4

This HNQ, Greedy shareholder that does not want to dilute his portion , is clearly off topic per the help centre (though not the Ask Question page which is entirely misleading*) as it is about finance for a joint stock company.

So I tried to flag as off topic. It isn't blatant as it is definitely about money, so I picked the accounting option as it seemed vaguely related. This didn't seem right and I was tempted not to flag it at all.

enter image description here

Should we add a flag reason that matches this from the Help Center's on topic page?

> Questions about corporate or government finance

* The Ask Question page says: "Is your question about money or personal finance?". This question is about money so the user doesn't visit the help center.

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
3

First, it's interesting that my view is slightly different.

enter image description here

What we have, as a stack, are 3 choices we (I mean the mods, but ultimately, that means the members) can edit. The first 3 as listed above. If the question should be migrated, that's a choice as well. There's also the "other", which is a fill-in-the-blank choice that others can agree with. For now, the 3 fixed choices are what we have. See Should we consolidate the accounting and economics off-topic reasons with others? where this question was recently discussed. Although maybe not exactly a duplicate.

UPDATE - As member mhoran noted, the OP does not have enough rep to "vote to close". Despite the fact that the help center confirm this use of Flags, I'd discourage it. A flag is set to draw the attention of a moderator. Voting to close is best done by members, not mods. Flags imply a level of urgency, and should be used sparingly. When I see a flag to close that has no current votes, I'm more likely to avoid the close, as it seems heavy handed to other members, creating the appearance of the mods going overboard with the god-hammer. And by ignoring the flags, the member trying to offer his participation might feel ignored or slighted. It becomes a no-win. On the other hand, I see this OP has earned rep by editing. Good edits are always welcome.

7
  • Thanks! Interesting that the view of a mod (you) differs from the view of a low rep flagger (me). What does a VTC voter see?
    – Qsigma
    Commented Jul 19, 2018 at 12:14
  • I have now upvoted the possible dupe question.
    – Qsigma
    Commented Jul 19, 2018 at 12:14
  • 1
    I don't know. You may get the "fill in the blank" option once your rep is higher.
    – JTP - Apologise to Monica Mod
    Commented Jul 19, 2018 at 12:20
  • 1
    The question that comes from a person that only has the flag option, they don't have enough points to even see the close button. Note that their screen capture says flagging - closing -off-topic.
    – mhoran_psprep
    Commented Jul 19, 2018 at 13:05
  • 2
    AFAIK, flagging for closure by people who don't have the rep to actually close vote will just put it in the review queue, not automatically raise it to moderators.
    – GS - Apologise to Monica Mod
    Commented Jul 19, 2018 at 16:19
  • Can the 3rd reason be slight worded differently? Questions about accounting, calculations and business taxation are off-topic unless they relate directly to personal finance or investing from an individual's perspective
    – Dheer
    Commented Jul 20, 2018 at 8:01
  • The question OP cited wasn't business taxation, but the inner working of a company. Do we really need a custom edit to address this? Does this type of close reason occur that often?
    – JTP - Apologise to Monica Mod
    Commented Jul 23, 2018 at 17:13
3

Since you are flagging, not voting to close, the reason that you pick is not very important.

Those with the reputation to Vote to Close (3000+) can select the correct reason for closure. If, as in this case, none of the "quick close" reasons fits, they can select "Other" and type in a custom reason. We need to get this reason correct, as this will inform the OP (and everyone else) what the reason is for closure.

However, all your flag does is put the question in a queue for review by high rep users, and the reason you select does not get seen by the public. If you don't see a reason that fits, you can select "Blatantly off-topic," or you can just decide not to flag. We have enough users reviewing new questions that we don't usually have trouble with off-topic questions slipping through the cracks.

1
  • I think the two I mentioned slipped through the cracks. However +1 thanks for explaining the system to me.
    – Qsigma
    Commented Jul 23, 2018 at 8:09
1

If you are unable to select a close vote, and can only use a flag, then use in need of moderator attention - and describe the issue.

I have seen others use the comment system, and hope that somebody who can cast a close vote will do so.

I think that the network limits the number of options we can have in the close vote wizard.

2
  • What should a moderator do in that case? In the meantime, can I withdraw or change my flag? Finally, since the number of options is limited, can we roll a few topics into a single radio button, such as "Questions on economics, accounting, corporate or government finance are off-topic unless ..." ?
    – Qsigma
    Commented Jul 19, 2018 at 12:12
  • Yes, and see the answer I linked. The limit of 3 makes this an ongoing issue. I suppose it's reasonable to revisit this every 6 months or so.
    – JTP - Apologise to Monica Mod
    Commented Jul 19, 2018 at 12:12

You must log in to answer this question.

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