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So, sometimes, I see questions that are posted in the sandbox, but have been posted in main by another user. For example, this question yielded 242 rep to a user who did not originally post it in the sandbox (though it is worth mentioning that it was unintended).

In situations where this happens, should we do anything? Is there anything we can actually do?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Although there is no way to tell if the poster actually knew about the sandboxed question, if possible we should modify the ask question page. Also, always leave a comment. PS, sorry about that question. \$\endgroup\$
    – GamrCorps
    Feb 1, 2016 at 2:43
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    \$\begingroup\$ "(though it is worth mentioning that it was unintended)" Don't worry about it. ;) I'm not salty, it just brings up an important point. \$\endgroup\$
    – Addison Crump
    Feb 1, 2016 at 2:45

3 Answers 3

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I don't believe there is anything to do in this situation. While people are strongly recommended to search for duplicates before posting, I don't think that should extend to the sandbox. Adding yet another obligation to our current "pre-posting checklist" is not a good idea.

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Create a close-vote option

It is very hard to figure out online if a question has been plagiarised for rep, or whether it is totally unintentional. Though we would like to trust some old users on the site, I can't think of any easy way to differentiate them from the new users, that would not be discriminative.

Hence I suggest we have a new close-vote type, where we can close a question because a dup exists in the Sandbox. However, if the OP of the sandbox Q permits, the main Q can be reopened.

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Let it be. When the sandboxed question is ready for main, if it is a better quality question, then the first question can be closed as a dupe of it when it gets posted to main, if appropriate. Otherwise, the author of the sandboxed question will just have to move on.

We should also use the opportunity to educate the user about the Sandbox.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I like this answer. The only problem would be that this might generate redundant reputation for users that posted the same answers on the old question. \$\endgroup\$
    – GamrCorps
    Feb 1, 2016 at 3:46
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    \$\begingroup\$ @GamrCorps That's a concern whenever we close old questions as dupes of new ones. However, it's not nearly as important as making sure that our (open) questions are as high quality as possible. \$\endgroup\$
    – user45941
    Feb 1, 2016 at 3:47
  • \$\begingroup\$ yopu make a good point \$\endgroup\$
    – GamrCorps
    Feb 1, 2016 at 3:48
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    \$\begingroup\$ IMO closing older questions as dupes of newer ones is something that should only be done on a case-by-case basis (and ideally each case should first be discussed in meta), not as part of a general policy. \$\endgroup\$
    – Peter Taylor
    Feb 1, 2016 at 10:02
  • \$\begingroup\$ @PeterTaylor I agree, hence why I said it can be done, rather than it should be done. \$\endgroup\$
    – user45941
    Feb 1, 2016 at 16:17

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