When reviewing questions that have been voted closable, I frequently wish for a "This question has been answered" option, in the "Why should this question be closed?" dialog. This happens a lot when the question is very simple and is answered in the comments.

I could, definitely, copy the comment into an answer but the whole reason that the original commenter didn't do so is that the original question is just so simple. If I could close the question as "answered", the OP would get a useful answer to their simple question and the question would not clutter the space.


This question, for example has several clear and accurate answers. It has been closed as "off topic", which is neither accurate (it is a programming question asked by someone who has either overlooked something simple or misunderstands Java syntax) nor helpful to the OP.

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    Comments aren't answers, and answers shouldn't be abused for comments. – user0042 Nov 22 '17 at 22:43
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    I feel like this meta question is grounds for having you review banned... – Servy Nov 22 '17 at 22:52
  • but the whole reason that the original commenter didn't do so is that the original question is just so simple Are you sure? Have you been able to magically enter the mind of the commenter? – Joe C Nov 22 '17 at 23:03
  • No, definitely not sure. Best guess, though. Here's an example: stackoverflow.com/questions/47444440/… – G. Blake Meike Nov 22 '17 at 23:06
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    @Servy I'm totally ok with that. I thought reviewing was part of my community responsibility. It certainly is time I could be using elsewhere, though. I'd be happy to stop. – G. Blake Meike Nov 22 '17 at 23:08
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    @G.BlakeMeike If you don't even know what closing is, what it's for, and even the most basics of when it's appropriate to be used, why go to a review queue to specifically decide what should and shouldn't be closed? – Servy Nov 23 '17 at 3:35
  • @Servy: Like I said, definitely won't do it any more. – G. Blake Meike Nov 23 '17 at 6:56
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The whole point of closure is to say that the question cannot be given a quality answer. That a question has an answer doesn't mean it can't get a quality answer.

If you feel that the question actually can't be answered, say because it's too broad, is unclear, doesn't contain enough information, etc. then close it for the corresponding reason.

  • Mmmm... ok. That makes sense. Does that mean that, if a question has a good answer, I should not vote to close it? – G. Blake Meike Nov 22 '17 at 23:02
  • Again, this question has several good answers. Why is it closed? stackoverflow.com/questions/47444440/… – G. Blake Meike Nov 22 '17 at 23:13
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    @G.BlakeMeike That question is closed for the reason given. It was caused by a simple typographical error, so it's unlikely to help anyone in the future. Having answers isn't a sufficient reason to keep a question open or to close it. If a good, on-topic question already has an answer in comments, don't vote to close. Someone (maybe you) can turn those comments into an answer. – Bill the Lizard Nov 22 '17 at 23:32
  • @BilltheLizard Ah! I see. There is nothing in the dialog that says "this answer is unlikely to be helpful to the community." I would totally buy that as an entry too. ... and, can you post this as an answer instead of a comment? – G. Blake Meike Nov 22 '17 at 23:35

To answer the question presented by your edit, questioning the closure of AndroidStudio tells me that I miss ):

The stated closure reason was:


One of the main uses for Stack Overflow is that it can become a repository of programming solutions for problems that can be useful to future readers. A single person who missed a ) in simple java code's question is not useful to future readers. The people who answered were kind and answered the question, but the fact that they answered does not make the question any more on topic.

For the question you cited in particular, a person who simply doesn't understand java syntax should refer to a java tutorial, which would be part of the research that contributes to forming a well-asked question. But the Stack Overflow community shouldn't be responsible for debugging your code because you can't be bothered to read a java tutorial. I'm not saying that the person in question was lazy, but I do think they could have found their answer through other means with a little more effort.

There can be dozens of reasons why a person posts a simple typographical error, but in the end, these questions are off topic questions and subject to closure if their solution is one such that it will be unlikely to help another person.


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