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I recently asked a question on Stack Overflow but didn't receive any answers so I posted the same question in gamedev.stackexchange.com (which I didn't know existed before). Now that I got an answer from the second section, I wanted to know if I can add an answer to my own question in Stack Overflow with a link towards the second one which contains the answer or I should just close my question?

I'm aware that link-only answers are not allowed but as this case is specific (at least for me ) I wanted to be sure before doing it.

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  • Link-only answers are generally frowned upon; if you don't have any answers on the Stack Overflow question, I would say just delete that one. Commented Mar 28, 2013 at 14:41
  • @BlahBlahGrabblesnackers thanks
    – Anila
    Commented Mar 28, 2013 at 14:43
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    having few days ago flagged and removed someone else's answer that had only a link to their another answer that has gone 404 and especially, after removing today my own link-only answer that pointed to SO post which has gone 404, I strongly suggest to provide at least summary of what is at target link
    – gnat
    Commented Mar 28, 2013 at 14:46
  • @gnat so i can add an answer with the link AND add a summary of solution with it?
    – Anila
    Commented Mar 28, 2013 at 21:10
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    @Anila I believe this would be OK. At least that's how I do it myself when there is a need in cross-site references (example). Also, this is about how it is suggested for in-the-site references in duplicate-answers tag wiki
    – gnat
    Commented Mar 28, 2013 at 21:11
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    @gnat thanks, this solutions seems fine to me. i'm going to wait a little to see if any other experienced member like yourself would disagree. if not then i'll do as you suggested. thanks for the edit btw.
    – Anila
    Commented Mar 28, 2013 at 22:26

2 Answers 2

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I believe best option is to flag the question for moderator attention and ask moderator to merge the question to gamedev.stackexchange.com

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  • exactly, in this case would closing it be better?
    – Anila
    Commented Mar 28, 2013 at 14:43
  • @BlahBlahGrabblesnackers , Anila I actually meant merge. AFAIK there is an option to merge two questions. Commented Mar 28, 2013 at 14:43
  • ok, thanks for the suggestion :)
    – Anila
    Commented Mar 28, 2013 at 14:44
  • Questions should not be closed as off-topic or migrated unless (1) the question is actually off-topic on the site it was posted, or (2) the author of the question has explicitly requested migration. Commented Mar 28, 2013 at 15:10
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There are several things you can do in this circumstance.

Obviously, you can avoid posting the same question across multiple SE sites, if possible. But since you already have...

These are all mutually exclusive. Do only one:

  • If your question hasn't been upvoted, you can delete it yourself. (Though yours was upvoted...)

  • You can flag it for moderator attention, and ask that a moderator delete it using the "Other" field. Be sure to explain that it was cross-posted and answered on the other site.

  • You can copy the answer from your question on the other site to your question here. If you do this, be sure to attribute it properly by linking back to the answer on the other site and giving credit to the user who posted it there. This is fine since all user content on Stack Exchange is Creative Commons licensed. Or, you can ask the user to copy their own answer.

My advice is: If you think the answer might be useful on SO, to SO's readers, then go ahead and copy the answer. After all, the question's already here. If the question and answer would be totally useless on SO, then have your question deleted.

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