First, just because somebody puzzled out enough of what you were asking to give a correct answer doesn't mean it's clear to a general audience. One person gave you a good answer; five people voted to close it.

Second, I suspect (though I can't speak for the voters) that the clarity problem lies in presentation rather than content: your question is buried at the end of your third full paragraph out of more than ten, with nothing to direct attention to it. Not even a question mark. Only a very attentive reader (like SevenSidedDie has worked hard to become) would easily figure out what you're asking for. A simple re-working of the format to emphasise your actual dilemma would probably go a long way toward making the question more clear. I like to re-state my question in bold at the end of my own questions, and always make sure the title's on point.

Second-and-a-half, five votes for any kind of close reason will get a question closed, but it'll only show the close reason that the majority voted for. Two out of those three might have had a different reason to close it, and if so I hope they chime in on this meta.

Lastly, no, questions are not deleted unless they're egregiously inappropriate. "On hold" or "Closed" just keeps people from answering it until whatever issue has been cleared up--then people will vote to re-open it.

First, just because somebody puzzled out enough of what you were asking to give a correct answer doesn't mean it's clear to a general audience. One person gave you a good answer; five people voted to close it.

Second, I suspect (though I can't speak for the voters) that the clarity problem lies in presentation rather than content: your question is buried at the end of your third full paragraph out of more than ten, with nothing to direct attention to it. Not even a question mark. Only a very attentive reader (like SevenSidedDie has worked hard to become) would easily figure out what you're asking for. A simple re-working of the format to emphasise your actual dilemma would probably go a long way toward making the question more clear. I like to re-state my question in bold at the end of my own questions, and always make sure the title's on point.

Second-and-a-half, five votes for any kind of close reason will get a question closed, but it'll only show the close reason that the majority voted for. Two out of those three might have had a different reason to close it, and if so I hope they chime in on this meta.

Lastly, no, questions are not deleted unless they're egregiously inappropriate. "On hold" or "Closed" just keeps people from answering it until whatever issue has been cleared up--then people will vote to re-open it. A question that stays closed is only deleted if it gets a lot of negative votes and no positive feedback at all or has something seriously wrong like being abusive, or is just spam.

First, just because somebody puzzled out enough of what you were asking to give a correct answer doesn't mean it's clear to a general audience. One person gave you a good answer; five people voted to close it.

Second, I suspect (though I can't speak for the voters) that the clarity problem lies in your question being buried at the end of your third full paragraph out of more than ten, with nothing to direct attention to it. Only a very attentive reader (like SevenSidedDie has worked hard to become) would easily figure out what you're asking for. A simple re-working of the format to emphasise your actual dilemma would probably go a long way toward making the question more clear.

Second-and-a-half, five votes for any kind of close reason will get a question closed, but it'll only show the close reason that the majority voted for. Two out of those three might have had a different reason to close it, and if so I hope they chime in on this meta.

Lastly, no, questions are not deleted unless they're egregiously inappropriate. "On hold" or "Closed" just keeps people from answering it until whatever issue has been cleared up--then people will vote to re-open it.

First, just because somebody puzzled out enough of what you were asking to give a correct answer doesn't mean it's clear to a general audience. One person gave you a good answer; five people voted to close it.

Second, I suspect (though I can't speak for the voters) that the clarity problem lies in presentation rather than content: your question is buried at the end of your third full paragraph out of more than ten, with nothing to direct attention to it. Not even a question mark. Only a very attentive reader (like SevenSidedDie has worked hard to become) would easily figure out what you're asking for. A simple re-working of the format to emphasise your actual dilemma would probably go a long way toward making the question more clear. I like to re-state my question in bold at the end of my own questions, and always make sure the title's on point.

Second-and-a-half, five votes for any kind of close reason will get a question closed, but it'll only show the close reason that the majority voted for. Two out of those three might have had a different reason to close it, and if so I hope they chime in on this meta.

Lastly, no, questions are not deleted unless they're egregiously inappropriate. "On hold" or "Closed" just keeps people from answering it until whatever issue has been cleared up--then people will vote to re-open it.