How should I close questions on Ask LibreOffice that have too little information?

[bencomp]

It sometimes happens that a question is asked that has too little information for it to be answered. Sometimes comments are added asking for more info (e.g. operating system, LO version, LO component), sometimes even answers are added guessing for the true problem or just pointing to the manual.

Is it correct to close these questions? If so, which reason should I choose? There is no reason “too little information”, so I am looking at:

• “off-topic or not relevant”
• “not a real question”
• “too localized”

Is one of these most fitting, or can “too little information”/“too broad” be added as a reason?

[dajare]

The square brackets/title is a helpful visual signal, imo - see, e.g. this question about meta. I take it that as a serial title-editor, you disagree!

[bencomp]

@dajare No offence, but I did. I try to make ‘titles’ what they should be: the question. Tags should go in, err, tags - like “[Solved]” doesn’t belong in the title either (questions with certain tags can be hidden or selected, of course)

[dajare]

@bencomp - no offence taken. I quite agree about “Solved”: that’s what the green “checks” are for, and the appropriate “system signal”. In the absence of a proper “meta”, though, I find the [meta] signal a useful complement to the tags. I had a memory that this was even discussed as a preferred convention at some point, although a quick search didn’t turn that up; maybe I imagined it. In any case, it’s no biggie. I think it makes for good “house-keeping” given our constraints is all.

[ROSt53]

Too little information:
I would not delete questions with too little information because sometimes people learn through the process of being asked for more details.

In case of too little information I typically ask the inquirer to read: What information should I include in a question in addition to OS and LibreOffice version? - #4 by ROSt53

This document was created by several people. It could be summarized and may even have a link in the grey field of https://ask.libreoffice.org/new-topic?category=english

As for the other 3 topics you mentioned:

"off-topic or not relevant"
"not a real question"
"too localized"

it is IMHO difficult to create a general rule. I look at it and decide what to answer.

[bencomp]

Thanks for your answer, but I did not suggest to delete questions - just close them (with a proper reason). Specifically I am referring to questions that are relevant and could be answered when more information is available. I feel the three reasons listed are closest to the real reason, but I can’t choose.

[ROSt53]

@bencomp - Sorry I should have answered more precise using “close”. Beside replacing “delete” by “close” would be the same.

[manj_k]

@ bencomp: “Is it correct to close these questions?”

That depends on the circumstances of each particular case.

(Outdated / very old question, LibreOffice version: end-of-life, OP didn’t reappear, etc.)

Please be aware that 50 karma points are required to reopen own questions.

@ bencomp: “[…] can ‘too little
information’/‘too broad’ be added as a
reason?”

There’s a feature request on Askbot: close question because it has insufficient information?

(Currently, you could add a comment with additional reasons for closing this question.)

[ROSt53]

@manj_k - Feature request to close questions with insufficient information. IMHO I feel that this is not the best. If something can be built into Askbot then a feature where one can click a button “more information is needed” and it would be even better when by the click of this button addtionally a default text would be added to explain what information is (typically) needed. — Askbot should then also allow to run statistics using the number of questions with insufficient answers.