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I just wanted to flag https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/126842/wi-fi-network-created-but-not-shown-on-other-devices as being off-topic for not running on Apple hardware.

But there's no option for it.

However, the other question of this user has been put on-hold for this off-topic reason.

Why is it a reason, but can't I flag for it?

enter image description here

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  • Hmm, I have four options in this dialog (including a generic "off topic" option), but see meta.apple.stackexchange.com/questions/1753/… for another way to handle these questions.
    – nohillside Mod
    Commented Apr 8, 2014 at 8:18
  • True, but I still see 3 of them. Is that based on reputation points? I know about the "Flag for moderator attention", but I tried to specify the reason with the bullets.
    – Rob
    Commented Apr 8, 2014 at 8:21
  • I ran into this issue with the "help me find a new Sony TV" question yesterday. If you select "This question belongs on another site" mine just has meta.apple.stackexchange.com as an option, which didn't seem to be right.
    – dwightk
    Commented Apr 8, 2014 at 13:59
  • 1
    I've tagged this support - I actually don't see a way you can select the default close reason which is what fits that post most directly. I'll answer how you could vote to close for users that get close votes instead of just being able to flag as closed.
    – bmike Mod
    Commented Apr 8, 2014 at 14:30
  • 1
    @dwightk This is right — the list of sites available for migration does not change on reputation and Ask Different only has its meta available for migration (except ♦ moderators can migrate anywhere).
    – grg Mod
    Commented Apr 8, 2014 at 15:15

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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We removed the "Other" option for users who don't yet have the cast close votes privilege. Trusting folks who haven't yet gained the system's trust to even know what's on- and off-topic, much less write helpful comments to this end, is pretty risky.

Removing the option to flag blatantly off-topic stuff isn't great either though. I tend to think the best option here would be to just add an "other" option without offering the chance to enter a comment.

Until we get around to doing that, you can back out to the main flag dialog and choose "other (needs ♦ moderator attention)" and just explain the problem there.

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Here is how I would expect a user to handle that question:

  1. Select the close reason (it's better to just close than flag if you have that option)
  2.   Closing
  3. Select either unclear (it could after all still be about Apple hardware or software and need an edit to clarify the link) or off-topic using the default close reason about scope as documented in the [help].
  4.   Flagging > Closing
  5. Close for other:
  6.   Flagging > Closing > Off-Topic

I'll ping the SE employees to ask if the last picture above can get coded to include the custom close reason text with a radio button to indicate simply that This question does not appear to be about Apple hardware or software within the scope defined in the help center.

As things are coded, you might need to choose "Other" and copy/paste or re-type the default close reason. Here's something you can copy below:

This question does not appear to be about Apple hardware or software within the scope defined in the [help center](https://apple.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic).

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  • Why do you see "Other" and I don't? I doubt you will flag at all... AND as stated by dwightk, other SE only shows AD Meta....
    – Rob
    Commented Apr 8, 2014 at 14:50
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    @Rob This is the difficulty of us debugging the code. I see different options as an elected diamond mod. Trusted users at 10k see more options than a 2k user which both in turn see more than an unregistered or low rep user. I have reached out to the community management team (SE employees) to assist us with determining if this is a code issue, a documentation issue or a bug that can be fixed on the configuration end.
    – bmike Mod
    Commented Apr 8, 2014 at 14:53
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    @Rob Custom close reasons are only shown if you vote to close. As you have less than 3k reputation, you are not able to vote to close and instead are flagging to close. Whilst this puts it in the queue, it doesn't vote for the closure and consequently you can't add a custom reason since it would serve no purpose anyway.
    – grg Mod
    Commented Apr 8, 2014 at 15:17

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