Members of Tex-sx with enough ‘reputation’ can flag questions and answers for moderator attention. That’s an important part of how the site works: the moderators cannot read everything. A few posts gets flagged as spam or similarly out-and-out unwelcome material, and they are easy for the moderators to deal with. However, most flagged posts need a bit more work, as often they are suggested duplicates, off-topic entries or similar.
Over the life of the site, it’s been clear that users appreciate some feedback on moderator action, whether that’s closing a question or dismissing a flag without doing anything. That’s what the comment system is for, and so I leave a lot of comments! It’s particularly important that questions that get closed have an explanation: the ‘stock text’ added by the system when a question is closed is okay, but is best when backed up by something more direct.
What I’d therefore suggest is that when you flag a post, consider adding a (friendly) comment too: we have a good set of ‘stock’ ones. When one of the mods then comes along, they’ll have one less thing to think about before acting
Ah good, there’s already a comment suggesting that this question is off-topic/a duplicate/…, so I don’t have to add one 🙂
It’s a small thing, but it’s also very much appreciated!
Is there a way to prod the moderators? A flag of mine is still waiting for review after four days…
Usually the best way is to use the
notification system in the chat room, for example
.
We have a relatively ‘cautious’ approach to flags on TeX-sx, so unlike some of the other StackExchange sites a flag being ‘live’ for some days is not unusual. I think I know which one you are referring to, and it’s not forgotten: I would expect to clear it one way or the other by tomorrow morning at the latest.