Close modal and post notice text

closetext.md

About this doc

The text below is the current text that appears in the close modal (and flag modal) and the post notices for different users. I've included it here since seeing the asker text is essentially impossible unless you've had a question closed.

Below this doc, in the comments, you will find my current version of proposed changes to the different close reasons. I'd like to do updates for the five that appear network-wide and also the migration text.

You're welcome to leave comments with suggestions for improvements to these proposals. Later this week I'll make a big post on MSE for people to review.

Close Modal text

Duplicate

This question has been asked before and already has an answer.

A community-specific reason

This question doesn't meet a $sitename guideline.

Needs details or clarity

This question should include more details and clarify the problem.

Needs more focus

This question currently includes multiple questions in one. It should focus on one problem only.

Opinion-based

This question is likely to be answered with opinions rather than facts and citations. It should be updated so it will lead to fact-based answers.

Post notices

Duplicate:

• General notice: This question already has answers here:
• Post owner: Your post has been associated with a similar #~questionCount#question. If that question doesn’t answer your issue, [edit your question]($editUrl$) to highlight the difference between the associated question and yours. If edited, your question will be reviewed and might be reopened. $br$$br$ **Find out more about [duplicates]($duplicatesUrl$) and why your question [has been closed]($hasBeenClosedUrl$).**
• Others: A community #~closedUserCount#member has associated this post with a similar #~questionCount#question.

Needs details or clarity

• General notice: **Closed**. This question needs [details or clarity]($ClosedQuestionsUrl$). It is not currently accepting answers.
• Post owner: Add details and clarify the problem you’re solving. This will help others answer the question. You can [edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$) or [post a new one]($AskQuestionUrl$).
• Others: Add details and clarify the problem being solved. This will help others answer the question. You can [edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$).

Needs more focus

• General notice: **Closed**. This question needs to be more [focused]($ClosedQuestionsUrl$). It is not currently accepting answers.
• Post owner: Update the question so it focuses on one problem only. This will help others answer the question. You can [edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$) or [post a new one]($AskQuestionUrl$).
• Others: Update the question so it focuses on one problem only. This will help others answer the question. You can [edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$).

Opinion-based

• General notice: **Closed**. This question is [opinion-based]($ClosedQuestionsUrl$). It is not currently accepting answers.
• Post owner: Update the question so it can be answered with facts and citations. This will help others answer the question. You can [edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$) or [post a new one]($AskQuestionUrl$).
• Others: Update the question so it can be answered with facts and citations. This will help others answer the question. You can [edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$).

Field	Current	Proposed
Modal Title	Duplicate	(No change) Duplicate
Modal Description	This question has been asked before and already has an answer.	This question has been asked before and has already been answered.
General notice	This question already has answers here:	This question already has already been answered here:
Post owner guidance	Your post has been associated with a similar #~questionCount#question. If that question doesn’t answer your issue, [edit your question]($editUrl$) to highlight the difference between the associated question and yours. If edited, your question will be reviewed and might be reopened. $br$$br$ **Find out more about [duplicates]($duplicatesUrl$) and why your question [has been closed]($hasBeenClosedUrl$).**	(No change) Your post has been associated with a similar #~questionCount#question. If that question doesn’t answer your issue, [edit your question]($editUrl$) to highlight the difference between the associated question and yours. If edited, your question will be reviewed and might be reopened. $br$$br$ **Find out more about [duplicates]($duplicatesUrl$) and why your question [has been closed]($hasBeenClosedUrl$).**
Guidance to others	A community #~closedUserCount#member has associated this post with a similar #~questionCount#question.	A community #~closedUserCount#member has associated this post with a similar #~questionCount#question. If you believe that the duplicate is incorrect, submit an [edit to the question]($editUrl$) to clarify the difference and recommend the question be reopened.

For duplicate questions, the modal description has "an answer", whereas the general notice says "answers". Is this going to be automatically generated according to the actual number of answers that the target question has? (That seems unnecessarily complex.) If not, then this should be genericized to something like "has already been answered".

For "A community-specific reason", change the close modal text from "guideline" to "requirement". Rationale: We should not be closing questions that fail to meet guidelines; we should only be closing questions that fail to meet requirements.

"Opinion-based" badly needs "primarily" inserted in front of it, like it used to have. Remember "Good subjective, bad subjective"? We need to go back to that. This close reason is causing a lot of problems on SO, where it is being used to close questions that do not need to be closed, simply because they ask for something resembling an opinion.

For all of the reasons, you are planning to remove "post a new one" from the post owner guidance, right?

For duplicate questions, the modal description has "an answer", whereas the general notice says "answers". Is this going to be automatically generated according to the actual number of answers that the target question has? (That seems unnecessarily complex.) If not, then this should be genericized to something like "has already been answered".

That's too complex, yeah... I'll make it consistent, though.

For "A community-specific reason", change the close modal text from "guideline" to "requirement". Rationale: We should not be closing questions that fail to meet guidelines; we should only be closing questions that fail to meet requirements.

OK.

"Opinion-based" badly needs "primarily" inserted in front of it, like it used to have. Remember "Good subjective, bad subjective"? We need to go back to that. This close reason is causing a lot of problems on SO, where it is being used to close questions that do not need to be closed, simply because they ask for something resembling an opinion.

Yeah, I've been thinking about this one. I need to discuss things about this to know whether I can revert these top level descriptions or not. :P

For all of the reasons, you are planning to remove "post a new one" from the post owner guidance, right?

Yes. 100%

Field	Current	Proposed
Modal Title	Needs more focus	(No change) Needs more focus
Modal Description	This question currently includes multiple questions in one. It should focus on one problem only.	This question currently asks multiple different questions and/or is so broad that it can't be easily addressed in an answer. It should be edited to focus on one, specific problem.
General notice	**Closed**. This question needs to be more [focused]($ClosedQuestionsUrl$). It is not currently accepting answers.	(No change) **Closed**. This question needs to be more [focused]($ClosedQuestionsUrl$). It is not currently accepting answers.
Post owner guidance	Update the question so it focuses on one problem only. This will help others answer the question. You can [edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$) or [post a new one]($AskQuestionUrl$).	[Update the question]($EditQuestionUrl$) so that it focuses on a **single, specific problem**. Right now your question may contain multiple distinct questions and/or is too broad to easily address in an answer. Narrowing the question will help others answer the question concisely. If edited, your question will be reviewed and might be reopened.
Guidance to others	Update the question so it focuses on one problem only. This will help others answer the question. You can [edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$).	Guide the asker to update the question so it focuses on one problem only. Narrowing the question will help others answer the question concisely. You may [edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$) if you feel you can improve it yourself. If edited, the question may be reviewed and might be reopened.

Field	Current	Proposed
Modal Title	Opinion-based	Opinion-based
Modal Description	This question is likely to be answered with opinions rather than facts and citations. It should be updated so it will lead to fact-based answers.	This question is asking for personal opinions that may lead to discussion or debate rather than objective solutions that can be supported with facts and citations. While some subjective questions can be reframed to fall within the concept of a "Good subjective" question, as written this one should be closed until it is improved.`
General notice	**Closed**. This question is [opinion-based]($ClosedQuestionsUrl$). It is not currently accepting answers.	(No changes) **Closed**. This question is [opinion-based]($ClosedQuestionsUrl$). It is not currently accepting answers.
Post owner guidance	Update the question so it can be answered with facts and citations. This will help others answer the question. You can [edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$) or [post a new one]($AskQuestionUrl$).	This question was identified as one likely to lead to discussion, debate, or opinion. [Edit]($EditQuestionUrl$) the question so it requires answers that include facts and citations or a detailed explanation of the proposed solution. If edited, your question will be reviewed and might be reopened.
Guidance to others	Update the question so it can be answered with facts and citations. This will help others answer the question. You can [edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$).	This question was identified as one likely to lead to discussion, debate, or opinion. You may [edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$) if you feel you can improve it so that it requires answers that include facts and citations or a detailed explanation of the proposed solution. If edited, the question may be reviewed and might be reopened.

• Needs more focus: Would it be feasible to tell the author as well as editors that removing surplus questions is fine (as long as they haven’t already been answered)? I often witness situations where somebody asks two otherwise decent questions in one, one of those gets a decent answer, the question is closed for being too broad, and nobody feels responsible to remove the spurious question – which would solve everything. On one site, I got so annoyed by this, that I made a FAQ. In addition, can we inform the author that it’s okay to ask questions separately?

• Opinion-based: “This question was identified as one likely to lead to […] opinion.“ – This sounds just wrong to me and also too unspecific to help people who don’t know what we are after. There is nothing wrong with invoking opinions or substantiated opinions (from a certain perspective, all we have are opinions). I think the problem can be captured as: “answers that only state opinions”.

• Duplicate: “This question has been asked before and has already been answered.” – I know this is probably too complicated, but maybe somebody has a good idea: We always run into pointless and redundant debates with people whose question has not “been asked before”, but is still a duplicate as answers to another question also answer theirs. Is there any hope of changing this to something like: “This question has already been covered by another question and its answers.”?

As mentioned in SOCVR, I'd like to see "Needs More Focus" go back to "Too Broad". The reasons for the change in the first place were specious at best.

Seconded @machavity (I can't 'react' to messages here or I would have given his post a thumbs up reaction).

Field	Current	Proposed
Modal Title	Needs details or clarity	(No change) Needs details or clarity
Modal Description	This question should include more details and clarify the problem.	This question is missing details and/or it is unclear what the question is asking, specifically. It should be edited to include the missing information.
General notice	**Closed**. This question needs [details or clarity]($ClosedQuestionsUrl$). It is not currently accepting answers.	(No change) **Closed**. This question needs [details or clarity]($ClosedQuestionsUrl$). It is not currently accepting answers.
Post owner guidance	Add details and clarify the problem you’re solving. This will help others answer the question. You can [edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$) or [post a new one]($AskQuestionUrl$).	[Edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$) to add details and clarify the problem you’re solving. Adding more specific information will help others understand your issue and make it possible for them to answer the question. If edited, your question will be reviewed and might be reopened.
Guidance to others	Add details and clarify the problem being solved. This will help others answer the question. You can [edit the question]($EditQuestionUrl$).	As written, this question is missing some of the information it needs to be answered. If the author adds details in comments, consider [editing them into the question]($EditQuestionUrl$). Once there's sufficient detail to answer, vote to reopen the question.

Field	Current	Proposed
Modal Title	This question belongs on another site in the Stack Exchange network	Migrate to...
Modal Description	---	This question is off topic or out of scope on this site but is on topic on another site in the Stack Exchange network and should be moved there.
General notice	This question was migrated to [$toSiteName$]($destinationUrl$) because it can be answered by $destinationSiteAudience$.	This question was migrated to [$toSiteName$]($destinationUrl$) because it is off topic or out of scope on [$SiteName$] but can be answered by $destinationSiteAudience$.

On the migration bit, we probably need some better guidance. I'm glad it's getting updated but there's three things I'd suggest

1. For moderators, don't bury the option. It could be a top-level option. I know there are some who would balk at that, but that rolls into
2. We need better guidance on migration in general. Right now, we give near-zero guidance on migration for any users on migration. That usually means poor migration experiences all around

If there's any way to better guide users in that process, this would be the time to at least look if there's any low hanging fruit. Ideally, migration should be a pull operation, not a push (except to Meta), but that's a much more involved process to fix.