14

I would like to have the option to say "leave open" when I'm clicking on the close link under a question, the same way as when the question is shown to me in the in the close votes review queue.

Sometimes, while reading and thinking about a question, I see that people start to close it based on wrong assumptions (e.g. that it is a duplicate, when it only appears to be similar, but the actual problem is different). In that case I'd like to cast my vote against closing it, but I can't do that directly from the post and finding that particular question in the review queue can become very tedious.

To be clear, I'm not arguing about whether a question should be closed for a specific reason or not. I was simply wondering, why I have the option to say "leave open" when I come from the review queue, but not from the post itself, in which case its actually more likely that I have completely though this matter through. Therefore I think it would be a handy improvement equalize both procedures.

  • 5
    Because if it does get closed, you can vote to reopen. – user4639281 Jul 3 '15 at 16:34
  • 8
    @TinyGiant: Yeah, but for that I actually have to stick around and monitor it. Also wiith the same argument we could eliminate the "Leave open" option from the close votes review queue – MikeMB Jul 3 '15 at 16:38
  • Do you have an example of a question in this category? – Martin James Jul 3 '15 at 16:40
  • 1
    Well in the close vote queue, the review will be shown to (I believe) 5 users. If two of those users vote to leave open, then it will stay open unless two more users come along and vote. And unfortunately, if you want it to stay open, you have to work with the system, even if that means sitting around until it goes through the reopen queue. You could always solicit reopen votes in a chatroom if you want. – user4639281 Jul 3 '15 at 16:40
  • 3
    @MartinJames: No, not right know, but I think that is beside the point. I just don't understand, why the process is different depending on whether I'm comming from the review queue or directly from the post. The arguments for/against closing it should be the same anyway, with the additional benefit that people coming from the post are more likely to be experts on the topic (I know, you can filter the reviews, but it is still not the same). – MikeMB Jul 3 '15 at 16:45
  • 2
    If you vote to leave open in the review queue, you're not affecting the post in anyway, you're just basically doing nothing with a review vote. It doesn't add a "leave open" vote on the question, it will however only show that post to four other users to vote on. – user4639281 Jul 3 '15 at 16:48
  • @TinyGiant: Better? – MikeMB Jul 3 '15 at 17:19
  • @MartinJames read this embeddedrelated.com/showarticle/741.php – Andrei Bozantan Jul 3 '15 at 17:22
  • @bosonix - yeah, I've read it before. Kinda reminds me of all those hundreds of 'hidden charges, bad service, terrible, never use them again' posts re. Ryanair from pax who got stung because they did not objey the rules they signed up for when they booked their flight. Ryanair don't care because of the other 100M pax/year, those who read the rules and did not break them, are still paying them for travel. – Martin James Jul 3 '15 at 17:29
  • 1
    @MartinJames I mean: read that, because there are some example of questions for which someone wanted to click that proposed 'leave open' (at least until I answer) button. I think that sometimes is to easy to close a question, easier than asking or answering one, and this is hurting the community. – Andrei Bozantan Jul 3 '15 at 17:35
  • 1
    @bosonix This does not hurt the community, it keeps it alive. If the question is off-topic or generally unclear it should be closed until it has been edited to fit the guidelines. If we were any more lax on closing than we are now, many experts and enthusiasts alike would simply walk away. Closing poorly written or off-topic questions promotes quality and teaches users to ask good on-topic questions in the future. – user4639281 Jul 3 '15 at 17:50
  • 2
    Please don't turn this into a discussion about which questions should be closed or not. Fact is, I now have the possibility to say "close" or "leave open" in situation A but not in situation B. Unless someone can explain what makes A different from B , I stand by my suggestion to provide the same options in A and B – MikeMB Jul 3 '15 at 18:41
17

If five people think it should be closed, it'll probably get closed no matter what you vote. Your best bet is to make sure five people don't think it should be closed.

If you see a "possible duplicate..." comment and you disagree with it, then leave a comment reply explaining why it isn't a duplicate. This is then visible to future readers and notifies the original close voter who, if you're sufficiently convincing, can retract his vote.

And you can always edit the question to clarify it, focus it, make it obviously different from previous questions, etc.

Both of these stand a much better chance of keeping the question from being closed than a vote would.

If it's already closed, then follow Makoto's advice.

  • 4
    Of course I'm leaving a comment. I just think it would be quicker/simpler to first delay the close and then write the comment instead of writing the comment, seeing that it has been closed in the meantime, voting for reopening it and - in the worst case - waiting until you can submit an answer (in which case it is more likely, that I'd abandon the topic). From TinyGiant's and your explanation, I'm starting to wonder what the use of the "leave open" button is in the first place. – MikeMB Jul 3 '15 at 17:22
  • 5
    I have to agree with the OP. "Voting" for anything should imply choice. I find that many moderators will vote to close a question with 3+ votes without reading it sufficiently. If five people think it should be closed, should not mean that the sixth preson shouldn't even bother to read the quesition – xyz Jul 3 '15 at 17:45
  • 1
    If the post still looks duplicate / crappy, why wouldn't a 4th, 5th, 6th voter vote to close, @pra? – Shog9 Jul 3 '15 at 19:06
  • 2
    In that case sure. But if some moderator spots a good, a vote to not close is the best way to allow the new voters to reconsider. As OP day, duplicate questions are only a subset. Many a times a high rep mod makes a wrong assumption and others simply follow, not bothering to read. – xyz Jul 3 '15 at 19:11
  • 2
    If readers aren't reading, then nothing you do will matter. – Shog9 Jul 3 '15 at 19:54
4

If the question is missing information, putting it on hold is the best way to prevent others from trying to answer it. No one benefits from reading an incomplete question, and we're all equally hurt by an incomplete answer. Actively casting a vote against closure is not constructive, as it doesn't imply that the question is good (and the community doesn't just close good questions on a whim).

Normally the question makes its way through the reopen queue to get looked at again by someone else if it's been closed, so there are people that will look at the question again to see if it can be reopened. If you really feel that a question should be reopened, edit it back into shape and that will get a little more attention to it.

  • 1
    "Actively casting a vote against closure is not constructive, as it doesn't imply that the question is good". Huh? That's exactly what it implies. More specifically, it is a statement of disagreement with the reason to close. I've never before heard of a voting system where one could only cast in one direction. Consider this: if 5 people think a question should be closed, and 7 people think a question should be kept open, then the majority community opinion is "keep it open". There is no way to make such a vote today. – ToolmakerSteve Nov 11 '19 at 21:01

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