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Possible Duplicate:
Are answers that just contain links elsewhere really “good answers”?

As the moderator who converted my answer to a comment will not respond, I would like some clarification from the community.

In the question Using abstract view model in MVC 3, I posted an answer referencing an answer I gave the previous day to a question raising a related issue, Model inheritance possible when using strongly-typed view in MVC3?

Andrew Barber A moderator converted the answer to a comment, and did not respond when I asked him to reconsider based on the FAQs. The FAQs state as follows: Answers that do not fundamentally answer the question may be removed.

Since the answer linked to extensive code which fundamentally answered the OP's question, I do not see that this was a correct action by the moderator. Since the moderator did not respond, I need clarification.

EPILOGUE

I asked the community for guidance, and instead this became a classic example of bullying.

As for the accusation that I intended to shame Andrew, that was never my intent. I obviously was wrong about Andrew's actions, and I apologize for that. I sent him a comment in the same question regarding his comment (addressed to @Andrew Barber), and I received no response. Ignorance is no defense, but neither should it be a hanging offense.

The answers provided to my question were excellent statements of the general case, but it does not appear that anyone clicked on the links to examine both questions I cited.

This is an edge case where (even though the same solution was applicable) the questions were not duplicates. In fact, the user who asked the Using abstract view model question acknowledged that the answer from the earlier question worked for him, but the user found another solution that worked better in his use case.

I am disappointed that everyone reflexively downvoted, instead of examining the questions, and discussing the case where two non-duplicate questions can have have the same solution, and whether the FAQ adequately covers such a case.

Whoever downvotes my reputation below zero, please be sure to turn off the lights.

Goodbye.

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  • 5
    FYI: Andrew Barber did not convert your post, a moderator did. However, he may have flagged it for moderator review - but in any case is powerless to do anything about it now, and was most likely not notified of your comment because he was not eligible for inbox notices under those circumstances.
    – user159834
    Commented Dec 2, 2011 at 0:34
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    +1 For what the title says, -2 for what the post body says. I have encountered the answer chase many times, it's annoying. I've gone in circles on more than one occasion, clicking links to other answers that are links to other answers.
    – user159834
    Commented Dec 2, 2011 at 0:38
  • Related: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/72000/…
    – Jason Plank
    Commented Dec 2, 2011 at 0:39
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    As @Madmartigan noted, I did not (can not) convert the answer to a comment. I did flag it as 'not an answer' and commented to that effect, though.
    – Andrew Barber
    Commented Dec 2, 2011 at 1:27
  • 2
    I think you should read the answer I provided for this question.
    – user1228
    Commented Dec 2, 2011 at 14:25
  • 3
    Downvotes are not a hostile act, especially on Meta. Get on with your life. They don't matter. Please remove your silly "epilogue", it isn't helping anything and makes you look somewhat laughable.
    – user229044
    Commented Dec 2, 2011 at 18:16
  • Downvotes generally are not a hostile act, but read the comments of Madmartigan the editor and tell me there was no hostile intent. It sounds as if you are peeing on my leg and trying to convince me it is not raining. I am getting on with my life, away from SE.
    – counsellorben
    Commented Dec 3, 2011 at 19:50
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    I didn't down vote before. Your "epilogue" made me do so, though.
    – Andrew Barber
    Commented Dec 4, 2011 at 13:35
  • I just happened to see this post again. I'm sorry you thought I was "hostile", but I'm actually wondering why you took either of my 2 comments that way. I don't see any "bullying" either, unless you mean disagreement (i.e. downvotes). If that's the case then, well - welcome to meta, where people express their opinion by voting. Don't take it personally.
    – user159834
    Commented Dec 14, 2011 at 6:01

2 Answers 2

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Yes, it should be a comment.

If your answer is solely to point to another answer, whether yours or someone else's, that should be a comment and, for that matter, possibly a vote to close the current question as a duplicate of the previous.

If your answer is to include a link to another answer as an addendum to other information you are providing, then that is acceptable.

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Generally, answers that contain few words and a link are not considered answers; they just say "see here," but they don't provide an answer, which means the answer is not in the same page of the question. The reason not to accept such answers is that link rot happens, and in the case of questions present in the same SE site, they could be deleted (or the answer you are linking could be deleted), which means you are pointing the user to an answer that only 10k users can read.

If then two different questions can be answered using exactly the same answer, then probably one question is duplicating the other one; in such case, one question should be voted to be closed as duplicate.

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