Questions tagged [answers]
Anything related to posting answers, e.g. about improving their content, voting on answers, editing others' answers, etc.
32 questions
82
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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 ...
- 26.5k
19
votes
3
answers
456
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 ...
- 57.7k
21
votes
5
answers
1k
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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 ...
- 8,553
18
votes
4
answers
473
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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 ...
user201262
16
votes
4
answers
592
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, ...
- 62.3k
16
votes
9
answers
780
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 ...
- 20.8k
13
votes
6
answers
757
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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 ...
- 17.5k
7
votes
2
answers
162
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Retagging questions with the answer
This is a bit related to this topic on MSO.
In a recently suggested and approved edit a tag was added to the topic, but it only became applicable through the answer. The user didn't know the tag was ...
Daniel BeckMod
- 111k
6
votes
1
answer
181
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Target audience of answer on SU
You have to remember this site is called "superuser" not "idiotuser". You said "it's useful to have such a warning". I don't think it's useful to you at all. It's useful to somebody that perhaps doesn'...
- 24.5k
33
votes
7
answers
965
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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 ...
- 57.9k
26
votes
4
answers
520
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 BeckMod
- 111k
12
votes
4
answers
271
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 ...
- 3,428
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 (...
- 26.5k
7
votes
4
answers
570
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 ...
- 1,492
1
vote
1
answer
186
views
What's the policy on using the same answer to multiple questions about the same thing?
I just found a new method to do a certain thing ... And excitedly wrote/pasted it to all the questions for which this is an exact fit. Then I started worrying if it wasn't the right thing to do...
...
- 907
29
votes
6
answers
592
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 ...
- 1
18
votes
2
answers
438
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 ...
- 46.4k
16
votes
2
answers
1k
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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 ...
- 26.5k
14
votes
2
answers
303
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. ...
- 74.1k
14
votes
1
answer
320
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, ...
user33758
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 ...
- 62.1k
7
votes
1
answer
130
views
Advertisement answers and company references
What is the proper way to handle
Answers that specifically mention a company's products in a way that obviously is more an advertisement than a real answer
Answers that refer to a (company's) weblog ...
Daniel BeckMod
- 111k
7
votes
3
answers
106
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Should "Not an answer" include off topic answers? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When is an answer eligible to be flagged as “not an answer”? What to do?
This answer turned up flagged as not an answer. I'm not actually certain which way it goes ...
- 132k
6
votes
3
answers
173
views
Why do people post their answers as comments?
Often while browsing Super User, I notice that people post their answers to questions as comments on that question. Why wouldn't they post their answers as answers, so that they can be accepted? I ...
- 2,788
5
votes
1
answer
88
views
How do we handle duplicate answers?
I flagged a post for deletion that was (IMO) low quality being that it was more of a comment/question for more information than an answer. I had also posted onto the same question a duplicate answer ...
- 26.5k
5
votes
3
answers
292
views
Is it OK to downvote link only or link/copy/paste answers? [duplicate]
This is related to this question from Diago last year. I have seen a lot of answers with either a link only, or a link with a short description copy/pasted from the developer's website.
Personally ...
- 8,356
4
votes
1
answer
69
views
What's the good way to answer "What is the analog of software X for operating system Y?"
I gave an answer today, being just a software recommendation, to a question, asking for a recommendation.
If you cannot see deleted answers, there was the software name, a link to homepage and ...
- 177
3
votes
2
answers
84
views
Should duplicate answers be posted, just to include screen shots?
I stumbled upon this question which has an answer posted (and edited) months ago. Just today, a new answer was posted with the exact same steps as the old answer, but including screen shots of the ...
- 2,319
2
votes
0
answers
64
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How to post trivial answers when that is all that is required?
Often a problem can be solved with a trivial answer, which can be stretched to make one complete sentence. These kinds of answers are often done as a comment because they don't seem worthy of "answer"...
- 27.8k
1
vote
3
answers
98
views
Should every answer involving registry edits contain a warning to back up the registry?
I encountered this comment while browsing questions on Super User:
"Remember to always be careful with the registry!": Such a notice should be added, because newbies can mess up! Also, instructions ...
- 46.4k
1
vote
1
answer
62
views
Misleading wrong answer in a popular question
There is a popular question about inputting Unicode characters:
How do you type Unicode characters using hexadecimal codes?
And an accepted answer:
https://superuser.com/a/90669/456981
The problem ...
- 1,011
1
vote
2
answers
121
views
Should duplicate answers posted within a short time frame be flagged?
Lets say there are two answers with the same content on the same question. Should the second one get flagged? This has happened to me, and I sent a flag. Want to know if it was the right thing to do.
...
- 24.5k