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Above statement has just been filed when I tried to post a new question (or maybe a bit cleaner wording, but the idea is the same nonetheles):

Wait! Some of your past questions have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from asking any more.

For help formulating a clear, useful question, see: How do I ask a good question?

Also, edit your previous questions to improve formatting and clarity.

Now I have only asked here 4 questions, one of it is closed because of "off topic" (but quite frankly I still think this ought to be ontopic here and would open a discussion if I came more often).

Another is closed because of a duplicate --- though i clearly indicated I did not understand the answering with the "duplicate". So for clarification I asked my question. Now I found the solution so I didn't explain why it is different (no point discussing to open it just to let it die).

None of them seemed to me as "terrible" - so why the hell did I get this message?

EDIT As said in the comments, I should clarify: I have 2 currently "closed" question. One of them is for offtopic. The other is a duplicate (which is asked based on this so duplicate mark is dubious). And further I do not have any deleted questions in last 90 days.

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  • 2
    From MSE: Warn new users when they ask a question after a previous question is closed, downvoted, or deleted
    – user40980
    Jun 29, 2014 at 16:35
  • 2
    Which doesn't seem to make sense to me. I literary have zero idea what is actually so bad from the warning given. As such a warning like this at best is just ignored - and at worst scares users away.
    – paul23
    Jun 29, 2014 at 16:37
  • 2
    Given the secretive nature of the question ban algorithm and how this ties into it, I'm not sure what the triggers for the warning are.
    – user40980
    Jun 29, 2014 at 16:38
  • FWIW, your deleted question has been discussed here at Meta: Are questions about source control off topic? - its highly negative score (-4) is quite likely due to meta effect
    – gnat
    Jun 30, 2014 at 8:50
  • This right here is part of the reason why the site pops a warning when downvoting asking you to leave a comment. When I vote to close I typically leave a comment as well. Some people on this site focus more of their effort on moderation than I do and have little patience, maybe I am still an idealist that would rather try to help new users not get frustrated and become regular posters who provide quality questions and answers.
    – user22815
    Aug 28, 2014 at 2:55

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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The warning is designed to ensure that you pay attention to the question you ask and to try to ensure that you ask something that does belong on the site.

It is based on your entire asking history - deleted questions included.

Looking through your questions, I am seeing one bad deleted question (from 2013, which is not recent enough for you to see in the deleted recent questions page) which is what is mostly contributing to the warning and actual possibility of a question ban.

In short, I am not seeing anything too terrible, but I am also not seeing anything stellar, which is really what the message reflects.

That such an old question comes into play is a limitation of the current ban algorithm and system, which is being overhauled to avoid such issues (very old questions contributing as much as they currently do).

So, I encourage you to ask the question, be careful to be sure it meets the quality requirements and that it is indeed suitable to the site (given what's in the help center).

If you do find that you end up in the question ban, comment here, on my answer and I will see what I can do to help you get out of it, until the new algorithm is in place.

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  • wonder what could be the reason to vote down this answer
    – gnat
    Aug 1, 2014 at 19:16
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Based on your past questions, system decided to warn that you may be approaching question ban.

This is described in more details in Warn new users when they ask a question after a previous question is closed, downvoted, or deleted at MSE (bold font in below quote is mine):

Starting today, we are going to show a warning to folks who are about to post a question or an answer when they already have a track record of ... suboptimal questions:

https://i.stack.imgur.com/xfiXS.png

...The specific criteria for these aren't public largely for the same reasons the quality block criteria aren't public, but let's just say that folks who are nearing hitting a block will be getting a heads up and some instructions first.

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    Which I still find silly. I have no idea why I am "hitting a block".. This (apparently new?) system gives no feedback and i really have no idea what I can do to fix this. So basically to me it simply sounds as "gtfo huuuu, we don't want you here!". Well that is fine, but don't hide it in nice words.
    – paul23
    Jun 29, 2014 at 16:41
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    With this question I wish to hence stress that the system is not working
    – paul23
    Jun 29, 2014 at 16:41
  • @paul23 did you check the guidance that was recommended in warning message - "How do I ask a good question?" Do you have deleted questions?
    – gnat
    Jun 29, 2014 at 16:44
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    yes. Did you read the what I posted? 2 closes, 1 is for a "duplicate", where I followed there rules explained to me when exactly laying out this problem; meta.stackexchange.com/questions/112980/… The other is apparently "off topic" - something that can be triggered I guess. (But I feel that any question should always be able to be asked and one should never have to keep a question to himself and stackexchange family should have a place for all serious answerable questions).
    – paul23
    Jun 29, 2014 at 17:03
  • @paul23 if you don't have deleted questions (do you?), the warning would most definitely be system failure, as your visible posting history doesn't look bad. Do you know how to look for deleted posts in your profile?
    – gnat
    Jun 29, 2014 at 17:06
  • I never delete anything, I'm my good & bad things and anyone can see what I do. So yes this is the original problem I wished to stress: there is something wrong with the system! And if this is already a warning, who knows what can trigger a ban!
    – paul23
    Jun 29, 2014 at 17:07
  • @paul23 your questions could be deleted by community members or moderators, you can check them as described here: "deleted questions and answers that were posted in the past 90 days, can be seen using..."
    – gnat
    Jun 29, 2014 at 17:09
  • nope can't find (or remember ever asking) any deleted things.
    – paul23
    Jun 29, 2014 at 17:20
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    @paul23 this means, of the questions you posted in last 90 days, none was deleted. Consider editing your question to add this clarification: per what I've seen at MSE this is rather important detail
    – gnat
    Jun 29, 2014 at 17:29
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    @paul23 - To have a place for all serious answerable questions would require having experts on the stackexchange network answering all questions on all topics. The main goal of the network is that someone Googling for an answer finds one worth their time. To get that you have to only accept questions where that has a reasonable chance of happening. That's going to leave gaps unless the network attracts the bulk of the world's expertise.
    – psr
    Aug 4, 2014 at 16:21

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