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I answered a question. The question is a duplicate, which I flagged.

The OP then asked this question via comment. The comment question is also a duplicate question.

Is this the correct response?

comments

The issue with having a duplicate question in a comment within a duplicate question is:

How much time should I really spend on this, when there are perfectly good answers?

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    You don't have to answer follow-up questions - you have taken the correct action. The user should be asking a new question instead of asking a follow-up question. (this has been asked before, searching... Ah, found it! meta.stackexchange.com/questions/43478/…)
    – Doorknob
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 2:25
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    I think your response was wrong. If he tried using your code, and it didn't work, then he shouldn't have to ask an entirely new question
    – Cody Guldner
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 2:27
  • @Doorknob I did search for it, I mustn't use the right key words in my searches, as I frequently post duplicate questions that I have searched. Not sure how to change that.
    – user310756
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 2:27
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    @Skippy Well, the duplicate does have a very confusing name - chameleon? :P now that you've asked this, other people can find the other question easier. That's why we don't delete dups - because they're like signposts.
    – Doorknob
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 2:27
  • @CodyGuldner see my edit, it's not the usual case
    – user310756
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 2:31
  • @Doorknob sorry I lost my temper, I am really bad tempered and it's my biggest flaw. Not your fault (or anyone elses). I should've searched before I posted and it taught me a lesson. And yes with the dups, I upvoted and flagged the one mentioned in THIS post, as I think it's a good question nevertheless and it's another signpost ;)
    – user310756
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 2:32
  • @Doorknob I don't think this is a dup, pls see the edit, I was going to put this in originally, but wanted to keep it simple, but in this case, I think it warrants another peek
    – user310756
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 2:35
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    @CodyGuldner: If you answer a question which fixes the original problem but leads to a new question, the OP should indeed post a new question. The problems may not be related, and the person who helped with the answer may not even be able to help. They answered because they knew the answer to the first (original) question, not the second one!
    – lnafziger
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 2:43
  • @lnafziger yes I agree, sometimes it can be thrashed out in the comments, byt my experience has been like this stackoverflow.com/questions/16708974/…
    – user310756
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 2:44
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    @Skippy Hmm, I think simply posting the links woul be the easiest way. (and don't worry about that other question - I've seen far worse :P)
    – Doorknob
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 2:49

1 Answer 1

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One suggestion which would have kept you from having this issue in the first place: If you know that a question is a duplicate, rather than answering it, simply vote to close as a duplicate question (or flag it as a duplicate if you don't have the reputation) and move on. This points other people who find the question as well as the OP to the correct answer.

For more advice on how to handle duplicates, see:
Should I answer the question which is the duplicate of another question?
and the faq:
How should duplicate questions be handled?

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    I don't believe the OP has enough rep to vote-to-close.
    – chue x
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 2:38
  • @chuex yes that is correct
    – user310756
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 2:42
  • @lnafziger that is NOT a solution see meta.stackexchange.com/questions/190787/… plenty of dup questions are answered and by highly rep users ps I thought your name started with an i and couldn't link you ;)
    – user310756
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 2:42
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    Actually, it is, IF there are already good answers in the duplicate. See: meta.stackexchange.com/q/10841/226446. "StackExchange sites exist to provide answers to questions and duplicate questions are no exception. However, the asker will probably be better served by reviewing the existing answers to the question they duplicated and should be directed to it in comments. Duplicate questions are also likely to be closed and/or deleted potentially negating any reputation gained from answers to them."
    – lnafziger
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 2:49
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    @Skippy: Yeah, a lot of people start my username with an i instead of an l, so you aren't alone there, lol. :-)
    – lnafziger
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 4:50
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    @inafziger: Really? That's weird, I wonder who would do that... :P (@lnafgizer)
    – Doorknob
    Commented Jul 29, 2013 at 6:01