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Change “mandatory” to Prompt

Prompt to specify downvote reason but allow to keep downvotes anonymous

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 idea is not new

consider adding the quick list of reasons, so they don't even have to type. Possibly add an "anonymous" checkbox, defaulting to checked.

John Saunders Jul 4, 2009 at 12:50

  • 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.

I found a couple 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? (link may be not visible, if you don’t have enough StackOverflow 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? (link may be not visible, if you don’t have enough StackOverflow 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    • outdated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 current implementation .