Questions tagged [answers]
For questions about answers: how to answer, whether specific answers are appropriate, and so forth.
2,648
questions
5
votes
0
answers
70
views
No descriptive error when trying to post an answer while logged out
While typing an answer, my session expired (?) causing me to be logged out.
I didn't notice that, but when pressing 'Post your answer', the following 'error' was shown:
Your answer couldn't be ...
0
votes
0
answers
18
views
Make answering notice for unregistered users be translatable via Traducir
On sites where answering for unregistered users is available, they will see the following notice below the post body text area:
Thanks for contributing an answer to Stack Overflow!
Please be sure to ...
7
votes
1
answer
243
views
Should upvotes on new answers to old/unanswered/upvoted questions be weighted differently?
Note: This question has marked as a possible duplicate of: How about a difficulty rating for questions?
However: This question is not about a 'difficulty rating' for questions based on their perceived ...
-10
votes
3
answers
160
views
What can be done if a user accepts an incorrect or inadequate answer to his question due to some bias? [duplicate]
I've noticed that a lot of users on Meta, especially new users, have various biases towards and against certain answerers.
I wondered what would the protocol be if a user, who already has a few ...
15
votes
1
answer
276
views
Add a warning about generative AI on other sites (only to sites which banned generative AI) of Stack Exchange
On Stack Overflow (only in English) there is the warning about generative AI answers:
Reminder: Answers generated by Artificial Intelligence tools are not allowed on Stack Overflow. Learn more.
Can ...
1
vote
0
answers
56
views
Duplicate questions with no accepted answer [duplicate]
What am I supposed to do when trying to flag a question as a duplicate but the question I'm trying to link doesn't have an accepted answer?
This question and the answer makes me think that I should be ...
1
vote
1
answer
100
views
Answer marked as solution. If deleted, is questioner free to mark another answer as the solution?
A questioner marked my answer as the solution, despite giving new information pointing out it was not the right answer after all. If I remove my answer, is the solution flag reset and available again?
...
4
votes
1
answer
128
views
What can I do if an answer in the "First Answers" Review Queue is objectively wrong?
All the options presented to me through the UI do not seem to address the situation correctly. Here is a screenshot of the options available to me.
And here are the Share Feedback options.
The only ...
2
votes
0
answers
52
views
Should edits to one’s own answers be isolated and highlighted? [duplicate]
I’ve observed that some answers include sections at the bottom that are explicitly labeled Edit or the like. But there are also many other answers that (as the system indicates) have been edited but ...
6
votes
1
answer
153
views
Improve post-notice for sourceless answers
On questions like this one that have a tendency to be answered by low-rep users who don't cite any sources, mods can add the following post-notice:
Want to improve this post? Provide detailed ...
18
votes
1
answer
381
views
Unable to delete my answer
I wrote this answer to a SO question. Then I learned that I misunderstood the question, so I tried to delete my answer. The confirmation dialog popped up, I clicked on OK, but it wasn't deleted.
The ...
-20
votes
7
answers
449
views
If SE introduces system-generated answers, how to fit them into SE's question and answers model
This question is meant to be constructive in tone, not another channel to start debates or express opinions or frustrations on what happened around AI in the past weeks. (There are plenty, more ...
97
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Competing with ChatGPT Answers: An Expert's Perspective
Although I'm a moderator on two network sites who has had to deal with GenAI answers, I'm writing this from the perspective of a lower (<2k reputation, with limited access to moderation tools) user ...
47
votes
1
answer
305
views
When writing an answer, it should appear directly below the question
Problem
When I am writing an answer, especially a detailed one, it's useful to be able to refer to the question to make sure that I am answering everything and doing it in a logical order. Because of ...
4
votes
0
answers
72
views
The anonymous "Post your answer" button gets squashed
Across all SE sites when I visit a question without being signed in and scroll down to the bottom, there is an option to submit an answer as a guest, but I don't think the button should be wrapped (...
-13
votes
1
answer
238
views
Add # next to each answer?
I would like to suggest adding the answer number (#) to each answer on a page. This makes it easier to know which answer you are at when scrolling down a list of many and long answers.
For instance, I ...
10
votes
1
answer
522
views
When does misinformation "harm democratic institutions"?
One of the things that our new Misleading Information Policy bans is "misleading information" that "Is likely to significantly harm democratic institutions or voting processes or to ...
-11
votes
1
answer
123
views
Question already answered by a comment [duplicate]
I was wondering if someone else has the problem that a question might be already answered by a comment. I mainly focus on questions that don't have any answer already in order to help.
It costs me a ...
3
votes
2
answers
178
views
Is it okay to upvote answers posted in comments?
I recently received an answer to one of my questions posted as a comment. I upvoted the comment and suggested that the commenter post it as an answer. Was it appropriate to upvote the comment? The ...
17
votes
0
answers
85
views
Please split the answer count shown on posts to distinguish between deleted and undeleted answers
Note: this is not a request to hide deleted answers (which has been requested in the past).
The answer count under a question currently has code that tracks which answers are deleted and which answers ...
2
votes
0
answers
31
views
Offer long links to answers, in addition to just short
Let's say you are looking at some question and you see a good answer, and you want to share it with your friends.
Well, each answer only has short links available. If you want a long link that looks ...
10
votes
1
answer
184
views
Will original answers but translated by AI receive the same treatment as answers spontaneously generated by AI?
As announced on Stack Overflow Meta, the use of content generated by ChatGPT is temporarily banned.
It was stated in Temporary policy: ChatGPT is banned
Stack Overflow is a community built on trust. ...
3
votes
1
answer
110
views
Is it possible to create an RSS feed of the latest answers for a certain tag?
I want to create a feed for user activity that will give me the recent questions and answers.
I was able to create a feed for new questions with this script:
import feedparser
# Set the RSS feed URLs ...
2
votes
1
answer
223
views
Is it OK to create a new question asking about code in an old answer instead of waiting until my reputation is 50?
I have a question about code that's in an old Stack Overflow answer. Is it OK to post a new question asking about that code instead if waiting until my reputation is over 50? If my reputation was over ...
-19
votes
1
answer
120
views
Mark as "Answered" if no other answers in 24 hours
Recently I forgot to check a question as "Answered". Since it remained unanswered for a day or three, many other proposed answers were given, and some of them were really better than the ...
4
votes
1
answer
119
views
Is there a general recommendation regarding the extent of quoted text in an answer?
Is there a help article, FAQ or previous posts having a general recommendation regarding the proportional length of quoted content in an answer?
This is not about tags wikis having copy/pasted content ...
9
votes
0
answers
49
views
Reduce whitespace between short posts and their comment section [duplicate]
For ♦ moderators, the vote section contains some additional links (to the flag history, and to show deleted comments). For short answers like this one, this causes unnecessary whitespace between the ...
1
vote
0
answers
106
views
How can I delete my wrong accepted answer? [duplicate]
Similar questions were asked before, but the answers recommend to edit the wrong answer to make it correct which does not suit me: after reading the question again I noticed that the question is ...
-16
votes
1
answer
129
views
Could/ should we add an answer-ranking system beyond standard votes?
I just ran into a "problem" that I have encountered many times while on the various Stack Exchange websites.
After I came across an interesting question and read a good answer, I upvoted the ...
2
votes
1
answer
72
views
Some questions about search [closed]
I want to search questions answered by me and some another user. How can I do this? I don't see an "and" operator.
Is there a way to search through comments (answers under which there is ...
-12
votes
1
answer
281
views
Why can new users only answer every 30 minutes? [duplicate]
Since a new user to Stack Overflow like me can only post an answer to a question every 30 minutes, this makes it extremely irrelevant for new users and will in short; drive users away from Stack ...
29
votes
0
answers
147
views
Add the data-nosnippet attribute to answers with negative score (-3 or less)
This post on RPG.SE meta describes a heavily downvoted answer (current score -17) being shown as the featured snippet by Google when searching for the question title (or something resembling it):
The ...
8
votes
0
answers
121
views
Disable "Are you sure you want to answer" box in certain situations [duplicate]
EDIT: Please, consider the fact that this question is not a duplicate of that one. It is an 11-years later re-post. The fact that there is the same eleven years old question gives me nothing. The fact ...
5
votes
2
answers
111
views
How long to wait until close-voting a non-English post on an English site [duplicate]
The canonical FAQ Do posts have to be in English on Stack Exchange? tells us to
vote or flag to close it (the post)
emphasis mine
Often curating users write a comment and ask to translate the OP (...
89
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Is there a list of ChatGPT or other AI-related discussions and policies for our sites?
Lately, the use of ChatGPT on the network has become controversial, with Stack Overflow completely banning using generated text for content and several other sites considering bans.
Could we get a ...
-12
votes
2
answers
207
views
Is it OK to flag a post for moderator review if I'm not sure if it has issues?
Recently one of my flags was rejected, but the rejection message didn't match the flag intention. I was expecting that the moderators reviewed if the post had issues, but the rejection message was ...
6
votes
2
answers
146
views
Users should be able to save an answer draft on a closed question if it's edited for reopening
I recently came across a question that had been closed for being unclear, but I think I knew what the asker meant, so I edited the question and checked the box to have it reviewed for reopening.
I ...
51
votes
5
answers
3k
views
How can we identify ChatGPT-generated posts?
As a moderator on two sites, I am following the Stack Overflow community's policy regarding the ban of ChatGPT closely. However, does the community and its moderators have any handles on how to ...
-23
votes
5
answers
5k
views
How often does ChatGPT give an incorrect answer to an SE question?
This is a follow-up of Ban ChatGPT network-wide. How often does ChatGPT give an incorrect answer?
252
votes
15
answers
10k
views
Ban ChatGPT network-wide
Use of ChatGPT generated text for posts on Stack Overflow is temporarily banned.
However, the reasons for the ban really apply to much or all of the network, and certainly for sites that are similar ...
-26
votes
5
answers
3k
views
Could ChatGPT be a viable way to answer people's questions?
A few days ago, OpenAI, the people that brought you GPT-3 and DALL-E, launched a new product called ChatGPT. It can answer questions so accurately that it's legitimately scary. Even the most obscure ...
-9
votes
4
answers
311
views
Multipart answers?
For each question, one has the option to submit more than one answer.
Each answer has a character limit.
It's possible that to properly answer a question, one needs to go over that character limit.
Is ...
-9
votes
1
answer
96
views
Impact Score in relation to Question
I have observed in many instances that answers that were provided for the question do not accomplish but have an impact on the overall resolution. For such I propose we measure the impact of the ...
7
votes
1
answer
152
views
Empty editor when editing an answer
When I edit an answer (mine or somebody else's) with the new Stacks Editor, the answer's Markdown does not appear in the editor. It remains blank:
Questions don't have this problem (those use the old ...
7
votes
1
answer
185
views
Should unanswerable questions have answers? [closed]
I've seen many questions, which have no solutions, answered as "Sorry, there's no answer to this question" or something similar. The original poster often accepts this, since they have ...
7
votes
1
answer
244
views
Title and body are opposite questions; should we edit for consistency?
This question is solely about (editorial) style.
Consider the following (made up) examples:
Title: Is foo safe?
In the body: Is foo unsafe?
Title: Can baz affect qux?
In the body: Can I assume qux is ...
1
vote
0
answers
68
views
How to set the specific part links in questions or answers to jump to them with Markdown Editing? [duplicate]
As shown below, I'm trying to set the specific part links in an answer to jump to them with Markdown editing on Stack Overflow:
<p id="part-link1">Part Link 1</p>
<p id=&...
-2
votes
1
answer
127
views
Question Clusters - what is the META guideline for consolidating similar questions? [closed]
I would like to help others by consolidating Solved questions that are related to the same Component. Does the Stack Exchange platform have a policy for chaining together Solved questions?
I am most ...
3
votes
1
answer
88
views
Which answer should I mark as Accepted? Best way or way I actually used? [duplicate]
As the title states, I came across a small but tricky question.
The specific content can be found here: how to properly handle input dependent async data calls in react component?
I got one answer ...
3
votes
0
answers
56
views
On sites where accepting an answer does not pin it, should it get a boost in rankings?
Some sites no longer pin accepted answers to the top. While I understand the reasoning (e.g. the OP's favorite answer might be wrong), it does seem like acceptance should "boost" the answer ...