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From time to time I find a post marked [Close] which I think is deserving of a longer life. It has been mentioned in the past that some people go directly to the Close queue and flip through all the entries just to find the one they wish to keep open.

If we are trying to be fair, and not tilt the system so much towards close, why is there not an easier way to keep a question open?

Maybe there is and I am just ignorant of it?

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    W/o having to click skip skip continuously, visit the review close history page, search the question you want to keep open, it's likely that someone has already cast their vote, click on the assessment (leave open or close) and you should be able to review it instantly, cast your vote and carry on business as normal. Not all questions need work. Besides, some users might feel uncomfortable about editing someone else's post. Leaving comments that may or may not be read by users in the review queue is no guarantee.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jun 15, 2017 at 10:48
  • Now I'm not sure if everyone has access to the history page, maybe this is for users who have 10k or 20k rep but it's a nifty shortcut if you are lucky enough to have that privilege.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jun 15, 2017 at 10:51
  • @Mari-LouA All I am able to see in my close history page is posts that I have actually voted on. Maybe at the 10k or 20k mark you can see all vote history?
    – Hank
    Commented Jun 15, 2017 at 12:59
  • @Mari-LouA Oh ok. Yeah you must get the ability to sift through all pending reviews at a higher tier.
    – Hank
    Commented Jun 15, 2017 at 13:18
  • @Hank oops, I can actually see how each user voted on each question they reviewed even before I cast my vote. But once I have voted, I am allowed to see who else has voted on the same question. EDIT: Yes, it's probably that, the moderator tools privilege.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jun 15, 2017 at 13:23
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    @Mari-LouA That ability is included under the access to moderator tools privilege at 10k rep.
    – Hank
    Commented Jun 15, 2017 at 13:25

2 Answers 2

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Actually, the most effective way I have found to keep a question open is to leave a comment explaining why it be kept open.

Clicking "leave open" is a fairly weak tool. At most, enough "leave open" votes can end the post's review period and start the closevote aging process. "Leave open votes" do not invalidate or count against closevotes, and the post still shows the number of closevotes against it. So it's not a very influential action.

I believe only mods can see the direct link to a post's current and past review pages.

There are some other relevant suggestions in the help center article "What if I disagree with the closure of a question? How can I reopen it?"

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    Yes, this can work, but this tactic is less likely to work if there are a lot of comments. However cogent, the last comment goes to the end of the line (until it is upvoted) and it may be overlooked.
    – ab2
    Commented Jun 15, 2017 at 0:10
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One way to keep a question open is to edit it in order to render the close reasons invalid. Note that you may need to do quite a bit of work.

  • If it's not a duplicate, say why the nominated question and any of the answers to that question don't cut it.
  • If it's within the Help centre's listed scope, make that clear.
    • It's possible you might need to provide missing research which proves the question valid. If you can do that without damaging the question, then do that.
    • Perhaps you can provide a sample sentence for a word- or phrase-request, based on what the OP has already posted or commented.
    • Can you pick out the detailed point which the OP is asking about with an "Is this right?" question?
    • If the question is actually about the nuts and bolts of English at a level which would not really help a learner of English, demonstrate that in order that it's not migrated to ELL.
    • "Off-topic" close votes have a write-in reason too, which will usually point out something specific which the question needs to address if it's to be on-topic.
  • If it's unclear, provide the detail needed (if that's possible; most unclear questions need the OP to do that. But perhaps the detail has been added in comments)
  • If it's too broad, limit its scope (but again, it may not be possible to judge the most important part the OP would like to keep)
  • If it can be answered objectively without being pure opinion, make that clear.

None of these actions will negate close votes already cast, but they may cause people who have already voted to retract their vote, and they may prevent others from casting a close vote. And you will have improved the question.

If you can't actually do any of these to show that a question should not be closed (or rather, put on hold for the OP to clarify if possible), then it probably should be.

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