35
$\begingroup$

This is a question on MSE which I had answered a month or so ago. It was an interesting question and it took me some effort to write the answer. The answer got upvoted twice and accepted.

Two weeks later, for some reason the question got deleted. I flagged for moderation intervention and shortly after the question got undeleted by a moderator, who commented that he did so because the answer was 'clear and good'.

But then, two days later, the same group of users deleted the question again.

I wonder why? The question is certainly not off-topic. I can see that the OP did not include their own attempts on the solution. Still, the question was non-trivial, well-formulated and had an accepted answer. This means that other users could have been looking up for the same problem and find the solution immediately rather than asking it again on the same site. Basically, the only thing a deletion like this accomplishes is removing useful knowledge from the website!

According to the help center:

Before voting to delete, please check whether there are any good answers; if so, then the question should be flagged for moderator attention as a potential merge candidate. We don't like to lose great answers!

It seems to me that this rule was not respected at all in this case.

$\endgroup$
21
  • 5
    $\begingroup$ This previous discussion might be related: Deleting questions with answers. Some of the posts linked there might be of interest, too. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 7, 2019 at 19:27
  • 8
    $\begingroup$ Merely having an upvoted accepted answer seems rather irrelevant to the deleteability of a question. Maybe you should change to the actual content of your question “why was this question deleted with the off-topic reason?” Since you are apparently want to contend the applicability of the reason. $\endgroup$
    – rschwieb
    Commented Feb 7, 2019 at 19:31
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ The question has again been undeleted, by a moderator. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 7, 2019 at 21:27
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ Why would a moderator unilaterally undelete this question? $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 7, 2019 at 21:36
  • 7
    $\begingroup$ @MartinSleziak ok, after reading through the thread you linked I can see the idea behind deleting questions even if they have been answered. I'm not sure that I agree with it, but at least now I understand why some people might be doing it, so thank you. $\endgroup$
    – Lorenzo Q
    Commented Feb 7, 2019 at 23:45
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @Carl, if you go to the question, and look at the comments, you'll find that the first moderator who undeleted the question gave a reason. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 3:23
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ @Lorenzo Quarisa: this is a risk that anyone runs when they answer a poorly-composed question. Even if the answer is exceptional, many people look at the question only when judging whether to close or delete it. So, in some cases, answers to poorly made questions will also be deleted, which is OK with a number of users of this site. The solution, if you want to minimize the chances your answers are deleted, is to not write answers for questions like that one. Essentially, that question is just asking for homework help, with no effort shown, and no genuine context of any other sort. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 12:24
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @Gerry It seems to have been re-deleted since your earlier comment. $\endgroup$
    – timtfj
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 15:08
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ Given that it's only possible to upvote a question once, why is it possible for the same person to vote to close multiple tines? This seems like a flaw in the system. The most that should be possible is that their vote persists but is cancelled out by one of the reopen votes,surely? $\endgroup$
    – timtfj
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 15:13
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @timtfj: it is also possible for people to vote to undelete multiple times. This has been raised as a software issue on the main Stackexchange meta, but it does not seem to be a concern for them. meta.stackexchange.com/questions/9431/… . Personally, I would support a local policy that users don't vote to delete or undelete more than once, to be enforced by the moderators with appropriate warnings, etc. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 16:17
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I have voted (first the first time) to undelete the Question. If there are no objections, I will post an Answer here about the general parameters for policy on deletion of Questions that are closed. In this case the specific Question at issue is not actually closed, so it seems to be a bit of an outlying instance. $\endgroup$
    – hardmath
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 17:23
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @tim, then reopened and again undeleted. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 22:45
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ "The solution, if you want to minimize the chances your answers are deleted, is to not write answers for questions like that one." Alternatively, first edit the question so it will pass muster, then write your answer for it. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 22:52
  • 6
    $\begingroup$ Although a lot has been said, I feel that it should be emphasized that the help center page referred to is network-wide, and does not allow for policy variations on individual sites. Therefore following standard SE reasoning it is less authoritative than site-specific meta discussions (like the linked threads). $\endgroup$
    – Lord_Farin
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 23:29
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ The linked question in this post seems to be identical to a previous one by the same user: math.stackexchange.com/q/3060417/9464 $\endgroup$
    – user9464
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 23:36

0

You must log in to answer this question.

Browse other questions tagged .