<p>I've struggled with this on some of my questions. Seems like there are three choices:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Totally edit and rework the original question, perhaps keeping the original question text at the end of the newly reworked question.</p></li>
<li><p>Keep the original question, but edit it to say something like "Lesson learned, mistaken question, see the new question at <strong>_</strong>". Make a new question and link to it.</p></li>
<li><p>Delete the original question and make a new one.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>One question for those among us who know how things actually work around here: If a question is deleted, do people who got credit for answers or up-voting retain that credit? I don't think deleting the original is a good idea if those who participated lose credit for their efforts.</p>

<p>Now that I've thought about it for a while, I think the best answer is option #2. Create a new, better question, then edit the old question to put a cavaet at the top and a link to the new question. That preserves the "lesson learned" aspect so people can see how the question was mistaken and learn, it preserves the work of those who contributed to the thread, and it gives a clean break so the improved question can be more clear and valuable.</p>

<p>The old question remains for when you search, but won't be upvoted, etc. </p>
