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I'm designing a question which needs some special Markdown commands, i.e. smaller images that link to larger images.

Although I prepare the question locally on my PC, it may take some time to finally get it correct, so I'm thinking of creating the question and immediately deleting it. I'd then fix the Markup and undelete when it is perfect. Depending on interruptions, this may take some days.

However, I am a bit uncertain, because:

  • I know moderators having scripts that would flag deleted questions (as described on SoftwareRecs)
  • I don't know whether deleted questions will really be deleted after some time.

How do you create stunning questions such as the Voronoi puzzle? How do you make sure the Markdown is right? Is my approach ok and deleting the question safe?

Assume I'd not like to use the Sandbox to have fair starting conditions for everyone.

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As far as I know, questions are never truly deleted unless they contain extreme vulgarity or spam. And I believe only SE employees can do these hard deletions.

You can view your deleted question for up to 60 days, but beyond that you may have to save a link. (More about deletions.)

However, for your problem, the better solution is to post your question markdown as an answer in the Sandbox, where you can edit it as much as you want and post it when ready. Your problem is exactly what the Sandbox is for, and they are "fair" starting conditions because everyone could have seen it in the Sandbox if they wanted to.

Note that instantly deleting a question and un-deleting it later will make it lower down on the new-questions list, which means it will probably get less traffic.

Also, did you know that a preview of the rendered markdown is shown just below the textarea when you're writing a post?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Even though the OP has edited to say they are avoiding the sandbox for this one, it could still be used for getting the images right, without giving away what the question will be. \$\endgroup\$
    – trichoplax is on Codidact now
    Jun 11, 2015 at 21:07
  • \$\begingroup\$ Sorry, I have excluded the Sandbox in a recent edit of the question. The preview is fine, but I need to upload large amounts of pictures and I don't want to do that every time. \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas Weller
    Jun 11, 2015 at 21:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ThomasWeller Another option is to use an exteral markdown editor, like stackedit. \$\endgroup\$
    – Calvin's Hobbies
    Jun 11, 2015 at 21:10
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    \$\begingroup\$ @ThomasWeller once you have uploaded the images once, copy and paste the links that are auto-generated at the bottom of the markdown, and you can reuse them elsewhere. Even if you discard the draft of your question you can still paste in the same links next time you draft it. \$\endgroup\$
    – trichoplax is on Codidact now
    Jun 11, 2015 at 21:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ @trichoplax: ok, I see. I'll try that. \$\endgroup\$
    – Thomas Weller
    Jun 11, 2015 at 21:12
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    \$\begingroup\$ This answer is correct—hard-deletion of posts is extremely rare (SE employees don't even bother to hard-delete blatant spam). \$\endgroup\$
    – Doorknob
    Jun 12, 2015 at 1:25

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