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-16 votes
2 answers
142 views

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 ...
Dinisaur's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
185 views

Should we close old Winter Bash questions?

I see a few questions in the Close Votes review queue here on Meta Stack Exchange for specific questions about the challenges and rewards of Winter Bashes gone by. Some people are voting to close them ...
Robert Columbia's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
64 views

Any widget to close questions as off-topic in one click from questions list?

I am moderating a site overflown by off-topic questions sent to us by the wizard. 80% of the questions can be recognized as totally off-topic by just looking at the questions list. Problem: I still ...
Nicolas Raoul's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
64 views

When should I vote to close as "off-topic -> does not appear to seek input and discussion from the community" vs "unclear what you're asking"?

Two of the close reasons here on meta, "Off-topic -> This questions does not appear to seek input and discussion from the community" and "Unclear what you're asking", seem to mean essentially the same ...
Picachieu's user avatar
  • 8,781
-3 votes
1 answer
73 views

Should I downvote questions posted on the wrong SE site? [duplicate]

If a question is not directly "bad", but placed on the wrong SE network (e.g., posted on stackoverflow.com when it should have been posted on superuser.com), in addition to close-voting, should I also ...
hanshenrik's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
183 views

Why do moderators choose to not delete obvious off-topic questions after they have closed them?

I see this happen quite often, and while I don't agree/disagree, I am just wondering why. Often on the sites I visit regularly (Stack Overflow and Meta Stack Exchange), I see moderators closing ...
Patrick Hofman's user avatar
23 votes
0 answers
288 views

I'm changing the "not generally applicable" close reason here on Meta SE

This is a small administrative note. For the past 3 years and 11 months, we've had an off-topic reason defined here for use on questions that are only relevant to a specific site: This question ...
Shog9's user avatar
  • 454k
-9 votes
3 answers
122 views

Closing questions because answers are off-topic

Usually one asks for closing questions that appear off-topic. But what about questions with answers off-topic? It happened few times that I've asked a specific question and I've received a lot of ...
Mark's user avatar
  • 119
3 votes
1 answer
56 views

Deleting or Closing an Answered Question if Off Topic

I have a question elsewhere which has been voted down, and has 2 votes to close it. I think anonymous down votes are supremely unhelpful, and that topic has been discussed already. However, I accept ...
Manngo's user avatar
  • 523
2 votes
1 answer
101 views

Is it a good idea to introduce an additional reason: "Closed as Bug"?

I am moderating two Stack Exchange beta sites which both are quite active and deal with very new technologies. At least once a week we receive questions which at some point turn out to be a bug. ...
q9f's user avatar
  • 1,012
-10 votes
2 answers
152 views

Defending questions against abusive closes/migrations

The SE system is probably the best on the internet for connecting questions with those with the expertise to answer them, allowing all of us in the community to learn and share together. I wish it had ...
TheEnvironmentalist's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
57 views

Guidelines for creating a custom off-topic close-vote reason

Background: My main site, CogSci.SE is going through a major overhaul to try and get it out of beta hell. One of the ways we are attempting this is creating a new custom off-topic close vote reason. ...
Seanny123's user avatar
  • 627
22 votes
0 answers
202 views

Cross-posts, egregiously off-topic questions and the vanishing delete link

Having been a participant on Programmers for quite some time now, I am no stranger to new users and drive-by posters. Despite Programmers' reputation as "the least understood site on the network," ...
user avatar
-17 votes
2 answers
186 views

unfairness in stack exchange sites? [closed]

Before you continue reading, I will be suprised if you can give a reasonable answer to this question, that supports the moderators over at stack overflow ok I admit, I'm not an expert on stack ...
tristo's user avatar
  • 135
2 votes
1 answer
74 views

How to handle off-topic, but self-answered and good looking questions?

Should self-answered, correct or at least good looking, but still off-topic questions be VTC as all other off-topic? Wouldn't that be to rude against OP? Would such question be profitable anyway? I ...
trejder's user avatar
  • 4,109
-18 votes
1 answer
124 views

How can we discourage downvoting for the wrong reasons?

Very often, on various SE websites, I see new users posting questions that are off-topic. This is a common problem, and I think our communication lines to help these users are usually quite effective. ...
Lee White's user avatar
  • 243
6 votes
2 answers
108 views

For questions which might belong on maths, stats, etc, is is better to vote to close or flag for migration?

I'm active on several SE sites, and on a couple of them I've tried to a few times to flag posts to move to another site (that I use actively) that isn't listed in the "off-topic" migration sites. On ...
TooTone's user avatar
  • 548
5 votes
1 answer
43 views

Duplicated off-topic close reason

When clicking "Close" -> "off-topic because...", the 1st option is Questions about general computing hardware and software are off-topic for Stack Overflow unless they directly involve tools used ...
timrau's user avatar
  • 253
21 votes
3 answers
435 views

Debug-me questions solvable with a stack-trace or debugger

Consider a question that Is about some Java code That fails because it throws a NullPointerException That the user wants help debugging And the user includes a short excerpt of code that has the ...
Raedwald's user avatar
  • 4,776
3 votes
0 answers
50 views

Prewarn users that question may be off topic based on tags

I recently came across the appstore-approval tag and noticed this in the wiki: App store approval is off-topic for Stack Overflow. Questions marked with this tag concern the approval process of an ...
James Webster's user avatar
-3 votes
2 answers
310 views

How many points have topics closed for being off-topic received?

Stack Overflow frequently is on the first page of Google search results and I am surprised how often the valuable question has been closed for being off-topic despite numerous up votes and answers ...
Well Actually's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
62 views

Why are not all Stack Exchange sites available for migrating off-topic question? [duplicate]

I encountered today the following question: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19091802/given-x-0-and-x-n1-and-that-x-i-is-integer-how-to-calculate-sumx-0x-1-x-n Because it should be asked in Math....
Michel Keijzers's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
134 views

Closing votes as off-topic: two options for SuperUser?

Whenever I vote to close a question as "Off topic" because they should be in SuperUser, I find it complicated to know which one of the two options I should select: This: Questions about general ...
fedorqui 'SO stop harming''s user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
126 views

Close as off topic, flag to migrate, or both?

What is the correct action to take when I find a question that could be migrated to another SE site, which isn't on the list of sites I can pick using the close dialog? Should I flag it for moderator ...
Duncan Jones's user avatar
  • 8,605
3 votes
2 answers
96 views

I thought that this question is off-topic, but upon looking at the responses, I'm doubting myself

"Inline assembly" for Java byte codes I'm now doubting myself, because at this point in time two people have responded and they both have over 100K reputation. So that led me to think: &...
Steve P.'s user avatar
  • 2,020
11 votes
1 answer
193 views

Improve the "can no longer be reproduced" close reason

Not to drag the off-topic closure reasons through the mud again, but I have a couple of issues that I think could be addressed by a slight modification to this close reason. Currently it is: The ...
Aaron Bertrand's user avatar
  • 43.5k
27 votes
3 answers
535 views

The "Other" off topic reason for closing can circumvent our actual mission

I'm really happy overall about the changes to closing. I think the new close reasons are much less full of jargon than the old reasons. In practice, however, I'm seeing an actual issue with one ...
George Stocker's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
194 views

Off Topic or Not Constructive? Do close voters simply follow reasons chosen by others?

I just noticed this is closed since several minutes as off topic. But IMO, it's a prime example of "Not Constructive". I'll admit the line between closing reasons are blurred to me - I never really ...
zw324's user avatar
  • 736
0 votes
1 answer
46 views

Off Topic Close vote suggest a SE website besides the 5 listed [duplicate]

I see on When voting to migrate an off-topic question, why is the list of sites limited?, that it is a concern to allow user migration to any SE site based on users' understanding of the other site. ...
Mooseman's user avatar
  • 13.7k
-6 votes
1 answer
73 views

"Too localized" on SO is generally the same as "Off-topic" that belongs to CodeReview.SE

The too localized close vote description states: This question is unlikely to help any future visitors; it is only relevant to a small geographic area, a specific moment in time, or an ...
pilsetnieks's user avatar
-8 votes
1 answer
336 views

What should I do when people try to close a valid question as off-topic?

I have a question on Stack Overflow asking why JavaScript still runs after being disabled I thought it was a programming-specific question but it has received 3 close votes now. To quote the FAQ, we ...
Antony's user avatar
  • 6,455
8 votes
1 answer
116 views

Closing question as off-topic has no options to move to another site (main SO)

I spend some time every day reviewing questions (including "close question" queue). If I select "close as off-topic", I usually get a sub-selection of options to move the question to another site: ...
Aleks G's user avatar
  • 1,892
9 votes
0 answers
60 views

Should specific SE tech sites be more visible on Stack Overflow?

Stack Exchange has grown a lot and has a bunch of sites whose content ends up on Stack Overflow. These include, but are not limited to: Meta; Server Fault; Super User; TeX; DBA; Programmers, Pro ...
smartcaveman's user avatar
  • 10.3k
1 vote
1 answer
90 views

When to close or flag a question that "doesn't belong there"?

With a few reputation points came to me the option to close off-topic questions and not just flag them. I thought this meant flagging them was now useless and was just giving more work to people ...
Denys Séguret's user avatar
17 votes
2 answers
372 views

Why do programming environment questions always get closed?

Why are questions that help you setting up the coding environment not allowed? I have asked some and seen some from others and all of them are closed. This post tells a story of a question of this ...
mico's user avatar
  • 756
4 votes
0 answers
112 views

Why are off-topic questions bad? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: What is the benefit to close any question which is not as per rule of SO but still useful in some way? I commented on this question: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...
AShelly's user avatar
  • 470