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Well, I asked a question about several weeks ago. I accepted the answer, but I didn't upvote it, not because the accepted answer is not good, but I have already accepted it.

I'm not stingy to give him/her an upvote,but I am just curious whether it is an unspoken rule that I should give him/her an upvote if I accepted his/her answer?

Ps. I'm not angry with anybody. :-)

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  • related: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/14994/…
    – Servy
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 15:57
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    Well, the fact that you asked this question suggests you feel guilty ;-) Go on, do the right thing - it's the season of goodwill.
    – Roger Rowland
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 15:58
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    You can even accept and downvote.
    – Tim Seguine
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 16:30
  • @Tim Which I can imagine doing if a person posts a meta idea that is horribly unpopular and begrudgingly accept the community consensus
    – Richard Tingle
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 16:32
  • @RichardTingle I think an answer can be "the best" but not particularly useful. According to the description Up/down is for useful. Check is for best. An answer can be correct but completely useless.
    – Tim Seguine
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 16:38
  • @Tim Under usual circumstances I wouldn't accept an answer that was not useful, even if it was technically the best (or least-worst)
    – Richard Tingle
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 16:39
  • I usually just wait a while. After the question is dead, if nothing better has come a long I mark it as answered if it was correct, but I won't necessarily upvote.
    – Tim Seguine
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 16:40

3 Answers 3

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Both your votes and your accept are yours to do with as you see fit.

  • You can vote without accepting
  • You can accept without voting
  • Both accept and vote
  • Neither vote nor accept

It's entirely up to you.

But generally;

  • People accept the best answer that solved the problem
  • Vote up a useful answer

Is the best answer useful? Probably, but only you can decide.

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  • I'd reckon that while an answer can be of use without actually solving the problem, if it does solve your problem it's pretty darn useful.
    – Leeor
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 16:27
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    @Leeor I can't really imagine a circumstance where that wouldn't be true, although meta could well be a place where you might begrudgingly accept something. An alternative might be accepting an answer that is bare minimum and not wanting to give it additional reward
    – Richard Tingle
    Commented Dec 20, 2013 at 16:29
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While your vote is yours to do with as you please, if it was a good answer it should be upvoted. If it was the answer that helped you then it should be accepted.

One problem on the site is that new users can accept, but not upvote, so you do see quite a bit of one without the other.

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Accepting and upvoting are 2 different actions, but certain things are often expected: you should accept the best answer (that solved your issue) and upvote useful/helpful answers. Usually accepting an answer also means you found it useful, so people tend to expect an upvote with accept, but at the end of the day it is your choice.

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