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I'd really like to keep my 100% accept rate. But one question I asked has a great suggestion in the comments, but the answer supplied misreads the question, as the author admits in the comments.

The way around this I can see is to use the useful comment to do the work myself to find an answer, then answer my own question, and then click to accept that as the answer.

Is that the correct way? What if I cannot usefully answer my own question. Does the presence of an incorrect answer doom me to a less-than-100% accept rate?

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  • "I'd really like to keep my 100% accept rate" - is this a goal for you beyond the fact that all your questions would then be answered to your satisfaction? If so, why?
    – AakashM
    May 25, 2012 at 10:04
  • Because the number appears prominently. If it was hidden away in the depths of my profile page I wouldn't care as much at all. But when I ask a question it is very prominently displayed to potential answerers, so inevitably it matters.
    – dumbledad
    May 25, 2012 at 10:12
  • Your question did have a mistake with a syntax error which later you have corrected after receiving the answer by the way. Asking correct question may help getting better answer I think.
    – Daniel Kim
    Jun 27, 2012 at 3:49

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Having an accept rate slightly less than 100% is not the end of the world. My accept rate on Meta is 88%. Jon Skeets accept rate is a miserable 95%. It's when your accept rate becomes low and red then people start paying attention to it and you should take action to increase it (asking more answerable questions or actually ticking the green box next to valid answers).

It's your responsibility as a question asker to get your question answered; whether you do that by pestering the author of the wrong answer to update it, offering bounties to get more attention for the question, or adding an answer yourself is up to you.

I applaud you for doing this by-the-book though, and not just accepting the wrong answer to keep your 100% accept rate.

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  • Thanks Matt, that's a useful answer. It is difficult not to obsess about one's accept rate when it appears so prominently.
    – dumbledad
    May 25, 2012 at 10:05
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    My accept rate is 60% on both Meta and Stack Overflow. I haven't had any tomatoes come flying my way yet, so I'd say you're good. Definitely don't just accept any old answer to bring your accept rate up. That's misusing the metric. If you really want to encourage answers, update your question with more details and information about what you've already tried. (cc @dumble)
    – Cody Gray
    May 25, 2012 at 10:07
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    Oh, also, yes, the solution proposed in the question is precisely what you should be doing. If the comment answers your question, then ask the person who posted it to upgrade it to an answer. If he/she isn't around, or you want to do it yourself to add additional info, then go ahead. The system will let you accept your own answer after waiting a certain period of time.
    – Cody Gray
    May 25, 2012 at 10:10

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