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Greetings I went trough some questions here on meta and didn't found something similar so I hope there is no problem with asking here. I'll try to keep it short.

I noticed that some questions got deleted because the OP did not mention any information about the question, did not show any approaches etc, although the questions itself are quite charming (this is only my personal opinion). It happens that I spent some time on one of such questions because it captivated me and managed to get an answer in the end which got accepted that's the main reason why I'm asking this but It might not be quite relevant.

Since its reasonable why such type of questions gets deleted, is it okay to re-ask a deleted question while trying to make it nicer? (It might be needed to clarify here: originally someone's else question). If there is no problem with that, what else should be mentioned? Should there be also included that the question was previous posted and got deleted?

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  • $\begingroup$ Related: re-asking a question to get rid of a negative score $\endgroup$
    – user1729
    Sep 27, 2018 at 9:06
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    $\begingroup$ Yes, its kinda similar, however here in my question I asked about wheter I can take OP question in my own hands and deal with it, not to give OP advices on how to improve it and thats because I spend time with the question myself. $\endgroup$
    – Zacky
    Sep 27, 2018 at 9:09
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    $\begingroup$ Also related: interested in a question which is closed because of no effort what to do $\endgroup$
    – user1729
    Sep 27, 2018 at 11:20
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    $\begingroup$ Here is one more example of similar behavior : math.stackexchange.com/q/2393810/72031 IMHO this should be encouraged. $\endgroup$
    – Paramanand Singh Mod
    Sep 27, 2018 at 16:48
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    $\begingroup$ A key point: if you think that the problem has some mathematical interest, explain that interest in detail.Don't assume others can see it implicitly. The lack of "work" is not usually as much an issue as lack of motivation for the problem. If you can turn the original question into something of broad appeal, that can be worthwhile. $\endgroup$
    – Carl Mummert
    Sep 27, 2018 at 20:54
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    $\begingroup$ IMHO there is too much deleting, closing, and locking questions on SE. Don't be such enforcers, people! $\endgroup$
    – Jennifer
    Sep 30, 2018 at 2:23
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    $\begingroup$ @Jennifer I agree with YHO on this. Quality of the questions isn't all that matters—there's also quality of response to the questions, and one could argue that closing a question that's barely had time to be answered is rather low quality behaviour towards both the questioner and those who want to help them. $\endgroup$
    – timtfj
    Dec 27, 2018 at 6:00
  • $\begingroup$ @Jennifer I wonder whether it should be made impossible for anyone but a moderator to close a question lies than 24 hours after it was asked. $\endgroup$
    – timtfj
    Dec 27, 2018 at 6:03
  • $\begingroup$ SE is an overmoderated forum. I've learned that I just have to accept that. $\endgroup$
    – Jennifer
    Dec 27, 2018 at 6:14

2 Answers 2

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I have on occasion re-asked someone's deleted question, trying to ask it in such a way as to engage with the criticisms levelled at the deleted version, and being sure to state explicitly that I was re-asking a deleted question, and linking to that deleted question. So, I think it's OK to do it.

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I think you should wait a week, then re-ask the question.

If you are going to re-ask a deleted question then you have to remember that it was closed for a reason. If a question is no-effort and no-context, then there is a chance that it is an assessed homework question. Therefore, you should wait a reasonable period of time (1 week, say) before re-asking the question. This wait should ensure that the homework deadline (whether real or imaginary) has passed.

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    $\begingroup$ I hate this attitude. Why are you policing other people's homework habits? Because you have a hunch that they're cheating on their homework you want to prevent other people from answering the question? It might not even be true, and even if it is, it isn't really any of your business. $\endgroup$
    – Matt Samuel
    Oct 14, 2018 at 0:40
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    $\begingroup$ @Matt This is a compromise. It is naive to think that people do not cheat using this site, but it is also damaging to over-react to suspected cheating. With this in mind, and in the knowledge that we are in no rush through life and no rush through maths, then I feel that waiting a week is sensible. I am unsure what there is to hate here...... $\endgroup$
    – user1729
    Oct 16, 2018 at 8:07
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    $\begingroup$ Obviously people use the site to get homework questions answered, but we're not the only site who does this. The burden is on the professor to structure their course or their questions so that that doesn't matter. We shouldn't have to wait a week to answer. $\endgroup$
    – Matt Samuel
    Oct 16, 2018 at 9:39
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    $\begingroup$ @MattSamuel I agree that the burden is on the professor to restructure their course (but of course we cannot do anything about this). I am not suggesting you wait a week to answer, but rather to re-ask. $\endgroup$
    – user1729
    Oct 16, 2018 at 11:22

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