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I am not sure what is the correct way to do this. I posed a question, thought I had found the answer, posted it, and marked it as the answer to my own question. After some more testing I found that my answer does answer the question to a limited degree, but I have a new, better answer.

The symptoms point to either of these answers as possibly working, but in my specific case it was the new answer.

Am I supposed to edit my old answer? Or should I post the newer answer and mark that one as the answer? What is the etiquette here?

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  • I don't think I've ever seen a legitimate reason for having more than one answer for a question.
    – LittleBobbyTables - Au Revoir
    Mar 28, 2013 at 18:45
  • @BlahBlahGrabblesnackers: I gave more than 1 answer to this as did others.
    – juergen d
    Mar 28, 2013 at 18:47
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    I guess I should have clarified with "on a non-meta site" :)
    – LittleBobbyTables - Au Revoir
    Mar 28, 2013 at 18:47
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    As a tangent, it would be nice that if you introduced drastic changes, the votes would reset. An improved question or answer should not be saddled with negative baggage, as it tends to influence responses, nor should you keep credit for a good answer that is basically no longer there. Given the way the human psyche works, and barring some system feature I am not aware of, I'd say aggressively voted content one way or the other shouldn't be altered. Start fresh.
    – Anthony Pegram
    Mar 28, 2013 at 18:58
  • More then one answer isn't a bad idea if you are posting vastly different solutions to the same problem.
    – Joe W
    Jan 2, 2014 at 18:28

2 Answers 2

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If you gained more knowledge about the problem, then improve your answer.

I would only post a new answer if I am going for a totally different approach and don't want to include both in one answer because the answer would become confusing.

To point out just a few possible reasons for some error try to stick with only one answer.

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  • If the symptoms could point to either of my answers, but in my specific case it was this new answer, I would think that I should create the new answer and mark that one as correct, while noting that the other answer is also correct in some cases, just not mine. Is my thinking correct? (I'll add these details to my original question.)
    – Schandlich
    Mar 28, 2013 at 18:47
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You shouldn't add a new answer. What you need to do is edit it. In addition, you may add the heading UPDATE 03/28/2013, for example, on top of your post, so people know that it's a new content. I hope it's helpful.

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