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As I was browsing earlier today, I really happened to like an answer to a question. The question didn't interest me so much, and the answer was actually a tangential reply to some of the comments in the post, and was by far more valuable than the original question or the accepted answer. Now, my only options to favorite that answer are

  1. Favorite the question.
  2. Add the link to the answer to my browser's bookmarks.

I was pretty sure others have had the need for this, and sure enough, I found a discussion and a feature-request, both nearly two years ago and a denial of said request, nearly a year ago.

Now, there might have been several reasons why it (and several other old feature-requests) was denied. SO was pretty young back then, there probably weren't enough developers on board, perhaps they didn't have the resources to track favorite answers. But SO has grown since then from 1-3 sites to 30+ sites. Requests that might have at one point been too demanding, might now be easily implementable, which could greatly enhance user experience.

So, my question is: "Can we re-request features that were previously declined, provided the request and the denial are sufficiently old, so that the team can reconsider their decision?"

After how long is sufficient enough needs to be decided by the community and is only to prevent re-requesting a feature that was only declined say a week ago.

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  • 7
    I'd expect that you should be able to request features after a period, BUT you need to bring something to the table to identify why you think the situation has changed, why is now the right time for the feature, for the community. Like anything, you can't just reissue the same request, without expecting it to be declined again... Whether or not that's possible of course depends on the reason (if any) given for the feature being declined...
    – forsvarir
    Commented Apr 27, 2011 at 19:41
  • 3
    @forsvarir I'd post that as an answer if I were you, appending that you basically have to make explicit that you acknowledge the old post and why you think it was important to have posted a separate request.
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Commented Apr 27, 2011 at 19:43
  • 3
    +1, despite the fact that you seem to lack respect for [status-declined].
    – user27414
    Commented Apr 27, 2011 at 19:52
  • FYI I put the bounty on the question to generate a little more discussion on it. I like @forsvarir's answer, but want to see the community chime in a little more, as I've wondered this several times.
    – Daniel DiPaolo
    Commented Jun 11, 2011 at 0:25
  • We definitely need a way to do this, but I don't have any bright ideas.
    – Lance Roberts
    Commented Jun 12, 2011 at 4:00
  • you will have to make an extremely compelling case, as I see little utility in "favoriting answers". Just bookmark them..
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Jun 13, 2011 at 9:00
  • 3
    @Jeff I'm not arguing for the specific requests in this question, just the process of re-requesting a feature after enough time has passed to make it "new enough". I like @forsvarir 's answer as-is enough to default the bounty to him, but was hoping to hear something either official or a proposal for a better process.
    – Daniel DiPaolo
    Commented Jun 13, 2011 at 18:17
  • 1
    @Jeff: While I agree with your stance on the favorites issue, my question was a general one and not specific to a particular request
    – Lorem Ipsum
    Commented Jun 13, 2011 at 18:47
  • Read: Can we re-request features that Jeff declined?
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    Commented May 28, 2013 at 20:26

1 Answer 1

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+100

I'd expect that you should be able to request features after a period, BUT you need to bring something to the table to identify why you think the situation has changed, why is now the right time for the feature, for the community. Like anything, you can't just reissue the same request, without expecting it to be declined again or closed as a duplicate of the earlier request... Whether or not that's possible of course depends on the reason (if any) given for the feature being declined...

You should also indicate in the request that you have seen and acknowledge the old post and why you think it's important enough to have posted a separate request (as pointed out by Grace Note)

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  • I can't do better than this answer, but perhaps also relevant: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/93676/…
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Jun 13, 2011 at 21:40
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    @JeffAtwood The problem is some declined feature requests are declined with no reason, or the reason posted is not satisfactory (eg: massively downvoted).
    – NullUserException อ_อ
    Commented Sep 28, 2011 at 23:29
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    @Null well, plenty of things are "unsatisfactory" depending on who is looking at them. There is no magical wand to erase differences of opinion. You can present more data in support of the request, but some of these are purely "I like vanilla, you prefer chocolate, I'm right you're wrong"
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Sep 28, 2011 at 23:54
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    @JeffAtwood Sure, but isn't something like this a pretty strong indication of consensus?
    – NullUserException อ_อ
    Commented Sep 29, 2011 at 0:09
  • @null it's a pretty strong indication that some people like chocolate, while others like vanilla. If there's data to be presented that supports some positive outcome, like, 53% of children who ate vanilla ice cream subsequently died of food poisoning, I'd be happy to revisit it based on data.
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Sep 29, 2011 at 0:14
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    @JeffAtwood Isn't the feature request itself (and its upvotes) an indication that a lot of people are sick with food poisoning because they only have vanilla ice cream?
    – NullUserException อ_อ
    Commented Sep 29, 2011 at 0:17
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    @Null so ~300 people out of the millions of users who touch Stack Exchange every day? You can't "rescind" comment upvotes, either. World hasn't ended, nor is there any actual evidence of a problem -- point to the trail of dead children and I'll be happy to take a look. Otherwise, enjoy your vanilla, and I'll enjoy my chocolate. Have a nice day! ☺
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Sep 29, 2011 at 0:24
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    Amusingly, you can now rescind comment upvotes.
    – Mooing Duck
    Commented May 28, 2013 at 20:35

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