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When one opens a question and starts typing a title, a list of possible duplicate questions is shown as illustrated below.

alt text

I assume that this isn't used often since some quite obvious duplicates are still created on Super User. Perhaps a "I checked the list and it wasn't there" checkbox could be added to solve this.

Moreover however, I'd like to be able to fetch this list when viewing an existing question. I think it'd allow the higher rep users to locate and assign duplicates faster and more efficient. Checking for duplicates now consists of searching a duplicate while this would be much quicker. Furthermore, it might decrease situations where users answer a question without realizing that it already exists and thereby encouraging duplicate questions, which has been discussed at length here.

For example: Add a link (Find possible duplicates) next to "close" and "edit" that will open an overlay div (Like the closing reasons div) and display the same list as above.

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  • This could easily be solved with an user script that calls the related questions routine and passes the current title... I've confirmed that this shows another list than the questions shown in the right side.
    – Tamara Wijsman
    Commented Sep 4, 2010 at 22:49
  • Ugh... I need to learn how to write these myself. Wait for it... ^^
    – Tamara Wijsman
    Commented Sep 4, 2010 at 23:06
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    @TomWij Of course user scripts cold be written, yet I don't think this will benefit just certain users. I think the community as a whole could if this feature was offered by default so dupes can be tracked and closed more easily. (I do applaud your thinking though n_n)
    – Pylsa
    Commented Sep 4, 2010 at 23:13
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    Hmm, maybe the question should be migrated to MSO, it's not specific to MSU...
    – Tamara Wijsman
    Commented Sep 5, 2010 at 19:43

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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My guess is that this will not be implemented as the percentage of users that checks this is rather small. As my interest lies in this and writing user scripts I decided to write one to simplify it now:

The user script can be obtained here, the source here,
it works for both Google Chrome and Firefox, also written to work on any (beta) SE site...

This adds a link "Show Related." at the top of the bar on the right side,
that links function serves as a toggle to show and hide the related questions above the question.

Please note that the related question is only fetched when clicking that link, so don't excessively click it...

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    It would totally disrupt the workflow that makes it soooo easy to ask questions, so I do't see this implemented
    – Ivo Flipse Mod
    Commented Sep 5, 2010 at 7:31
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    @IvoFlipse: Sorry, I might be misinterpreting your comment, but... This doesn't have anything to do with asking questions, did you read the question by BloodPhilia? In short: It is meant as an assistant for those looking for duplicate questions on an existing question, as most people go to "Ask a question" and enter keywords just to look for some duplicates... About being implemented: I agree on that part, the amount of users looking for duplicates is low and it would be a useless link on the screen for most users (as they have the related section for non-duplicate-searching-purposes).
    – Tamara Wijsman
    Commented Sep 5, 2010 at 11:26
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    @Tom: @BloodPhilia's question is phrased in such a manner that it is very easy to interpret it in a manner that @Ivo thinks. I was about to jump the gun and post about it being counter productive - until I re-read the question and realized that I got it wrong. Also, even though the proposal is good ( and I really like what your script does) - I believe its unlikely to be implemented because very few people actually go and bother with checking for dupes and vote to close/flag them.
    – Sathyajith Bhat Mod
    Commented Sep 5, 2010 at 15:33
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    @Sathya But I believe that making it easier might allow for more people to actually take the effort...
    – Pylsa
    Commented Sep 5, 2010 at 16:39
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    Yes @TomWij: I read it the wrong way, but personally I use Google to look for dupes and I reckon that will be the official answer too
    – Ivo Flipse Mod
    Commented Sep 5, 2010 at 21:41
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    I was about to post this exact same question until I found this existing one, and I agree 100% that this would be a useful feature. I agree with some of the comments stating that users might not want it, but if it were at least an option to turn on, perhaps suggested via a notification when a user's reputation becomes high enough to close questions, it could be a very, very useful tool. If users with a high rep saw potential dupes when answering a question, they would be more likely to close it, instead of obliviously posting an answer.
    – nhinkle
    Commented Sep 6, 2010 at 6:42
  • Updated the script... Changed the link text to "Show/Hide possible duplicates." and corrected the way the title was deleted, sometimes the title itself is not listed first.
    – Tamara Wijsman
    Commented Sep 9, 2010 at 14:23
  • Updated the script again... Removed the system warning that appears as it's sized equally to the duplicate question suggestions and thus is unacceptable.
    – Tamara Wijsman
    Commented Sep 9, 2010 at 17:38
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The VTC dialog now shows related/linked questions when you select "Exact Duplicate"

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