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As someone who could sometimes be accused of having an itchy trigger-finger when it comes to poor-quality questions  , I've got some ideas on improving the situation:
Spam/abusive:
No change. The question should be deleted, along with any comments or answers.
Off-topic:
Close the question, but leave any existing comments and answers visible.
(If there are none, then remove the question.)
Repost:
The reporter should be required to provide a link to where the question was previously posted.
This must be a link to another QA question or a forum post on CodeProject.
The source item must have been posted earlier than the question being reported.
Links to the non-programming forums should be excluded, as the OP was probably told to repost in QA.
Unclear or incomplete:
Change the wording from "Closed" to "On hold" or something similar.
Prompt the OP to update the question with the missing details.
Leave all existing comments and answers visible, and allow new comments and solutions to be posted.
Users who have already posted a solution, can vote to re-open.
Anyone posting a new solution registers as a vote to re-open.
Any edit to the question re-opens it.
Not a question:
Not sure about this one. To my mind, this is usually the no effort, "send me teh codez ITZ URGENT" type questions, or the "here's a code-dump without any question" questions. Perhaps these should be treated in the same way as the off-topic questions - close them, but leave existing comments and answers visible.
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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I like your ideas, Richard. In the past I've proposed (on this forum) that certain-minimum-rep-level CP members (based on 'Authority rank ?) have the "right" to put a "hold" on a question so it can't be deleted for some period of time.
cheers, Bill
« I am putting myself to the fullest possible use which is all, I think, that any conscious entity can ever hope to do » HAL (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) in "2001, A Space Odyssey"
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BillWoodruff wrote: the weird fact that deleted QA questions get stripped of their comments, and any posted solutions, yet continue to appear visible on the Forums:
The thinking here is to
1. Make it clear that that poor questions can actually be closed
2. Provide an opportunity for a civic minded person to reopen (and edit) a question to give it purpose.
BillWoodruff wrote: f other CP members who are obviously making a contribution to QA by posting working code, and thoughtful comments, take their time to post on a thread: closing it not only discards that content, but it also creates a dis-incentive for the person who is truly trying to be helpful on QA.
I completely agree, and would prefer a question not be answered if it's clear that there's been little or not effort in posing the question. I know that sounds harsh, and I certainly don't want to get to the level of elitism and agro over at SO, but there should certainly be a minimum level of clarity and effort required from those posting questions.
I dislike encouraging poor behaviour. On both sides of the fence.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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I just finished editing an article named "Start unit test code coverage by Jacoco" (or something like that if I do not remember correctly), but when I tried to submit it, I get an error on the web page, and I then lost the article.
I have tried to save the "Draft" all the time, now I do not even see the draft. I am not sure if you can help me to recover the draft.
Any help is appreciated, so I do not need to re-do the typing.
Thanks,
Song
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I'm so sorry, I can't seem to find any draft either
Thanks,
Sean Ewington
CodeProject
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It is OK. But if you do find anything, please let me know. I remember that Chris helped to solve some similar problems a couple of years ago. Thanks anyway, Song
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Please give me some time. I'll dig deeper.
Thanks,
Sean Ewington
CodeProject
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We have dug, but could not find.  Quick series of questions for you, if you please:
- Did you press Submit at all?
- Was your process to edit and keep editing the auto-saved drafts?
- Was it an article that was previously pending?
Thanks,
Sean Ewington
CodeProject
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1. Yes, I did submit (with editing not to make public checked). But after clicking the submit button I then see an error page (the page shows a picture some bugs and some broken wires). I then clicked the back button on the web browser (I do not remember what the back button gave me, but it was something that was meaningless), when I refresh the page, I no longer see anything related to the article that I am working on. 
2. I used the codeproject's submit wizard to edit the article. It tells me that the draft will be auto-saved. It does save automatic draft based on my previous experience, but not this time.
3. I do not remember if I have previously pending articles.
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I know we get some absolute rubbish in there, but several seem to get closed down for no real good reason ... e.g. Path trough command?[^]
I worked out what he meant, clearly SA did too... although I never did get to see what he posted. Only 2 people quoted as deeming it unsuitable ... up to 5 maybe??
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CHill60 wrote: clearly SA did too
So why did he vote to have it closed?
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Richard MacCutchan wrote: So why did he vote to have it closed?
It appears to me that some QA devotees believe that not to answer a QA question is a mortal sin.
« There is only one difference between a madman and me. The madman thinks he is sane. I know I am mad. » Salvador Dali
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AFAIK the number of reports must be 5,
the list of reporters is another thing, if the reports get counted in different cathegories only the one with the biggest number of "votes" gets listed. I think the weight of the reporters (based on rep) has to do something as well, but not sure about it.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Nelek wrote: AFAIK the number of reports must be 5,
It's 3, unless that changed and I didn't notice.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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CHill60 wrote: I worked out what he meant,
That's impressive, given how little information the question contains. 
Perhaps you could use the "Improve Question" link to fill in the missing details? (I assume that will re-open the question.)
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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It was the "old days" comment that gave me the clue  Not sure I should be advertising that I realised he meant VB6 
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That's odd - in a VB.NET project, the Command method[^] should still be available as a global method.
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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Richard Deeming wrote: Perhaps you could use the "Improve Question" link to fill in the missing details? (I assume that will re-open the question.)
I would be interested to know if "improving" a closed question will re-open it.
thanks, Bill
« There is only one difference between a madman and me. The madman thinks he is sane. I know I am mad. » Salvador Dali
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No, it doesn't. It will keep closed.
The quick red ProgramFOX jumps right over the Lazy<Dog>.
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Sometimes I think 3 isn't enough. You can go back and see that there are still tons of open questions that should be closed.
I say leave it at 3.
Worst case scenario, the user asks the question again and hopefully adds some detail.
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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RyanDev wrote: Worst case scenario, the user asks the question again
The problem is that some won't: and they won't come back at all.
And quite a few questions seem to get closed purely because some members don't understand them - despite there being solutions, or a good conversation going to get the required info.
Asking questions is a skill: and to develop, it has to be used. Slam the door in the face of someone who hasn't developed it yet and that doesn't give them a chance to develop it at all...
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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OriginalGriff wrote: Slam the door in the face of someone who hasn't developed it yet and that doesn't give them a chance to develop it at all
Indeed. 
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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CHill60 wrote: Only 2 people quoted as deeming it unsuitable
The question has got 3 reports, and 2 of the people who reported it chose "Unclear or Incomplete", and the third one chose another option, so that's why it just shows two people.
The number of reports used to be 5 but this was changed to 3 when we got a spam wave. We still get spam, but less spam than during that wave, and just 3 reports seems a bit few so I'd go for 4 reports.
The quick red ProgramFOX jumps right over the Lazy<Dog>.
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I'd prefer members to fix and re-open questions if they are closed rather than making it easier for poor questions (and spam) to remain visible.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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