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I just asked What can I do if I have a feature idea that was already requested, but the author removed the suggestion in the meantime? here a few hours ago. That is a discussion regarding how to handle when you want to request a feature but you're aware that a prior deleted question requesting the same feature exists. In that question, I quote from this answer from a moderator, which states that it's not a good idea to repost such feature requests, and provide arguments against their opinion.

However, despite my linking to and quoting from the other question's answer, the same moderator closed my question as a duplicate of the prior question. In a comment, they stated that if I disagreed with their answer, I should have posted another answer to the same question. That would be true, if I were merely expressing an opinion, but that wasn't the purpose of the question.

I don't believe that this duplicate closure was correct, because:

  • The purpose of the post wasn't merely to express the opinion, but also to ask if my thoughts were correct. I think it's fair to quote from an already existing answer and raise a fresh discussion about it, so one can ask if their arguments are correct or if there are alternate solutions to the problem. This is especially true if potential responses would be larger than what comments can contain, and would better be written out as full answers themselves.
  • On main sites, it's perfectly fine to ask the same question as an earlier one as long as one quotes from its answer(s) and explains why they didn't work for them. I think the same applies for meta discussions: if one disagrees with an opinion presented in an answer or comment, and that question isn't fully related to its original parent question (see next bullet), it's completely fair to post a new discussion specifically about it.
  • The prior question was mainly referring to main sites and reposting better quality versions of deleted questions of bad quality, so an answer that completely refers to meta sites wouldn't really be answering that question (i.e. my counter-answer against the moderator's opinion wouldn't be a proper answer to the author's question). In fact, the part of the answer which my question quotes is (explicitly noted as) a side point they added in response to comments on that question.
  • By the strictest interpretation possible, the final question in my post doesn't specifically refer to reposting; it simply asks for solutions to the problem (of wanting to support a feature request that was deleted). Reposting is mentioned as a potential solution in the discussion but isn't part of the final question, whereas it is part of the final question in the older post.

Is the duplicate closure correct here? Should it be reopened, or should it remain closed?

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    Why didn't you edit the dupe question and explain there–succinctly–why it is not a duplicate. Otherwise you're inviting users to close this Q for being opinion-based. Sometimes brevity gets the message across better.
    – Mari-Lou A Слава Україні
    Commented Aug 15, 2022 at 10:44
  • @Mari-LouAСлаваУкраїні As I was typing this out as an edit, it grew very long, and an argument this long would have made that question overly long and hard to digest. Also, on most sites, posting this type of question on the site meta is explicitly acceptable (the only exception is here, where this site serves as its own meta, but the same applies). There's even a tag here for such questions, reopen-closed, and I suggest looking at it's extended tag wiki.
    – Sonic the Anonymous Hedgehog
    Commented Aug 15, 2022 at 10:51
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    You definitely don't need 478 words to explain why a question is not a duplicate. Cut it down to 140-200 words, and your argument will be better received. As to your final bullet point, the question title (What can I do if I have a feature idea that was already requested, but the author removed the suggestion in the meantime?) looks and reads very much a duplicate of "Should I repost somebody else's deleted question if it looks recoverable?". The last question asks Again, what can I do to try and get a feature request asked by someone who deleted their suggestion implemented?
    – Mari-Lou A Слава Україні
    Commented Aug 15, 2022 at 10:59
  • @Mari-LouAСлаваУкраїні I started with the four bullets, but just adding them made the post too long, so I moved them to a new question, reworded them a bit, and threw in some context. If I cut down on the bullets, it would lead to them lacking detail and I didn't want to spend time answering follow-up questions in the comments. Also, similar titles don't immediately scream duplicates, as in the case in my second bullet (where it's the same question but none of the existing answers worked) the titles can't really be different.
    – Sonic the Anonymous Hedgehog
    Commented Aug 15, 2022 at 11:06
  • As an example, contacting SE with a link to the deleted question and explaining the situation (it's a positively received feature request that was re-deleted by its author after being undeleted by the community as they no longer wished to contribute to the network) is something I can do other than reposting.
    – Sonic the Anonymous Hedgehog
    Commented Aug 15, 2022 at 11:08
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    Up to you. Ignore my advice, but a good writer edits their prose, they do not add padding. A lot of your writing consists of detail which makes it verbose. it might work well in academia but less so in the real world.
    – Mari-Lou A Слава Україні
    Commented Aug 15, 2022 at 11:10

2 Answers 2

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The purpose of the post wasn't merely to express the opinion, but also to ask if my thoughts were correct.

Thoughts on topics like reposting deleted questions are never 'correct or incorrect'. They, and the reasoning for your thoughts, can merely be agreed or disagreed with. So, downvotes will let you know if your thoughts are disagreed with, and comments will be used to point out flaws in your reasoning. Similarly, upvotes will let you know people agree with your thoughts.

There's no need to have a second question just because you want validation. You can get that validation (or disagreement) by posting an answer just the same.

On main sites, it's perfectly fine to ask the same question as an earlier one as long as one quotes from its answer(s) and explains why they didn't work for them.

Having downvotes without mandatory comments also doesn't work for a lot of users. Yet, every time such a post comes by on MSE, we still direct those users to the other posts that say this is a bad idea.

In this case, saying 'well this answer doesn't work for me' isn't going to cut it. You disagree with it, but you can't just say that anything you disagree with 'doesn't work for you (or your edge case)' on sites like MSE.

The prior question was mainly referring to main sites and reposting better quality versions of deleted questions of bad quality

The question does not mention the difference between meta and main at all. It mentions self-deletions, but it doesn't suggest that that self-deletion was done because the original question had content issues.

So an answer that argues that for feature requests on meta sites, there should be different considerations than for regular questions on main sites, would definitely fit under that question.

Is the duplicate closure correct here? Should it be reopened, or should it remain closed?

As the moderator who closed it, I'm going to say (surprisingly) it should stay very closed.

Go write about the exception you want to see for meta posts on the duplicate target, which is broad enough to allow a mention of your specific edge case too, and see if other users will agree with your answer.

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Well, we don't need questions covering EVERY edge case as a separate question - which is what this is. While meta guidance covers the 'broad' scope of things, folks can use their discretion and common sense in deciding if this applies perfectly. I'd personally go more for the "would this be of benefit to the community" over taking a strictly prescriptive view of the guidance here and expecting questions to cover multiple specific contingencies.

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  • So, according to you, it is not a good idea, if you see a part of an answer you have contention over, to ask about it in a new discussion, because it isn't useful to ask about an edge case?
    – Sonic the Anonymous Hedgehog
    Commented Aug 15, 2022 at 11:22
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    At some point it gets noisy - especially if there's a bunch of overlapping questions that change small aspects of things. At some point, you just make the choice to do it, do it, and let the community work it out or not do it.
    – Journeyman Geek
    Commented Aug 15, 2022 at 11:24

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