27
votes
Are link-only answers fine if they link to Super User questions?
Link-only answers are never fine.
If you need to link to a SuperUser question or answer in order to answer a question, vote or flag to close the question as a duplicate of that question.
If linking ...
23
votes
Accepted
Why does the Community user mark questions as duplicates?
When a "duplicate" close vote or flag is cast, a box appears above the question visible to the question's owner. It prompts the author to either edit the question to clarify its non-duplicateness or ...
15
votes
Accepted
What to do with same answers to different questions by the same user?
If the questions are duplicates, one should be closed as such. In that case, it should be explained to the user that we prefer information to be centralized, so they should flag instead of posting the ...
15
votes
Accepted
How to Report Cyclic Flagging?
Someone went and edited the duplicate close banner, which normally shouldn't be able to happen. The problem in this case is that the question was closed before the current system was put in place and ...

MokubaiMod
- 83.9k
14
votes
Accepted
Should we be copying other Stack Exchange sites Q&As so we can create "canonical" Q&As here?
There's nothing legally wrong with copying an answer wholesale, provided there's clear attribution. Content creators agreed to those guidelines when they posted on a Stack Exchange site. That said, I'...
13
votes
Accepted
Duplicate question, but different?
Post it as new question?
This is the correct action to take, as it will give your problem the visibility it needs in order to get an answer.
You should ask a new question, referencing the old one if ...

DavidPostillMod
- 143k
12
votes
A better way to find duplicates?
List of Canonical Questions/Answers that can be used as Duplicate Targets
How can I remove malicious spyware, malware, adware, viruses, trojans or rootkits from my PC??
How do I recover lost/...

DavidPostillMod
- 143k
11
votes
Closed question information blurb seems -- wrong/confusing?
It seems as though some users on Stack Exchange are a bit trigger-happy
when it comes to closing questions.
Somebody asks "How do I do X on Windows 10?", and it gets closed
as a duplicate of "How do ...
11
votes
Are link-only answers fine if they link to Super User questions?
If you don't have a lot of time but want to be helpful:
Comment on the question, leaving a link to the older question
Otherwise, I'd go for:
Quote that answer (or reword it, possibly making it ...
9
votes
Accepted
Are you allowed to ask follow-up questions or duplicate questions if there were no satisfactory answers?
No. If its your own question, a bounty is the right way, assuming you have the reputation. If you want to add more helpful, relevant details, go ahead (Thats to say, don't edit to bump. Edit to ...
8
votes
Accepted
Closing a question as a duplicate (followup)
What would be the best approach here (1 or 2)?
What if I disagree with the closure of a question? How can I reopen it?
Stack Exchange is collaboratively built, maintained, and moderated by
...

DavidPostillMod
- 143k
8
votes
Same answer from different users on different questions
As far as I know, excerpts of already posted answers are ok as long as they respect original authorship, e.g. including a link to the original answer.
If the newer answers are blatant copies (which ...
7
votes
Closed question information blurb seems -- wrong/confusing?
Short Answer
The blurb is basically good advice but the wording could be improved.
This isn't what bounties are for.
Don't be overly concerned about the dupe, yet. Think of it more in terms of "...
6
votes
Accepted
Incorrect duplicate
Most questions closed as duplicates are...duplicates
Why are questions able to be marked as duplicate without some more in depth review?
To be closed as 'duplicate' a question must be reviewed by no ...
5
votes
Should we be copying other Stack Exchange sites Q&As so we can create "canonical" Q&As here?
The various aspects of the question are well laid out and I completely agree with Ben N's answer. What I want to focus on is the relative "gravity" of the issues.
One set of issues relates to scope ...
4
votes
Should we be copying other Stack Exchange sites Q&As so we can create "canonical" Q&As here?
I feel the right way to do something that might be to the 'letter' but not the spirit of the rules would have been to ask on meta first. This is one of those cases.
It sets a bad precedent both for ...
4
votes
Accepted
Can questions be duplicate if the duplicate is on non Stack Exchange site?
Not just on the same network. We only mark questions as duplicates if they are on the same site, e.g. a question can exist on both SU and SO wihtout being marked as duplicates. See: What to do with ...
3
votes
Accepted
Is a duplicate question closed?
Duplicate questions are essentially closed in the same way as any of the other close reasons. They simply have an extra header listing the duplicates.
You'll notice that questions that are closed as ...

MokubaiMod
- 83.9k
3
votes
Accepted
Duplicate that isn't a duplicate
None of the answers to the proposed question correctly answer mine
Please see the instructions in the help article Why are some questions marked as duplicate?:
If you see a question and do not ...

DavidPostillMod
- 143k
3
votes
which question is the duplicate?
I did some quick research and found some precedent:
example precedent #1 says "Yes, it is perfectly acceptable to mark an older post as a duplicate of a newer one. The duplicate banner is a road sign ...
3
votes
Accepted
How to explain this is not duplicate question?
If you believe that your question is not a duplicate then the first thing to do is to edit it in order to clarify what makes it distinct from the duplicate question. Basically you should be telling ...

MokubaiMod
- 83.9k
3
votes
Closed question information blurb seems -- wrong/confusing?
Rephrase the close reason to invite the user to provide information demonstrating why their question is not a duplicate, rather than confusingly suggesting that the best course of action is to create ...
2
votes
Should we be copying other Stack Exchange sites Q&As so we can create "canonical" Q&As here?
I fully agree that closing questions as duplicate from other site of stackexchange would be an easy solution.
Now let's discuss the situation in general when the question is a good quality one, it's ...
2
votes
"Adding folders" marked as a duplicate of "Adding item" to Explorer sidebar
The question has been re-opened.
2
votes
Accepted
I have flagged a question as a duplicate. The flag was marked as "helpful". But the question still hasn't closed
The question you flagged is still in the closure review queue: https://superuser.com/review/close/1062030
As someone thought that the flag had merit in being a duplicate it may be that the closure ...

MokubaiMod
- 83.9k
1
vote
Duplicate post has been deleted
That's deliberate. Links that are added in to point to canonical questions do not automatically get removed if they themselves are deleted.
If it was not closed as a duplicate it would have been ...
randomMod
- 14.3k
1
vote
Is there a way to 'un-duplicate'?
As others have noted in comments, the way to prevent your question from being marked as duplicate is to look at the possible duplicate answers, and then clearly note how their answers to not meet your ...
1
vote
Accepted
Chrome 'backspace key navigation re-enable' question dupe closure should probably be the other way around
Question How can I re-enable backspace navigation in Chrome? has been reopened and the newer question has been marked as duplicate and merged into the older one since the older question has higher ...
1
vote
community-faq is a useless meta tag primarily serving the older users
Canonical Q&A
It doesn't make sense to not have a collection of canonical Q&A that is easy to find, and easy to find the specific question within. It would be great if newcomers to the site ...
1
vote
Accepted
Question marked as duplicate
Only one person has flagged it as Duplicate, but the person doesn't have vote to close privileges. the question will remain open till 5 people with close vote privileges will vote to close.
...
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
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