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41 votes
4 answers
584 views

PSA: Just because *you* don't understand a question doesn't automatically make it unclear

All too often, I'm seeing close votes (or even closed questions) as "Unclear" on questions that are perfectly understandable to me. It seems to happen roughly once a week, and that's just ...
NotTheDr01ds's user avatar
  • 21.7k
37 votes
2 answers
1k views

What the heck happened that made the question I answered so popular (and my answer along with it)?

I answered the question If 32-bit machines can only handle numbers up to 2^32, why can I write 1000000000000 (trillion) without my machine crashing? with a quick off the top of my head answer because ...
Scott Chamberlain's user avatar
36 votes
7 answers
847 views

In defense of obscure, niche hardware recommendation questions

I see that https://superuser.com/questions/27891/keyboard-mouse-to-use-for-a-htpc-dedicated-to-the-tv was closed. While I don't totally disagree -- it is superficially similar to a shopping ...
Jeff Atwood's user avatar
  • 24.1k
22 votes
3 answers
1k views

Very suspicious question

This question has accumulated 689 upvotes since yesterday, and the single answer has accumulated 708 upvotes. Now, there may be questions that merit such adulation, and this one is kind of ...
Daniel R Hicks's user avatar
22 votes
1 answer
482 views

Two long answers disagreeing with each other - how to canonicalize?

Someone posted a new answer to a rather old question of mine, Disadvantages of partitioning an SSD?. The answer I accepted has 13 upvotes at this time, and I have accepted the information therein as ...
MarioDS's user avatar
  • 1,582
20 votes
2 answers
3k views

The infamous "My PC is freezing" question...

We all know what they are: My PC is freezing and I don't know what to do? Please help me! Here's my specs: I think it's a windows 7 It has a power supply There's some RAM ...
James Mertz's user avatar
  • 26.3k
20 votes
2 answers
263 views

Question in close queue is marked as duplicate, but the duplicate is terrible!

Recently I was looking through the close votes review queue when I came across this question, and it was flagged as a duplicate of this question. These two questions really are exact duplicates of ...
Wes Sayeed's user avatar
  • 13.8k
17 votes
2 answers
1k views

Why is looking for alternative programs "not constructive"?

Background I had asked this question a while back, and received some great responses, and a great final answer that helped me out quite a ton. Everything was fine until ~yesterday. Yesterday, however, ...
user541686's user avatar
  • 23.9k
17 votes
1 answer
262 views

Why is this simple, straightforward question on a standard Windows feature closed as "Needs details"?

Once again, I find myself confused on why a question was closed as "Unclear/Needs Details": Why are there empty files in %localappdata%\Microsoft\WindowsApps? What is unclear about that ...
NotTheDr01ds's user avatar
  • 21.7k
16 votes
2 answers
165 views

Why was this Nushell question closed?

Again, can we stop closing (especially Mod-closing) perfectly reasonable, understandable questions? (See my previous post on this topic) how to get a list of keys from a record? was closed about 5 ...
NotTheDr01ds's user avatar
  • 21.7k
14 votes
1 answer
574 views

Clear question with examples closed as unclear

Iā€™ve come across this question Non-intersecting values in columns in Excel which was put on hold as unclear what you're asking. What is not clear with this question? It is well explained and even ...
User15's user avatar
  • 466
14 votes
1 answer
196 views

Should I have flagged this question?

Earlier today, I came across a question asking for recommendations for software for an automotive repair shop. This question is clearly off-topic, and I voted to close it as "Questions seeking ...
Mureinik's user avatar
  • 4,024
14 votes
1 answer
170 views

What should we do if the question is duplicate (is already answered) in other site?

Specifically, I'm talking about this question. But if possible, I want a more general guideline on questions that already has answers on other site. What should we do about these questions? Right ...
Vylix's user avatar
  • 1,746
14 votes
0 answers
66 views

Why wasn't this question deleted automatically?

Here's the link: https://superuser.com/questions/614234/errorunable-to-acsess-jarfile As it's downvoted and old, it is supposed to be deleted automatically, but that doesn't happen. Looks like that'...
user's user avatar
  • 1,220
13 votes
5 answers
261 views

Asking about specific software on SuperUser?

How open should SuperUser be to questions that are very specific to a particular piece of software? Example: Lately I've become somewhat of a 'power user' of Paint.NET. It's a fantastic piece of ...
user avatar
13 votes
2 answers
314 views

Close votes on a question that isn't off topic?

I recently posted this question: Disable advertisements on Skype? Since then, it's received four off topic close votes. Why are they voting this as off topic? It's within the scope of the site as ...
DanteTheEgregore's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
234 views

The perils of unclear questions and users who answer first and comment later

I saw this question today and immediately thought to check for past posts on the same topic. I came across this old post from 2009. The old question has a clear title, but the question text is really ...
Excellll's user avatar
  • 12.7k
12 votes
1 answer
97 views

My answer keeps getting suggested edits from spambots

I have been noticing a trend that my this answer, always gets edited by some spammer (may be a bot). It's only that answer and no other answer in any of the other SE network. Finding subdirectories ...
iammilind's user avatar
  • 332
11 votes
1 answer
198 views

Is it even possible to reword my question to be relevant?

So this is my question. Now I get why it was put on hold and I am not going to dispute that. Though I would like to point out that I am not asking for a product recomendation, service or learning ...
Idra's user avatar
  • 121
11 votes
5 answers
212 views

Superuser FAQ note about "websites and web services" is unclear?

Possible Duplicate: Superuser website applications policy I recently had a question on Superuser closed: https://superuser.com/questions/104025/is-there-any-free-forum-software-that-supports-...
user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
205 views

Why my "too broad" flag was declined in this question?

How to better secure vagrant virtual machines and delete vagrant user This post asks 2 questions at the same time: Is there a better way to do this with a first-and-one-time vagrant up command? Is ...
Vylix's user avatar
  • 1,746
10 votes
2 answers
131 views

Why am I having difficulty getting specific answers?

First off, I am wholly prepared to accept responsibility for vagueness in my questions. As such I want to clear any up. As yet, they are not apparent to me. As such, I'd like to request better ...
mfg's user avatar
  • 627
10 votes
0 answers
198 views

What did I do wrong in my question about Windows Update?

I asked the question Windows Update gives 0x80070643 error on fresh Windows 10 install. I provided the steps that led to the issue and the troubleshooting steps I tried to solve it. When people ...
Joseph Sible-Reinstate Monica's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
146 views

Appropriate to edit the title after answers point out what the actual problem is?

I have been involved in answering a question about font rendering (nothing brilliant, just gathering and ordering information from many sites into one place). When the user first asked the question, ...
pgr's user avatar
  • 1,042
9 votes
2 answers
124 views

Lack of anti-aliasing leads to question being closed without chance to improve it

My question Turn off anti-aliasing in Photoshop was closed because people do not know what anti-aliasing is. I had no time to improve it. The same user who demonstrated lack of knowledge closed the ...
Suzan Cioc's user avatar
  • 2,573
9 votes
1 answer
392 views

SSD recommendation closed as off topic, but subject is on topic, what edits can re-open it?

I was looking for backup/archival solutions and wondered about the possibility of using (one or more) SSDs. Before asking, I searched for duplicates and I found: Would an SSD be a good option as a ...
Francesco's user avatar
  • 674
8 votes
1 answer
264 views

Should we edit out potentially inappropriate content if they might be an important part of a question?

Port 25 not open, how send email? That question might be legitimate, but with part of the email domain contains an inappropriate word, I'm not sure whether editing that out harms the question or not. ...
Vylix's user avatar
  • 1,746
8 votes
1 answer
71 views

*One* answer gets incomplete "flag" menu ā€” cannot flag as VLQ

I was going to flag this answer as ā€œnot an answerā€ (itā€™s little more than a bunch of links) when I noticed that the ā€œflaggingā€ dialog box didnā€™t include the ā€œvery low qualityā€ option: ā€ƒā€ƒā€ƒā€ƒā€ƒā€ƒā€ƒā€ƒā€ƒā€ƒā€ƒā€ƒā€ƒā€ƒā€ƒ...
8 votes
1 answer
178 views

How to fix an unfocused post, that I thought was pretty well focused

I have a question about my Super User post: Is it possible to write a cell as an "Accumulator" of conditional values? (Google Sheets) I need help understanding why my post was closed. I ...
Wolf's user avatar
  • 1
8 votes
2 answers
285 views

Why was this Discord question rejected as off-topic?

A few months ago I asked on Meta Super User whether questions about Discord belonged on Super User or Web Apps. I asked this because I noticed that both sites were voting to close Discord questions ...
Stevoisiak's user avatar
  • 14.4k
8 votes
0 answers
57 views

How are there two *exact* duplicate questions? (Title, answers, author, date, comments, migration)

While viewing related questions on Meta Super User, I noticed two questions with the same title. Initially I assumed this was a strange coincidence or a bug in the system. But then I realized the two ...
Stevoisiak's user avatar
  • 14.4k
7 votes
1 answer
208 views

How far can we go when asking about beta software?

This question asks about OS X Mavericks, which is still in beta. There's a close reason specifically for questions about software that's still in beta. However, once Mavericks is released, the ...
Blacklight Shining's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
203 views

Is compiler bootstrapping on-topic?

https://superuser.com/q/1090890/31983 became a Hot Network Question, and I answered it, before I noticed that it might actually be off-topic. According to the Help Center, questions about programming ...
200_success's user avatar
  • 1,231
7 votes
1 answer
121 views

Reopen question 439470: "What is the difference between Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT?"

What is the difference between Windows 8 and Windows RT? How is this question not constructive? I mean, I don't see how this would be a subjective question, let alone "bad subjective"! This ...
bwDraco's user avatar
  • 46.1k
7 votes
1 answer
118 views

Why was this question about computer hardware closed as off-topic?

Why was this question closed? I can't see how it does not relate to computer hardware.
Gilles 'SO- stop being evil''s user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
303 views

Should this popular CW question be unlocked to allow it to evolve?

Why is this locked? Should it be unlocked? There is no apparent reason or explanation for locking it. SU: What are some ā€œmust haveā€ Windows programs? The fact that no new answers can be added sucks (...
Jonik's user avatar
  • 5,750
7 votes
1 answer
403 views

I genuinely don't understand why this question was deleted when I asked for it to be re-opened?

Several years ago I tried to ask this question about how to make the best of the space in my PC for more case fans. I thought I had put quite a lot of effort into researching for myself and then ...
Ben's user avatar
  • 178
7 votes
1 answer
308 views

Why is this question about downloading an M3U8 video file off-topic?

I ran across this fairly popular question about downloading an M3U8 file on Windows 10: Downloading m3u8 videos that was closed. I don't spend a lot of time on Super User, but I'm struggling to see ...
M. Justin's user avatar
  • 173
7 votes
1 answer
122 views

Request to reopen (or properly close) question 358637 (Hardware for a gaming PC)

I'd like to request to reopen this question: How do I choose hardware for a gaming machine, and which components are the most important ones? [ā€¦] What I know is that I need a powerful graphics card ...
slhck's user avatar
  • 228k
7 votes
0 answers
69 views

How to handle a suspected troll?

Consider the question What are file systems? - there is no indication of what research the querent has done, and punching the title into Google generates a bunch of links to sites (including Wikipedia)...
Jeff Zeitlin's user avatar
  • 4,646
7 votes
0 answers
163 views

How can I improve this question?

I recently asked Windows gets stuck uninstalling display languages, which wasn't received well, and got 2 downvotes, and I'm wondering what I did wrong/how I can improve the question. I can't really ...
TMH's user avatar
  • 533
6 votes
4 answers
512 views

Why might 50% of reviewers consider this as content that should be deleted?

Consider: https://superuser.com/review/low-quality-posts/536732 Why is this voted to delete? I mean, my answer probably is not exactly what the OP was asking for, but it still fits as an answer. In ...
Zaibis's user avatar
  • 143
6 votes
3 answers
494 views

How do you regard a question about creating sock-puppets on WWW sites?

https://superuser.com/questions/726356/ I've been in four minds about this question, whether to flag it as off-topic, downvote it, critique it, or ignore it. I haven't yet decided. On the one hand: ...
JdeBP's user avatar
  • 27k
6 votes
3 answers
174 views

Complain or message to a mod at Super User

A moderator closed my question for being subjective, when I think is was not. About the differences between doc and HTML. Does he get reputation points for closing questions? I find it extremely ...
Jonathan.'s user avatar
  • 2,614
6 votes
4 answers
138 views

My question disappeared

This morning I posted two questions on superuser.com, 65438 and 65444. The latter, 65444, seems to have vanished. Can anyone please tell me where it's gone to? Edit: the question was about using ...
cometbill's user avatar
  • 651
6 votes
3 answers
200 views

What happened to my answer? No evidence of vote either

On Friday, I added an answer to Copy installation files that Novell Application Launcher uses on Super User. I also upvoted the question. Now when I check back today, there is no evidence of either ...
geoffc's user avatar
  • 1,133
6 votes
2 answers
135 views

Question got copied to SO and answered there. What now?

Somebody copied the question How to remove watermark from pdf using pdftk? and reposted it on Stack Overflow (link). I think that this was not a traditional crosspost, as the posters of both ...
Dennis's user avatar
  • 49.7k
6 votes
2 answers
80 views

Why was my question moved, and why was it then deleted off of the original site?

I asked a question a while ago on Super User: https://serverfault.com/questions/227152/what-is-a-good-os-to-mess-around-with-xen-dom0 I logged into Super User today to find it had been moved. I don't ...
Earlz's user avatar
  • 4,494
6 votes
1 answer
205 views

Why did this question get locked on Super User?

After solving a puzzling problem with my new computer, I posted the issue on SuperUser.com How to get an Acer Aspire Revo to connect to the wireless keyboard and mouse? As recommended , I answered ...
dggoldst's user avatar
  • 2,682
6 votes
2 answers
168 views

Is popularity a criterion on which to decide whether or not to keep a question open?

I recently find this question "How to create a table with all the combinations of 0 and 1". The statement is clear. It's popular, many visits, many answers. But... The effort shown to find a ...
Hastur's user avatar
  • 18.9k