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[META] Should 'Closed' questions be shown under 'Active'?
While going through the questions I have stumbled across this situation many times and every time it just bugs me out that the questions that are closed appear under the active tab for questions.
Here's an example image that illustrates what I'm trying to say:
As I understand active, it means that the questions that are currently being worked on by the members of UA and the question is still open for members to work on as even though the answer is selected members can still post their thoughts (answers, comments) on that question and answers and comments posted under it.
If a question is closed then why does it appears under the active tab since it no longer allows any of these actions above.
So now the question is that is it an intended behavior or is it just because it was not thought before that these closed questions should not appear under active tab as they are no longer active and require no attention anymore?
If it is an intended behavior then I certainly would like to know the reason behind it.
And if it is not an intended behavior then should it be changed to reflect it?
Or am I misunderstanding the meaning of active altogether?
Answer by Owen-Reynolds · May 21, 2014 at 03:39 PM
I don't think Closed has any real, consistent meaning.
That first blue one, Lootnituk probably posted a link to an answered duplicate Q, then checked closed. In that case, closed means "I don't feel like anyone else should waste time looking at this." That's somewhat helpful, but if you're a blender expert, you might still be interested, and may be able to give a better reply (often the trick to answering a Q is figuring out what the OP was really trying to ask.)
For "don't bother looking at this" Q's, I prefer a downvote (or not accepting the Q in the 1st place?)
I think some people close green/Answered questions. Seems redundant. Sure, we know the OP marked "I'm happy and am done." But that often doesn't mean there's an actual answer. Sometimes the OP will quickly mark an Answer that seems like it might be helpful, but turns out not to work. And some posters tend to bully new users with "if this helped you, check as answer." Some green Qs legitimately continue.
And UA is primarily intended to be searched -- the "question of interest of at least one other person" rule. If a question comes up in a search, and you have a better answer, you should add it. Having the Q closed is just bad in that case. Maybe the OP got their perfect answer. But the question is now out there, to help everyone.
Thanks @owen, may be I was looking at it other way around.
From reading other $$anonymous$$eta Qs, such as "why is UA so horrible now," it seems like everyone is looking at everything in a different way. Every proposed change, you can find someone saying how it contradicts their version of what UA is.
That's quite true! And impression I got about being a question 'closed' came from the same discussions.
Closing prevents further answers but not further comments, I think.
I close questions which are:
Self-Answered, Definitively Answered, Long winded Answered, Redundant/Total poo, Very Old and someone is trying to hijack it.
If it remains in Active it gives people the opportunity for it to be re-opened if someone genuinely wishes to update it with a real answer. Unfortunately most of the time its just someone spam$$anonymous$$g links for their latest Asset Store offering.
Non-definitively answered Good questions should be left open for the hope of better answers.
@meat5000 that's one more insight you have provided me with:
If it remains in Active it gives people the opportunity for it to be re-opened if someone genuinely wishes to update it with a real answer.
It seems to be one of the precise reasons to keep them in active section.
So the basic principle of human life is applied there that, 'Hope keeps us alive (active)!' ;-)
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