There won’t always be a clear demarcation between on-topic and off-topic questions, but I can give you a few thoughts that come into my mind after I read those two questions.
Context. The phases “Could you please help me?” and “Could you help me please?” are both standalone questions that can be evaluated on their own, whereas “for all times” and “for all ages” are incomplete thoughts that might require more context for a more definitive answer.
General Usefulness. “Could you please help me?” is something that a learner might ask on the street, whereas it’s not so obvious how “for all ages” would be all that useful to the general learner.
Evolving Community Standards. You won’t always get a clear picture when you try to compare a question you asked yesterday with a question that was asked five years ago. Each Stack Exchange evolves, and, as they mature, they sometimes start trying to uphold higher standards to stem the tide of mediocre questions.
If you haven’t read through it already, I recommend that you read through our Details, Please meta post (both the question itself, and the answers beneath it). That post contains several tips and pointers for asking questions in ways that are more likely to be better received by our community.
I think the question that was put on hold can still be a candidate for reopening if you follow that guidance – provide some more background about why you are asking the question, along with some additional examples for more context.
Lastly, if you frame your question with a mindset of providing minimal information in order to get maximum gain, your questions aren’t likely to be well-received. However, if you try to frame your questions so that they will be of more relevance and interest to the general learning community, such efforts are generally appreciated and the questions are usually more enthusiastically welcomed.
