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This was triggered by the handling of the following questions:

The first one had broken code and thus got put on hold, and any later tries to amend it by the OP got shut down because it already had 2 answers.

In the second question, the OP finally posted working code - only to get marked as a duplicate of the old one with broken code.

I'm asking since this was clearly the first attempt of said OP to post a question on this site, and he tried to amend it complying with the moderator's advice on the first question (create a new one with working code).

How should one fix a question in order to make it adhere to Code Review guidelines without getting marked as duplicate, even when the flaws of the original question were amended?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I was afraid somebody was going to ask this question. You're quite correct in your conclusion and I suspect this is a case of miscommunication. However, since there are moderators involved, the community is likely hesitant to interfere. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mast Mod
    Oct 21, 2017 at 8:11
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    \$\begingroup\$ I am very happy that you asked this question. Moderators can get it wrong and sometimes we don't have the time to check all the facts. Should the newer question be re-opened? Does the newer code include feedback from answers from the first? \$\endgroup\$
    – Simon Forsberg
    Oct 21, 2017 at 8:45

1 Answer 1

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There was some confusion. At the time that the second question was posted, the two questions really did contain identical code — hence its closure as a duplicate. Furthermore, since the first question had a negative score at the time, and the questions were posted under different accounts, the second posting gave the impression that the author was unfairly trying to drop the stigma of the first question.

The duplication situation has been rectified by rolling back the first question and adding a comment to it noting that a follow-up question exists. I've reopened the second question.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Doesn't it makes sense for OP to be able to open old question and edit it , instead of creating another identical question and risking duplication flag? \$\endgroup\$
    – Anil_M
    Oct 27, 2017 at 15:47
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Anil_M When a question has already received answers, editing the question is likely to cause confusion. That is the reason for our no-editing policy, as well as our tendency to put questions on hold quickly. \$\endgroup\$
    – 200_success
    Oct 27, 2017 at 17:26

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