Timeline for Is it forbidden to use "Other" flag for link-only answers?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 30, 2012 at 7:55 | comment | added | gnat | let us continue this discussion in chat | |
| Oct 30, 2012 at 6:56 | comment | added | yannis | @gnat Yes, mods are free to decline any flag at will. There's general guidance on erring on the side of dismissing as helpful, but at the end of the day the decision of how to handle a flag is completely up to the moderator handling it. Also my point on editing was general, you know I'm well aware that you edit all the things ;) | |
| Oct 30, 2012 at 6:51 | comment | added | gnat | @YannisRizos this sounds like mods are free to decline both not an answer and other flags for link only answers at their will, do I understand correctly? As for editing, I often do that (1, 2, 3, 4...) - but only when I understand the topic well, which was not the case here. | |
| Oct 30, 2012 at 6:50 | comment | added | yannis | @gnat The definitive discussion on link only answers is: Are answers that just contain links elsewhere really “good answers”? | |
| Oct 30, 2012 at 6:42 | comment | added | yannis | @gnat Also keep in mind that flags are just a communication mechanism, there isn't a right or wrong here, it's more a matter of helpful vs not helpful communication. The mod who handled your flag pointed you at a more effective way of flagging, I'd say that counts as helpful communication. | |
| Oct 30, 2012 at 6:38 | comment | added | yannis | @gnat Nothing changed, I wrote they are generally considered "not an answer", there might be exceptions. Also, what you linked to is not really the opposite position, commenting and trying to fix a post before flagging it is preferable always. If you don't feel like commenting, or in any case can't fix the post, feel free to flag. | |
| Oct 30, 2012 at 6:34 | comment | added | gnat | @YannisRizos 'Link only answers are generally considered "not an answer"...' - in the past, I've seen some mods taking rather opposite position (1, 2), did that change recently? | |
| Oct 30, 2012 at 6:26 | history | edited | yannis | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Oct 30, 2012 at 6:22 | comment | added | yannis | @gnat Link only answers are generally considered "not an answer", but sometimes they can be salvaged with a simple edit, if, for example, you quote the link in the answer provide context (in which case editing would be preferable to flagging). | |
| Oct 30, 2012 at 6:20 | comment | added | gnat | @YannisRizos I see. Does this apply to this particular answer or to any link-only answer in general? | |
| Oct 30, 2012 at 6:19 | comment | added | yannis | @gnat Yes, and the same goes for the mod who declined your flag, (s)he's advising you to use the "not an answer" flag after all... | |
| Oct 30, 2012 at 6:17 | comment | added | gnat | per my reading you consider link-only answers a (a subset of) not-an-answer kind, is that correct? | |
| Oct 30, 2012 at 6:16 | comment | added | yannis | @Bart There are various ways to communicate these matters (public chat, private chat, mod message, suspension), but declining the flag is the faster and more convenient. On Programmers I'd probably go for chat, but SO mods don't have as much time as I have... | |
| Oct 30, 2012 at 6:13 | comment | added | Bart | And I guess declining is the only way to send an actual message, right? | |
| Oct 30, 2012 at 6:10 | history | answered | yannis | CC BY-SA 3.0 |