How should we treat well-intentioned questions that may have a small issue?

Question

Preface: This question is inspired by this one.

My question: How should we treat well-intentioned questions that may have a small issue?

Emphasis: Shouldn't moderators (of all people), leave helpful comments so that the question may be edited and rehabilitated?

I can tell you, from experience, that this is the way things are done on Programmers.SE and TWP.SE. On these sites, moderators very seldom cast a unilateral close vote; but when they feel that they must, and they feel that the question has any redeeming qualities, they leave a helpful comment to the OP, so that they can edit the question and get it reopened.

Christianity.SE may be a but different, but it's about Christianity! Shouldn't we try to restrain ourselves from robot-like, unilateral closures, and try to be helpful? Especially on questions where the OP clearly put effort into the question?

Answer 1

It wasn't me that unilaterally closed it, but I probably would have, had I seen it, and I may or may not have left a comment.

Typically I comment heavily, explaining why I'm voting to close, down-voting, etc. specifically to be helpful as you're suggesting we should. However, if the OP has been around a while, I'll comment less because I assume he or she has had ample opportunity to view all the meta posts, the help, and should understand the guidelines.

That question was too broad, and asked both "what does Christianity teach" and "should Christians do x", both of which are established as not a good fit. The OP of the question has been around long enough to know that.

There's typically not much point in repeatedly making the same suggestions, explaining the same guidelines over and over to someone who should know better but seems to be ignoring them. So, with more experienced members, I tend to comment less. That could be what happened here.

In general, however, yes, it is better to comment and provide helpful feedback.

Answer 2

The mods here don't close unilaterally very often either. Only when it is obvious (at least to experienced users). Caleb probably does it more often than others, but he is very consistent, meaning, there is no ambiguity in why he does what he does; he consistently upholds site policy.

Now, I already answered the other question you had and gave you specific advice for it. As far a commenting, yes, sometimes things slip by and the OP doesn't get the help he needs.

But you came to the right place. Meta. You have used SE before and you know the drill. If comments don't help you ask on Meta. A good deal of us are in chat often too. You will get the help you need if you seek out all three of these avenues.