3

When question has been closed or is on hold and has been edited, SE system considers that the question might worth to be reopened and therefore put it on the reopen queue automatically. In other words, a close is not definitive and can be reverted if the question is edited.

Why the same logic cannot be applied to votes? Why votes are definitive?

I would find normal as a user:

  1. To cast a vote stating that, under its current form, is question is for instance unclear or too broad,
  2. If there is no other comments already stating it add a new comment explaining the issue I encounter with his question to the writer.

How to handle the case when the writer edits his question so make it clearer or more focused? I cannot confirm that from my point of view it is now fine and void my vote.

I do not understand why closing votes regarding a question being too broad or unclear must persist even when the question has been edited. At this step we should be proposed to remove it...

Maybe such close votes should be used only after one day after the writer has been notified by a comment of the issue if did not edit the message during this delay. Of course this would mean using some kind of self-made personal "to be voted" queue...

Edit:

As a side note, the FAQ deals with this issue in an "interesting" way:

What happens if I make a mistake?

Don't worry! Unless five people agree, or a moderator agrees, the question won't be closed.

In other words, if the writer edits his question fast enough, don't worry, with a little chance it will not accumulate other votes and will not get closed, just cross your fingers :). Otherwise, sad things happens everyday, sorry!

7
  • 3
    I can retract my close votes.
    – schroeder Mod
    May 21, 2015 at 16:33
  • @schroeder: Quoting Polynomial: "Remember that you can't retract a close vote, but you can retract something said in a comment.". Maybe this possibility only comes up when reputation is over 10k as part of moderation privileges? (I can vote and see vote counts on all questions, but as Polynomial says my vote cannot be retracted). May 21, 2015 at 16:47
  • Interesting. That is strange behaviour. This function might be part of the SE framework, then.
    – schroeder Mod
    May 21, 2015 at 16:51
  • 5
    You can retract by clicking close. If you've already issued a close vote, it lets you retract it.
    – paj28
    May 22, 2015 at 15:32
  • @paj28 I will try that next time I face the need. As I said below your own question I personally find the interface handling closing a bit confusing. It took me some time to realize that using the "Flag" button actually issues a close vote the same way as the "Close" button does, so now I learn that I need to click on "Close" to keep a post open... same logic I suppose as clicking on the historical Windows "Start" button to shutdown the computer I suppose! Thanks! May 22, 2015 at 15:42
  • @WhiteWinterWolf if you want to try it out on a question, you can pick any one of mine (I won't be offended)
    – schroeder Mod
    May 25, 2015 at 21:59
  • @schroeder: Yes, "It works!"™, thanks :) ! Feel free to add an answer so I can select it (by the way I've also added a comment below the FAQ since there is a better solution than crossing his finger in case of mistake). May 26, 2015 at 8:53

1 Answer 1

8

You can retract a close vote. The interface is somewhat counterintuitive: you need to click on the “close” button, and if you've already voted to close, instead of the “Vote To Close” button at the bottom right, you get a “Retract Close Vote” button.

If other people have voted to close, it's a good idea to comment to explain why you retracted your close vote (“I initially voted to close because …; the question has now been edited to my satisfaction so I retracted my vote.”). Such comments are useful to people who see the question in the close review queue and would ponder why a reasonable-looking question has close votes.

If you retract a close vote, you can't vote to close again. In particular you can't use this to change the reason you voted to close. If you want to do that, comment (“I initially voted to close because …; after the edit this reason no longer applies but instead …”).

This possibility exists only since July 2013, so you may find older posts or veteran users who aren't aware of it.

You must log in to answer this question.

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