Questions tagged [close-reasons]
This tag is for instructions and guidance on closing or migrating questions, and the reasons for those closures.
819
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Add direct link to on-topic page of help center for closed as off-topic questions
Currently the closed as off-topic questions have a banner like this:
This banner contains two links:
off-topic: https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/closed-questions
help center: https://meta....
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-3
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1
answer
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Why was question closed as "does not appear to be about programming" when 2/3 close-voters voted for "belongs on superuser.com"? [closed]
Question 77283401 was closed as
This question does not appear to be about programming within the scope defined in the help center.
because 2 people voted "belongs on superuser.com" and 1 ...
- 534
22
votes
0
answers
236
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Questions closed for multiple community-specific reasons should be clear about that fact
It happens sometimes - especially on Stack Overflow - that a question will receive three close votes for community-specific reasons (i.e., as off-topic), and each voter will choose a different reason. ...
- 3,775
-19
votes
2
answers
125
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Add typo on all sites of Stack Exchange as a general reason
I propose to add the typo close/flag reason on all sites of Stack Exchange sites as a general reason instead of the "community specific-reason".
Instead of using different messages that says ...
- 155
5
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1
answer
174
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Leaving a Question Closed for a Non-Existent Reason
Things on the Stack Exchange network change over time, as they should.
One relatively recent change was that made to the workflow in the "Reopen votes" review queue, when a reviewer chooses ...
- 4,003
1
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0
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108
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Is “needs details or clarity” connected to the help center article on questions that are automatically blocked for not meeting quality standards? [closed]
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 ...
- 1,415
2
votes
0
answers
27
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Incorrect icon order when a question is closed for multiple reasons [duplicate]
When a question is closed for multiple reasons, the close reasons are displayed below the "closed by" line. However, the light bulb icon is still shown above the eye icon.
Either the icon ...
- 1,727
98
votes
22
answers
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Improving the copy in the close modal and post notices – 2023 edition
Since we updated the close modal text and post notices a few years ago, I've known that there are concerns about whether they're sufficiently clear for users and whether they're giving the correct ...
- 103k
-22
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3
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196
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What is the purpose of the "needs details or clarity" closure reason? [duplicate]
What is the purpose of closing a question because it needs details or clarity?
Example scenarios
Scenario 1A
The question does not have enough details to be answerable, and it is closed. It receives ...
- 1,910
-8
votes
1
answer
139
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New close reason proposal: "Question based on misunderstanding"
I've asked a couple of questions that turned out to be entirely based on my misunderstanding of certain facts (and made no sense in reality) (basically of the form "Why did X happen even though ?...
- 1,910
14
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0
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180
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What Replacement Strings are available for use in Community Specific Close Reasons?
I've been working on a project to update some of our Community Specific closure reasons on Stack Overflow.
In my research, I've been looking network wide at our various community's closure reasons. I'...
- 4,632
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0
answers
152
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Is there a complete list of private guidance for network-wide closure reasons?
There is a difference between what others users see and what the post owner sees when a question is closed.
For example, when a question is closed as a duplicate users see1:
Some community members ...
- 4,632
-12
votes
2
answers
131
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Is asking for guidance a "request for materials"? [closed]
Why are questions asking about guidance closed as off-topic requests for materials? Would it not be beneficial to the community to allow the more experienced users to pour their knowledge on the newer ...
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2
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211
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Should we switch from marking a question as opinion-based into marking an answer as opinion-based?
I think that possibility to mark questions as opinion-based is problematic for few reasons:
It is just hard or impossible to predict if question is opinion based.
asker has to predict what other ...
- 166
10
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1
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248
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If a question was closed with multiple revamped community-specific (off-topic) reasons, the close notice may not properly describe the reasons
Here's a close notice from a question that was closed with multiple off-topic (community-specific) close reasons, relating to only one specific network site and no longer reproducible:
(For context, ...
13
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0
answers
67
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Reasons shown for "remain closed" votes in the Reopen Votes review queue should be listed in the same order as reasons in Close dialog
Since the Review queue workflows - Final release, when voting to leave a question closed in the Reopen Votes review queue, you have to select an option why it should remain closed:
These correspond ...
GlorfindelMod
- 248k
10
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1
answer
173
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Is it better to vote to close your own question or delete it?
In any case with your own question, is it better practice to vote to close it or to delete it if it meets a close reason?
- 224
12
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0
answers
64
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Show suggested edit reviewers the original close reason
When reviewing question edits, I saw a post in the Suggested Edits queue where the edit author selected "submit for review". It was closed as one of the five site-specific reasons, but the ...
- 50.2k
5
votes
1
answer
108
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What can I do if I disagree on the reason a question was closed, and believe it should have instead been closed as a duplicate? [duplicate]
What can I do if a question was closed for reason A but I believe that it should have been closed for reason B? Is the only option to vote to reopen it and then vote to close it again with reason B?
...
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0
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89
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Link in Close banner doesn’t specify debugging details [closed]
Many closed questions (e.g. here) have a banner:
Closed. This question needs debugging details. It is not currently
accepting answers.
But the linked page https://stackoverflow.com/help/closed-...
- 4,782
-16
votes
2
answers
141
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Should a question be closed without a discussion? [closed]
I recently posted a couple of questions in two stack communities (this one on physics and this one on skeptics) that have been closed, both deemed off topic.
In one case (skeptics) it has been ...
- 95
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101
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The mod page for editing close reason notices doesn't show the delete question button
Today, I was in the interesting situation of closing my own meta question as off-topic (don't ask) and discovered that instead of the Edit question button I expected, there was only a Delete question ...
- 2,338
4
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answers
58
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Are there times that questions are more or less likely to get closed as off-topic before they can get answers?
I was wondering whether the time that a question is posted has an effect on whether the question is likely to get closed as off-topic. I noticed that some questions that look like they fit the ...
- 477
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0
answers
216
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Close reasons are a poor way to give advice on how to improve a post
I think that a significant portion of the angst around closing questions is caused by forcing reviewers to select one reason that must cover why a question is unsuitable for a site or why answers to a ...
- 19.9k
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votes
1
answer
144
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What is the course of actions when elected moderators lock and close questions with unjustified reasons? [duplicate]
What should be my course of actions when elected moderators (specifically "Stack Overflow in Russian") unjustifiably lock and close questions on the Meta?
I realize, that deciding what is ...
- 172
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votes
3
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169
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Can moderators be given a way to change the close reason on a question without clearing reopen votes?
Assume some users voted to reopen a question. Then, a mod came by, noticed that the close reason on the question was wrong, so they reopened and closed the question again to correct the close reason. ...
- 2,235
5
votes
1
answer
105
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How does this question "not appear to seek input and discussion from the community"?
Question in question: Is it a good practice to write an answer to respond to another answer, rather than actually answer the question?
It is closed for being off-topic with the reason:
This question ...
- 5,935
58
votes
1
answer
720
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Please allow users without the close/reopen votes privilege to see the full details of close reasons
Let me first establish what I'm not asking about:
I know that there are posts that don't show a specific close reason to anyone when three different reasons were chosen.
I know that users who don't ...
- 15.2k
-7
votes
2
answers
294
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Should the question be closed if it has been answered in another thread of some website?
The question which has been answered in some other website should be marked closed in Stack Overflow? It can help to find active questions and reduce time to investigate duplicate questions with other ...
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8
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Are general "let's discuss this proposal" threads allowed on Area 51 Discussion Zone?
A recent proposal on Area 51 has yielded a corresponding question (About Islam medical science) on Area 51 Discussion Zone, with the "question" simply a statement of the proposal's merits ...
- 32.7k
15
votes
1
answer
154
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Typo in old close reason 'noise or pointless' in SEDE
There used to be a close reason 'noise or pointless' on Meta sites. However, in SEDE it's listed as "noise of pointless", which makes it look like the person who inserted that was either ...
GlorfindelMod
- 248k
12
votes
1
answer
157
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Separate "duplicate" close vote and "unclear" vote counts entirely
I've just bumped into something that I feel shouldn't have happened. Execute 32bit ELF on a 64bit ubuntu machine, getting segmentation fault
The question was IMO clear enough. The one request for ...
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1
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The Help Center page on "closed questions" on sites other than Stack Overflow contains the old descriptions of the close reasons
The Help Center page at /help/closed-questions titled What does it mean if a question is "closed"? lists the five top-level close reasons and their descriptions.
However, the close reason ...
user313042
12
votes
1
answer
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The close reason descriptions for "Needs details or clarity" and "Opinion-based" are swapped in SEDE
The close reason descriptions for "Needs details or clarity" and "Opinion-based" are swapped in SEDE. Can this be corrected?
For reference, this is what those close reason ...
user313042
6
votes
1
answer
62
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Where can I find the possible off-topic close reasons at a given site?
With the down-the-line goal of streamlining question closure at Chinese.SE, I want to identify the off-topic close reasons at the other language sites. I want to understand their decisions, and ...
- 21.6k
32
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0
answers
263
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Why are the "off-topic" flag options (including "blatantly off-topic") listed under "needs improvement"?
When I see an off-topic question on a site where I have the "cast close votes" privilege (mainly, SO), I can click on Close, select "A community-specific reason" (AKA/previously, &...
- 15.2k
16
votes
2
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210
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When are multiple closure reasons provided in the post notice?
I noticed in this recently closed question that there are multiple close reasons presented.
Here's a screenshot of the post notice:
From my understanding, only one close reason is selected when ...
- 26.6k
8
votes
1
answer
84
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Change the reason of a flag to a question
It happened that I flagged a question for a wrong reason and then I want to change my reason. So I know that I have the possibility to cancel my flag using the 'Retract Flag' button. But after ...
- 399
7
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0
answers
51
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Show users what the all close messages say for a site
Due to the recent changes to close reasons, I’m having a hard time figuring out what the close reasons say as there seems to be three different messages per close reason per site:
One for the author
...
- 50.2k
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votes
1
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88
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Why is the close reason returned by the API different?
Up to few moments ago my script was working correctly fetching question information from the API. Right now my script fails because the duplicate close reason is different.
Previously it was:
...
- 9,505
23
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1
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211
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I can no longer see the close reason I chose [duplicate]
In the past, we used to know the exact close reason we chose when voting to close a question.
However, in the new close dialog, it's no longer possible:
In the above, I chose "A community-...
47
votes
0
answers
467
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Please reinstate the words "off-topic" into the closing dialog
Recently, the button for "off-topic" in the closing dialog was changed to "A community-specific reason". To be clear, I agree with the gist of the change, since "off-topic&...
30
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1
answer
342
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Why are specific close reasons no longer shown to users?
Lately, I have noticed that whereas previously the exact reason a question was closed alongside who casted close votes was shown, a more generic "Off-Topic" or similar reason is shown without the ...
- 513
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131
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Close reason banner not displayed to low-reputation post author [closed]
Over at Physics we have a new user whose first interaction with the site was to post an interesting but off-topic question. They were savvy enough to ask about it on Meta, but not to follow the ...
- 2,113
32
votes
3
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295
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The newer close reasons don't account for questions that are too general and require lengthy answers
There are some questions that are incredibly broad. These used to be closed under the "too broad" reason, but that went away. These questions now fall right between two of the new categories:
Needs ...
- 43.9k
5
votes
1
answer
152
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Rejected migrations don't provide close information
A post was migrated to Code Review. Someone disliked the migration and posted on Stack Overflow's meta. The meta post states a reason that doesn't apply to the post, and so I wanted to see what reason ...
- 3,627
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Can we replace the "no longer reproducible" close reason with a [status-obsolete] tag?
Here on MSE, we have a close reason for bug reports and feature requests that have been rendered obsolete by changes to the system:
The problem described here can no longer be reproduced. Changes ...
- 75.8k
9
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answers
117
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Why don't off-topic close notices indicate which specific users voted for specific off-topic canned reasons anymore?
In the old notices, on questions closed as off-topic, the notice would not only indicate all of the close voters who closed the question, but also the specific users who voted for specific canned ...
30
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2
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380
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Should mobile app questions be closed now that the apps are officially retired?
Today, Yaakov Ellis, a Stack Exchange staff member, stated in response to an app bug report that,
We are not providing any further support for the mobile apps. There will not be any more builds ...
- 32.7k
18
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0
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182
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Do the new top-level close reasons have the same scope as the old ones?
As part of the rollout of the new post notices, changes were made to three of the top-level close reasons:
Unclear what you're asking has become Needs details or clarity.
Too broad has become Needs ...
- 32.7k