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    Regarding your reasons you might be wrong, it's up to voters and moderators and editors to ensure a question isn't trashed. If it is, the revision history is there. Garbage answers will be voted down or maybe deleted. Commented Jul 14, 2009 at 18:29
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    "but the answer doesn't work in the as-yet-unreleased super-duper-browser that will dominate the market in 3 years." You mean Chrome?
    – Anders
    Commented Dec 16, 2011 at 16:59
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I definitely agree with Euro Micelli; closing the question seems very drastic.

However I'd say an important thing to maintain is to select an answer as the accepted answer to indicate which solution was most appropriate to you; and to vote up good answers and perhaps vote down bad answers. I've seen many questions where there are several very good answers provided but it seems that the questioner has taken the answer and lost interest. That may well make people think an ideal answer hasn't been determined when it has. I think it's vitally important to show your gratitude for good answers and perhaps scorn for bad so votes act as a more accurate measure of answer quality.

Apologies if I have veered slightly off-topic here; however I think this point is related and rather important.

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Euro Micelli's post covered it well. I just wanted to add, I can't tell you how many times I've stumbled onto a Yahoo Answers page that has been closed with several incorrect or incomplete answers. It's quite frustrating, to say the least. We certainly can do better than they have.

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I agree with Euro except for this.

The answer will truly not change (for example, because it's linked to legacy technology that won't ever be updated)

On occasion, products like this go opensource and thus the development keeps going so even if it's legacy, you may want to keep it open just it case. Besides all the new stuff will go to the bottom of the 'vote sorted' list anyway.

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On the hand if a post has a gazillion answers, is anyone ever going to read through all of them? Especially if you already have perfectly good answers by checking out the first handful posts.

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    hopefully the good ones are on the top!
    – jjnguy
    Commented Sep 16, 2008 at 4:11
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    If a question gets too many answers the appropriate action is to protect it, not to close it. Commented Jun 26, 2018 at 4:15

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