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A while back, I was blocked from asking questions on the English Stack Exchange, which struck me by surprise. Having never been banned from a site on the Internet before, this was new to me. On the English Stack Exchange, I would often ask questions related to issues I'd think of while editing a book. Based on the information from https://english.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask, my guess is that my questions were too specific to what I was editing to be useful for everyone. I'd like to return to the site, now as a useful member.

From here on, what can I do to avoid getting blocked a second time? Once I make my next post, will my reputation on the site determine whether I'll be able to continue posting afterward?

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  • You’ve already asked a few questions which are valid for this site. What was the reason for being blocked?
    – user 66974
    Commented Dec 22, 2021 at 8:23
  • 1
    @user66974 I'm not sure. I believe it said that my questions weren't being well-received. When I got blocked, I didn't see it coming at all. Is there usually a warning or something? The whole thing's confusing to me, but there are probably things I can do to improve, I'd assume. I believe they also said that while I can post another question six months after being blocked, I would have to wait yet another six months before posting afterward unless the question helped my reputation a lot. Does that sound accurate?
    – The Editor
    Commented Dec 22, 2021 at 14:08
  • I'll bet you have deleted questions that weren't well received. You may be able to find the recent ones, otherwise a diamond mod would have to check. See MSE for more information on the ban.
    – Laurel Mod
    Commented Dec 22, 2021 at 16:40
  • @Laurel I planned to delete them, but I forget if I actually went through with it. I was informed that deleting questions won't make the negative marks go away, so I may have kept them. I'm not sure.
    – The Editor
    Commented Dec 22, 2021 at 17:28
  • There certainly is an automated warning, and it can be shown more than once. From your comments here, I guess you have seen the generic advice on question bans. We can't do "cross-site" duplicates, but is there anything in the answer there which you cannot apply to your posts or post history? (If there is, edit your question here to be explicit and detailed.)
    – Andrew Leach Mod
    Commented Dec 23, 2021 at 17:20
  • 1
    @AndrewLeach Strangely, I don't remember seeing a warning. I've read the link before but now noticed this: "The only way for the ban to be lifted is by contributing positively to the site in other ways." While I now can contribute to the site by asking questions since the block has been lifted, would contributing in other ways be advisable first? Also, if I post another question on the English Stack Exchange, will I automatically be blocked again for 6 months, or is that unlikely? I could edit my question to just ask that. Is this a good idea, or would it change the question too significantly?
    – The Editor
    Commented Dec 23, 2021 at 19:04
  • 1
    I was in a similar position on web apps stack exchange. I never figured out why it happened, but I had placed at least 1-2 bounties while I was already on low rep (~200). So I figured the rep lost from bounties may have triggered (or mistakenly triggered) some automated process. Not totally sure though.
    – stevec
    Commented Dec 26, 2021 at 3:21
  • We’re you blocked on this account, “the editor”? If you were blocked on another account, provide us a URL to that account (the name alone won’t help), and we may be able to diagnose any issues you had with your questions.
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Jan 1, 2022 at 14:42
  • @DanBron The account was this one, The Editor. Does it seem that nothing currently appears iffy on my account as it currently stands?
    – The Editor
    Commented Jan 1, 2022 at 18:08
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    @TheEditor A quick review of your posts doesn’t show anything off, so far as I can see. You don’t have any negative-scoring posts. The only explanation I can offer is what others have suggested: you deleted posts with negative scores. Outside of that, I don’t see any reason you should have been question-banned.
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Jan 1, 2022 at 18:34

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