Is it worth to reopen an old question that has already been answered?

Question

I have just edited the question Query using LEVENSHTEIN function returning more results than expected [closed] which was already answered before being closed a long time ago (motive: question needs details or clarity).

I've edited it in order to improve the community content, but is there any benefit from reopening it? (Assuming the edition was enough to achieve the required standard)

Answer 1

As one of the original close-voters I think I recall closing this question as Needs details or clarity which has the following description:

Please clarify your specific problem or add additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it’s hard to tell exactly what you're asking. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question.

The solution to resolving such a close reason would be :

Edit your post to be more specific about what you're looking for, and be sure to address any concerns that other users brought up in the comments.

At the time of my vote the question was lacking the details of the stored procedure and some sample data.

There wasn't much response from the original author and the question had an accepted answer.

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The question has since been edited by the same person that gave the accepted answer to a trivial question as it turned out.

If the question were to asked today then I would probably close the question as Too localized which has the following description:

this could be because your code has a typo, basic error, or is not relevant to most of our audience. Consider revising your question so that it appeals to a broader audience. As it stands, the question is unlikely to help other users (regarding typo questions, see this meta question for background).

This is a sub-reason of the main A community-specific reason to closing a question:

This question doesn’t meet a Database Administrators Stack Exchange guideline.

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Because the question is in effect a very simple issue that could have been resolved with basic understandings of JOINs and doesn't have much to do with the original title/wording I see no real reason to re-open the question.

1. It has an accepted answer.
2. The answer does not have much to do with the Levenshtein algorithm.
3. I don't think there could be a better answer.

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The community does not have to explain why it chose to close a question in general and if the question would merit a reopen, then the community has the possibility to do just that. However, you have put some effort into answering the question and editing the original question which does merit an explanation from me personally. (see above)

I hope my explanation helps you understand part of the community (well, me) a bit better and that you are able to possibly understand the workings of the community as a whole a bit better?

I wish you good luck with your future endeavours within our DBA.SE community.

Answer 2

As the initial close-voter, I originally voted to close this question For the following reason:

Not suitable for this site → Too localized - this could be because your code has a typo, basic error, or is not relevant to most of our audience. Consider revising your question so that it appeals to a broader audience. As it stands, the question is unlikely to help other users (regarding typo questions, see this meta question for background).

I think the question remains too localized since it's really about the join, not the Levenshtein function. As a result of that, my personal opinion would be to leave it closed. If you think it should be re-opened, you could pop into The Heap chatroom and ask the participants if they can vote to reopen it. Once you reach 3,000 rep, you'll be able to cast votes to re-open questions yourself.

FYI, Questions should be re-opened if they:

• Are no longer a duplicate of an existing question on the site due to some clarification.

• Have been edited to add sufficient additional details or clarity to be answered.

• Are no longer too broad.

• Are no longer opinion-based and can have an objectively correct answer.

• Are on topic for [dba.se], as per the following:

  • Database Administration including configuration and backup / restore
  • Advanced Querying including window-functions, dynamic-sql, and query-performance
  • Data Modelling and database-design, including referential-integrity
  • Advanced Programming in built-in server-side languages including stored-procedures and triggers.
  • Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence including etl, reporting, and olap

• If the question fits any of the following criteria, it should stay closed, or be migrated on a per-case basis.

  • Client-side programming - ask on Stack Overflow
  • Basic SQL - ask on Stack Overflow
  • Career advice, including salary or résumé - try Patrick McKenzie's Don't call yourself a programmer

Now that you've made edits to the question, it seems to fit the above criteria.