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I flagged an answer as not an answer because it contained just a link (or a little more than a link), and my flag was rejected because, "flags should not be used to indicate technical inaccuracies, or an altogether wrong answer."

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I was not flagging it because it was technically inaccurate, or because it was wrong. I flagged it because it was a little more than a link, and the FAQ says:

Answers that do not fundamentally answer the question may be removed. This includes answers that are …

  • commentary on the question or other answers
  • asking another, different question
  • "thanks!" or "me too!" responses
  • exact duplicates of other answers
  • barely more than a link to an external site
  • not even a partial answer to the actual question

In which way should an answer containing just a little more than a link, or two, be flagged?

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When I declined that flag originally it seems like a fair enough answer pointing the OP in the direction of the PHP docs - which, lets face it, aren't going to go away. We don't automatically delete every link only answer, see Shogs answer here about link only answers:

Why are accepted answers immune from Flagging link-only answers as Not an Answer?

The PHP docs are a decent reliable source.

This flag was handled via the flag summary report (where we just see the flagged post and act on it) and on a heavy flag day you don't always have time to open the full question to then do a deeper analysis.

Upon reviewing the second flag I revisited the question properly and to be honest it turns out that it was just junk so I deleted it - and that is why the other user who flagged the answer got a "helpful" mark.

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  • Apart from accepted answers, is it better to flag the answer as not an answer, or use a custom flag?
    – apaderno
    Jul 21, 2012 at 14:42
  • @kiamlaluno 98% of the time I'd just bin link only answers. But, it depends on context. If it's the only answer and it looks correct, or it's a link to a reliable and notable source and is directly answering the question and is the best of a bad lot then it might be allowed to live. But it may be (as in this case) that the question is junk and needs to go instead.
    – Kev
    Jul 21, 2012 at 15:05
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    @kiamlaluno NAA helps us more, because if we look at the link and think it would be able to be turned into a comment, the NAA flag makes the workflow easier for us. Unless there's something about the content on the other end of the link that warrants a custom message (because we wouldn't just turn it into a comment), NAA helps us the most if you're just reporting link-only answers.
    – casperOne
    Jul 21, 2012 at 17:46

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