Questions tagged [answers]

Anything related to posting answers, e.g. about improving their content, voting on answers, editing others' answers, etc.

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82 votes
4 answers
24k views

How do I recommend software in my answers?

I have a piece of software that I would like to recommend as a solution to problems. I'm trying to avoid answering with "link only" answers, and so I need help on how I can answer valid ...
James Mertz's user avatar
  • 26.3k
33 votes
7 answers
929 views

Is "It's impossible" a valid answer, or is it a comment?

Sometimes you can see a question like How to do <something> in <some program>, asking for advice how to replicate a feature of competitive program or how to do something that OP expects to ...
gronostaj's user avatar
  • 57k
32 votes
2 answers
569 views

Old questions - system discourages answering them?

I've been a member on other SE sites for a while now, but only recently joined SU. I found a few things a bit different here, and there are a couple of things I think could use some discussion. 1. ...
Adrien's user avatar
  • 1,265
29 votes
6 answers
571 views

Old posts and answers need protection?

As member of SU for more than 5 years, I have quite a number of old answers lying around. Some of them are so old and outdated that today they are just ridiculous, such as recommending the ...
harrymc's user avatar
  • 479k
26 votes
4 answers
517 views

Recommending own products

What's our stance on relevant product recommendations? The paragraph in the FAQ is clearly not enough in this case. As a recent example, a developer of an Outlook plug-in/addon started answering ...
Daniel Beck's user avatar
  • 110k
26 votes
2 answers
297 views

Should answers suggesting a tool that is no longer available be flagged?

While reviewing a different answer to the same question, I noticed this answer: The answerer is providing a solution using a software they wrote themselves, but the link to that software has gone ...
Worthwelle's user avatar
  • 4,648
22 votes
1 answer
482 views

Two long answers disagreeing with each other - how to canonicalize?

Someone posted a new answer to a rather old question of mine, Disadvantages of partitioning an SSD?. The answer I accepted has 13 upvotes at this time, and I have accepted the information therein as ...
MarioDS's user avatar
  • 1,582
21 votes
5 answers
835 views

User tries to do something forbidden by license. Is explaining why it's illegal an answer?

Specifically, I'm speaking about this question: Windows 10 License in UEFI. Long story short, OP currently uses Windows with a license provided by his university through DreamSpark. He's going to move ...
gronostaj's user avatar
  • 57k
21 votes
5 answers
1k views

Are purely non-technical answers to technical problems on-topic?

I edited this question yesterday as part of a cleanup spree. It had already gotten a fair bit of activity, but someone tweeted a link to it after I edited it, and things really took off. The topic of ...
Pops's user avatar
  • 8,473
20 votes
2 answers
263 views

Question in close queue is marked as duplicate, but the duplicate is terrible!

Recently I was looking through the close votes review queue when I came across this question, and it was flagged as a duplicate of this question. These two questions really are exact duplicates of ...
Wes Sayeed's user avatar
  • 13.8k
19 votes
3 answers
454 views

When is an answer eligible to be flagged as "not an answer"? What to do?

When I am flagging answers I read This was posted as an answer, but it does not answer the question. It should possibly be an edit, a comment, another question, or deleted altogether. This is very ...
Tamara Wijsman's user avatar
19 votes
4 answers
463 views

Is it rude to answer a question that has been solved in comments?

In this question Make system sounds louder than device A couple different people helped the OP discover the solution to his problem in comments. In cases like this, is it best to just suggest to ...
user avatar
18 votes
1 answer
276 views

Promotional text in answer

On this answer, there is a text and link that seems like promoting a service from the user. The answer itself seems good. It does not disclose its affiliation, though, although can be inferred from ...
Vylix's user avatar
  • 1,746
18 votes
2 answers
432 views

What should we do with answers that are low quality but otherwise legitimate attempts to answer the question?

In my extensive time on the review queues and 10k tools, there's one thing that's always been bothering me: low-quality answers that consist of no more than a few sentences and often a link to ...
bwDraco's user avatar
  • 46.1k
18 votes
4 answers
306 views

Show your Excel results

I see a lot of Excel questions, but also ones involving command lines, batch files, and other similar scripts, that entail some mental challenge. I'm not referring to ones where a novice needs some ...
fixer1234's user avatar
  • 27.5k
17 votes
2 answers
905 views

Bad answer repeat offender

There is a certain user I've seen answering some questions on SU that are... well, just bad. Most of his answers consist of a few more questions to the poster (that should be in the comments) and then ...
Qix - MONICA WAS MISTREATED's user avatar
17 votes
2 answers
383 views

Can someone write another answer for our canonical malware question?

Our canonical malware question is a gem. At the time it was written, though, the various malware that encrypts your files weren't even a thing. We periodically get questions on how to recover from ...
fixer1234's user avatar
  • 27.5k
17 votes
0 answers
358 views

Let's do something about all the old link-only answers

We do a pretty good job removing or repairing link-only answers nowadays, but there are boatloads of old link-only answers sitting ignored or at a slight negative score, written largely by users that ...
Ben N's user avatar
  • 40.9k
16 votes
2 answers
302 views

Are link-only answers fine if they link to Super User questions?

Let's say someone asks a question: How do I upgrade a widget for defrobulator?. There are many possible answers, each one correct and the question isn't too broad. (And defrobulator in this case is a ...
gronostaj's user avatar
  • 57k
16 votes
9 answers
757 views

Is downvoting link only answers acceptable?

Related: Ban lmgtfy (le me google that for you) links Based on the Why is linking bad? question as well as Are answers that contain only links really good answers? question, is it acceptable ...
BinaryMisfit's user avatar
  • 20.7k
16 votes
2 answers
538 views

How to make people do their civic duty?

Voting is important, right? And yet less than 400 people have earned the civic duty badge. Out of how many thousand? Uncool!
Isaac Rabinovitch's user avatar
16 votes
4 answers
589 views

Is there a policy for or against providing executables and other self hosted downloads?

My specific case is on my answer here. Is there any policy (on SuperUser or StackExchange) in either direction concerning providing an executable I uploaded myself for others to download? Of course, ...
Bob's user avatar
  • 61.6k
16 votes
2 answers
291 views

Should we encourage SO and SF users to answer on SU?

I find the quality and quantity of answers on SO/SF to be substantially better than on SU. Troubleshooting questions on SU often get boxed answers from the first few Google hits. Same goes with How-...
user avatar
16 votes
2 answers
1k views

What do we do with low quality answers from high rep users?

Note: if I directly point you out, please don't take it personal I've noticed for some time now that while I've been cleaning up, that there are quite a few active, higher rep users, that are posting ...
James Mertz's user avatar
  • 26.3k
14 votes
1 answer
318 views

Old "link-only answers" by a former moderator

When I report answers (new or old) that point to a link instead of answering the question on Super User, they get deleted or edited to reflect our policies. However, I've tried to report this answer, ...
user avatar
14 votes
2 answers
300 views

Should you answer a question that you know will get closed?

There are questions on SU that are sure to be closed for a variety of reasons. Should you post an answer if you have one? I would think so its OK if you know it will get migrated to another SE site. ...
Keltari's user avatar
  • 73.2k
14 votes
1 answer
98 views

Is it ok to go back and "cleanup" questions and answers that I've asked/answered?

I've been looking though some of my questions and answers and realized that some of them are the highest quality that I want them to be at. Is it bad protocol to go back and cleanup questions and ...
James Mertz's user avatar
  • 26.3k
13 votes
6 answers
714 views

Why "Please only post one answer to a question"?

What should I do when I know multiple different ways of doing something asked in question? Should I add them as separate answers or as one comprehensive answer? I think they should be separated, but ...
Vi.'s user avatar
  • 17.2k
13 votes
1 answer
168 views

How do I deal with "not an answer" type .. answers ?

So, what should be the protocol for posts in answers sections which are not answers (you know - OMGWTFBBQ I HAVE THIS PROBLEM type posts) Flag for ♦ moderator attention ? Flag as offensive ? Flag ...
Sathyajith Bhat's user avatar
  • 61.8k
13 votes
1 answer
186 views

Are there optimal days/hours to post questions in order to get visibility and answers?

I know that maybe that's a a silly and weird question, if it's not appropriate please forgive me and feel free to close it. Given the large amount of questions that the site gets daily, it may happen ...
Sekhemty's user avatar
  • 9,396
12 votes
4 answers
267 views

What to do with answers to abandoned questions?

This problem has been discussed in several ways by now, but I did not find the problem I am facing with it. I often face the problem that I answer a question and the user who made the question just ...
Michael K's user avatar
  • 3,428
12 votes
2 answers
218 views

Undelete an answer on a closed post that was deleted before it was closed

My Question If you delete an answer on a question that is opened and then that question is closed, can you undelete that answer after the question is closed? The Story I noticed in some comments on ...
Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
297 views

Answer copied and filled up with spam

The content of one of my answers was copied and a new answer was created (with some spam added). This was then "corrected" by a user with a score over 2000. Since he was only shown the "...
Albin's user avatar
  • 10.5k
12 votes
2 answers
224 views

Link-only answer - but already self-explanatory

links to a zip containing drivers for Windows running in Bootcamp. I think the answer is pretty self-explanatory, but somehow I don't feel right to just leave them at is. I don't know what to comment ...
Vylix's user avatar
  • 1,746
12 votes
1 answer
97 views

My answer keeps getting suggested edits from spambots

I have been noticing a trend that my this answer, always gets edited by some spammer (may be a bot). It's only that answer and no other answer in any of the other SE network. Finding subdirectories ...
iammilind's user avatar
  • 332
12 votes
0 answers
135 views

Are answers duplicate if they use different aliases of the same command?

This answer came up in the First Posts queue. It uses the Windows rd command to accomplish the task in the question. The accepted answer (from 2010), however, uses rmdir with the same parameters. rd ...
Ben N's user avatar
  • 40.9k
11 votes
1 answer
107 views

Should we edit link only answers?

There's lots of them around, and most times I comment asking the OP to edit the answer and add more detail. However there are some cases where the OP isn't around, but the answer is still valid (...
James Mertz's user avatar
  • 26.3k
11 votes
1 answer
219 views

Can an answer be backed up only by personal experience?

https://superuser.com/a/1275976/456385 This answer is only backed up by the answerer personal experience, with no explanation provided. if it was my customer i would dismantle the screen on the ...
Vylix's user avatar
  • 1,746
11 votes
2 answers
273 views

Should I answer my own question? Was I wrong to post it?

Here's my question (oh boy, the meta effect is about to descend upon it): Suppress Google Chrome's "Your Connection is Not Private" for specific Address? Am I wrong to be asking the ...
ArtOfWarfare's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
259 views

What to do with questions that can't be solved.....except by re-install?

Taking a look at this question: Problems with sound and flash in Ubuntu 12 The OP asks a questions and then answers it with "Oh! Fixed it by re-installing linux!" I've noticed as I've browsed ...
James Mertz's user avatar
  • 26.3k
9 votes
2 answers
523 views

How should trusted users deal with non-answers?

Shortly after earning 20k reputation, I've encountered a couple of non-answers and – out of habit – flagged both posts as not an answer. Then, I've remembered my newly gained super powers,...
Dennis's user avatar
  • 49.7k
9 votes
1 answer
334 views

Has the possibility of having a "Vote to Answer" been discussed?

I've run across a number of different questions that may have entirely acceptable answers yet an answer is not selected either due to a user not returning to complete it, forgetting, or not thinking ...
Enigma's user avatar
  • 3,391
9 votes
2 answers
217 views

How should I handle ranting in answers?

I removed a rant from this answer. Is this the right thing to do or should I take some other action?
bwDraco's user avatar
  • 46.1k
9 votes
2 answers
853 views

What is the proper way to cite an answer from another StackExchange site?

What is the proper way to cite an answer from another StackExchange site? It is not uncommon to find an answer to a question for SuperUser on ServerFault or StackOverflow. But there doesnt seem to ...
Keltari's user avatar
  • 73.2k
9 votes
1 answer
284 views

Same answer from different users on different questions

There are almost duplicate questions, and not very surprisingly they have similar answers. But one answer is an exact copy, though posted from a different account. The newer version is slightly more ...
Tomáš Zato's user avatar
  • 4,474
9 votes
1 answer
140 views

What are some good, general guidelines to follow when answering questions?

I thought it might be wise to have us come up with a list of good, general guidelines to follow when posting answers to various questions. Obviously, everyone has their own opinion about how to go ...
Breakthrough's user avatar
  • 34.5k
8 votes
1 answer
180 views

What is the proper procedure for us laypeople to edit an answer?

How do I get rid of adware from Search Conduit/White Smoke? A few days ago, I had this question answered with the assistance of another user. His answer did not entirely solve my problem, however. ...
Michael Jordan's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
286 views

How should we handle joke or satirical answers?

I ran into this answer to the question "What lasts longer: Data stored on non-volatile flash RAM, optical media, or magnetic disk?": I vote for stone tablets. They survive thousands of ...
bwDraco's user avatar
  • 46.1k
7 votes
4 answers
562 views

Comments to a question that should be answers

Problem: A trend of questions being answered purely in the comment field of the question. There is no formal migration of this into the answer format to the question. As a result, questions that ...
Will's user avatar
  • 1,482
7 votes
1 answer
59 views

Posting question & answer, why must I wait two days to accept it?

When posting a question and an answer together (like explained here) why must I wait two days to accept the answer? If I have understood correctly, the Q&A-together format is meant to provide ...
Sekhemty's user avatar
  • 9,396