7

I was looking at some questions this morning and usually when I see questions from newer users, I have a tendency to notice that they leave out key information (CE vs EE, version number, server setup, what files they are editing, etc).

A lot of times, I feel like I am writing in the comments section over and over the same statement (hey can you provide this, that, etc). Sometimes I will get a response from them, a lot of the time I will never hear back from them and it becomes an orphaned question.

Usually I will now flag these questions as "too broad" or "unclear what you're asking", however I am wondering if it is possible to create a new closure type called "Not enough information" and explains to them what kind of information they need to provide (CE vs EE, version number, server setup, what files they are editing, etc).

"Too Broad" explanation is

There are either too many possible answers, or good answers would be too long for this format. Please add details to narrow the answer set or to isolate an issue that can be answered in a few paragraphs.

"Unclear what you're Asking" explanation is

Please clarify your specific problem or add additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it’s hard to tell exactly what you're asking. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question.

I don't think either of these explanations truly fit closing a question that the user doesn't provide enough background information.

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

Unfortunately the main closing reasons are managed by SE. They cannot be edited at website level.
But new sub-reason can be added inside inside the "Off Topic" main reason.
But this is a far too big decision for me to take on my own. Specially because I'm a newbee moderator :). And it takes at least 2 moderators to approve a new sub reason.
Let's summon the other moderators to see what they think.

In the meantime you can just vote to close this type of questions as "Off Topic-> Cannot be reproduced".

8
  • Thanks Marius! We will wait and see what the other two mods have to say.
    – kab8609
    Dec 10, 2014 at 17:29
  • This is what we can do. A while back I modified one of the "Off-topic" choices to be more applicative ("Questions describing a problem that can't be reproduced OR seemingly went away on its own (or went away when a typo was fixed) are off-topic as they are unlikely to help future readers.")
    – benmarks
    Dec 10, 2014 at 19:10
  • 1
    @benmarks How about adding an off topic choice like kab8609 says? Not enough information to diagnose the problem. This way the OP will understand that he/she needs to provide more details in order to reopen the question.
    – Marius Mod
    Dec 11, 2014 at 8:01
  • Wouldn't that fit better "unclear what you are asking"?
    – benmarks
    Dec 11, 2014 at 15:12
  • @benmarks. Yes and no. Sometimes the problem (read "final result") is somehow clear but like Kris said, the magento version is missing or some other key factors. Just to be clear I'm not trying to push this new option. I'm just asking.
    – Marius Mod
    Dec 11, 2014 at 15:15
  • Yeah, so, I think having this under "Unclear what you are asking" would fit better, but I can't see how to edit this. Maybe @Pops can chime in?
    – benmarks
    Dec 11, 2014 at 15:20
  • I also vote for "Unclear what you are asking".
    – Alex
    Dec 11, 2014 at 16:51
  • Unclear what you are asking would probably fit better, however the new user is going to get confused unless we can edit the verbage to say what he is missing.
    – kab8609
    Dec 11, 2014 at 17:17

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .