Add a "link-only answer" flag reason

Question

Typically when I see a link-only answer, I have to use a custom flag and explain in the text box that it is, usually simply in the form of typing just "link-only answer."

I think that there should be a "link-only answer" option in the flag reason dialog box. This would make it a lot easier to flag these types of answers.

Also, the community disagrees with link-only answers being OK. Why not make it easier to flag?

Furthermore, mods and/or 10k-ers don't even seem to know what to flag them as at all:

^{(one of my flags)
(a different user's flag from this question)}

Answer 1

Ok... I stand by my original answer, but I'm adding another one to address the confusion raised by the declined flags in your screenshots. First off, let's be clear about two things:

• Moderators do make mistakes, and different moderators handle different flags differently.

• Discussing flag-handling without the context of the answers being flagged is pointless at best.

With that out of the way, here are the two answers that were flagged:

Here's a way to do it (including the command-line parameters) using a Gant script; see How can I run a Groovy class from the command-line within a Grails environment?

^^^ Flagged as "link-only answer". Question not flagged as a duplicate, probably because the person who posted that answer posted the actual answer he was linking to in his question. No one bothered pointing this out to him, or informing the moderator of this.

I think this is a duplicate question.
Prevent Gnome Terminal From Exiting After Execution
and possibly this
Avoid gnome-terminal close after script execution?

^^^ Flagged as "not an answer" - by eight different people - AND flagged as "Links only answer" by one person. All flags declined. Number of "duplicate" flags or votes on the question itself? Zero.

Do you see what I'm getting at in my other answer now? If you expect consistent handling for a flag reason that's trite and overly-broad, you're in for a lot of disappointment. Nine flags on that last answer, but no one bothered looking at the bigger problem: the question itself was a duplicate. This isn't even rare. Usually, the moderator handling these will mark the flag as helpful if he ends up doing anything - but sometimes, they get frustrated with stuff like this...

On Stack Overflow, the top moderators are handling hundreds of these sorts of flags every day. They generally do a really great job of it, but... Their time is precious. Most "not answers" are readily identifiable as such - so when there's a bit of subtlety to it, it's worth calling that out. If you don't, and the moderator misses it, it'll be them - not you - getting called out here on Meta, called fascists in comments, harassed via email. For this reason, they'll generally try to figure out what (if anything) actually needs to be done in response to a flag, even if the flag reason is unclear - and if they think you were flagging in good faith, they'll generally mark it as helpful.

Rather than looking at a couple of data-points, let's look at everything:

• Not an answer - all-time "helpful" rate: 97%
• Some variation on "link only answer" - all-time days "helpful" rate: 97%
• Not an answer - last 90 days "helpful" rate: 96%
• Some variation on "link only answer" - last 90 days "helpful" rate: 97%
• "Strong candidate for linkrot" - last 90 days "helpful" rate: 100%

Moderators can make mistakes, but they're not thoughtless - if there's some validity to your flag, even if you did a really poor job of explaining the situation, chances are it'll still be marked as helpful. If you're really concerned though, take a few extra seconds and explain the specific problem.

I'll state this again for emphasis: stop looking for yet another trite bit of text you can easily slap on a dozen different types of answers; if an answer clearly "makes no effort to answer the question" then just use NAA - otherwise, describe the actual problem.

Related:

• Proposed improvement to flagging, for answers
• Please take care when flagging answers as "low quality."

Answer 2

In addition to Wesley's excellent answer, I'd like to note that "link-only answer" is kind of a crappy flag since it doesn't describe why the answer is a problem that needs moderator attention:

• Is the link broken (and have you tried to fix it)?
• Is it spam / excessive promotion (and why aren't you using that flag then)?
• Does the answer make no effort to answer the question (if only there was a flag for that...)?
• Are you upset that someone might gain rep purely for their Google skills (do you need a shoulder to cry on, or will your stack of rapidly depreciating books suffice)?

You can always leave custom flags if the stock ones don't meet your needs - but if you do, try to provide enough information that moderators can make a reasonable guess at what action you think is necessary before they invest the time looking into it.

(As an aside: actual link-only answers are blocked, and have been for some time. There's also a system for reviewing broken links in the works that'll hopefully help streamline some of this.)

Answer 3

As mentioned, the easiest way to properly flag these is "Not an answer". This is fairly broad, and I assume on purpose, because there are so many different reasons to flag. "Not an answer" flags also appear in the 10k moderator tools, unlike custom ones, so they can be handled by community mods without wasting valuable diamond mod resources.

"it is spam" or "it is not welcome in our community" are handled with more urgency and may have worse consequences then having your post deleted, like being banned or a reputation reduction. The only other option is "custom" which is a catch-all for anything that doesn't fit the other criteria, and I believe has the lowest priority.

I don't think we need a new flag reason specifically for every possiblility:

• "link only answer"
• "this is another question"
• "this is a request for clarification"
• "this should be a comment"
• "this is a thank you message"
• etc.

...or anything else that "not an answer" can cover, unless the reason is because the flag will be handled in a different manner. Otherwise, keep the UI simple for us and the moderators.

---

Aside: If the link does in fact answer the question and you have time to hang around, ask the author to please cite the relevant parts from the link. Feel free to downvote to get his attention. A good answer with a link is better than a flagged/removed answer. You may find the Pro-forma comments userscript useful, and you can refer them here: Are answers that just contain links elsewhere really "good answers"? Sometimes, one lecture is enough to improve the author's posting style and raise awareness of why link-only answers are bad.