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Each time I ask about one of my down voted questions on Meta, if I use the title, "How can I improve this question?" I think these posts will be duplicates.

But including the post's title from the main site becomes too long in the Meta question's title.

For example:

How can I make Firefox play audio file instead of prompt me to download it?

How can I write a proper title when asking about questions like that here on Meta?

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    Are you asking the reason your question was downvoted? This question as it’s currently written is not clear. That would be the reason this question is being downvoted. As for the reason your question was downvoted, the numerous spelling and grammatical errors, might have something to do with that
    – Ramhound
    Jan 19, 2019 at 19:18
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    The title isn't what makes a question a duplicate, so you don't need to include the question title in the Meta question title. Just include a link to the original question in the body here.
    – fixer1234
    Jan 20, 2019 at 0:02
  • @TwistyImpersonator Also the example in this question has got non-negative after I reword that example question.
    – illiterate
    Jan 21, 2019 at 4:54
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    Your questions are attracting downvotes due to them not being clear.
    – Ramhound
    Jan 21, 2019 at 11:12
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    I've further edited your question based on the improvements by @Jan. Please review the question to ensure I've preserved your meaning. Jan 21, 2019 at 11:25
  • @TwistyImpersonator Thank you, I think your edited version express the same mean as I want to express. Although I can't understand what is the difference between your and Jan Doggen's version.
    – illiterate
    Jan 22, 2019 at 3:24
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    @illiterate - Proper grammar
    – Ramhound
    Jan 23, 2019 at 8:59

1 Answer 1

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  1. Duplicates are not made based on the title.

Most people here are not robo-close-voter, and only close vote as duplicate if answers in the target applies to your question.

For instance, if your question has poor formatting, it makes sense to point you to an answer that explains how to format properly, even though that answer is not specific to your question.

  1. To avoid duplicate close-vote, show that you've understood the linked duplicate.

Quoting the help center:

If you see a question and do not agree that it truly is a duplicate, edit it to highlight the differences, then try to get it reopened by casting a reopen vote.

For instance, you can say that "I've read this post, and I've tried to format my post", etc.

Usually, it takes 5 close-voters to close a question, and closed questions can also be reopened.


For that particular question, it currently has positive net vote, so I'd not worry too much about it.

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    Duplicates are based on the question, not the answers. It's a duplicate if it asks the same thing. If the existing answers apply, that's great. If they don't apply, that can be a clue to what differentiates the question, so that difference can be focused on in an edit. But if the other question asks the same thing and didn't attract a good solution, that doesn't make it not a dupe. There may not be a good solution for the OP's situation; not every problem has an optimum solution. Simply asking the same question again will attract the same answers.
    – fixer1234
    Jan 30, 2019 at 4:41
  • Which we want to avoid (having multiple instances of the same answer). Additionally, the act of editing a closed question, places it into a queue to be reopened (but only if 5 users agree then its reopened)
    – Ramhound
    Jan 30, 2019 at 6:41

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