Suppose I know about or find out about a deleted question. I might remember visiting it before it got deleted, or found a reference to it. It may have been deleted for being low quality or having content issues, or maybe the author self-deleted their question.
However, based on what I know, the gist of the question seems on-topic to the site. Should I repost it, if I can format it as a proper question? Or is this advised against?
You're specifically mentioning posting an improved version of the question. I think that could be mostly okay if there is no sign the original asker is still working on improving it.
The only problem I can see is that on some sites, reposting someone else's question might make it more of a 'hypothetical' question, when you aren't having the same/a very similar problem. In that case, it might become hard to clarify the question sufficiently and add details if they are requested, and you might consider waiting with reposting it and instead just hope someone else one day comes along with a similar question.
Note: Sonic, in the comments, mentions wanting to repost a self-deleted feature request. There's no mention of that post needing serious editing or the original being off-topic. I do not think posts should be reposted without significant changes or improvements. Instead, users with sufficient privileges can vote to undelete such posts. Additionally, it sounds like the deletion of this post was part of a self-destructive vandalism spree, in which case a flag should've been raised so that moderators can contact the user, stop the vandalism, and repair any vandalism done.
I would say a critical thing would be the ability to validate the answer.
So - I'd think of the following things, can I somehow attribute the original question or make it my own?
If deleted for quality or content, and your answer is substantially or completely your own and has good quality and content, go for it!
If you have the same problem, and are able to write your own question, and test the validate the answer, there's no reason you can't.
If there are other issues in play - and there's nothing actually wrong with the question...
Would undeletion via flag be viable? - in which case one could fix the original question, and rely on voting to float up the correct answer. If the question is perfectly good, but deleted because of other reasons, it might get messier. I'd suggest asking on local meta for advice if you have a link. Otherwise, just go for your own question.
If the person asking the question is active, and the question was roombaed, undeletion would definitely be the answer
So largely - yes, go ahead and ask your own question on the problem and no one ought to particularly mind.
if I can format it as a proper question?. They never mention posting or seeing an answer on the deleted page. Could you edit and clarify, please?
Commented
Aug 15, 2022 at 10:31
Assuming the self-deleted question was posted on a Stack Exchange website but hadn't received any answers, or if it had, none had been upvoted by the community. A user can do several things:
Via chat or in a comment, a user may ask the original poster to undelete their question. If they respond they either agree or disagree. If the user does not reply, we may presume they are not active and/or uninterested.
If the user has in the meantime deleted their account or is no longer an active member, the self-deleted question can be edited and/or significantly improved. The editor may then post a request on the site's meta inviting users to cast their votes to undelete the newly-improved question.
Which is something I have done on EL&U in the past, here and here. This request, posted by a different and hi-rep user, was successful. By the way, not all similar requests succeed.
