Questions tagged [answers]
This tag is for questions about answers: how to answer, whether specific answers are appropriate, and so forth.
2,397
questions
-9
votes
5answers
436 views
Can we post an answer and refuse to respond to comments or do edits?
I am wondering if I am going to be punished for posting answers (I rarely post questions) or comments and decline to make any response at all to comments and decline to edit or update the answer in ...
0
votes
0answers
58 views
On the rules of answering a question [duplicate]
Am I allowed to say something like "If you like my answer, please accept it and give it an upvote" in my answers or comments (specifically on MathSE)? I have read the rules of comments and answers and ...
-19
votes
3answers
247 views
Why is no answer better than a bad one? [on hold]
Before deleting my entire SE account, I just wanted to give you feedback in this specific case, even though you probably don't care for a non-power users opinion: https://stackoverflow.com/a/58374211/...
-7
votes
0answers
46 views
How can we check that the answer is a duplicate at Stack Overflow [duplicate]
Should I answer it?
Should I leave it?
Should I answer in different way?
Should I answer in more detail?
I have tried to answer the question in different way, but when I answer the question I ...
-7
votes
3answers
264 views
Should we reward parallel questions?
Former co-founder Jeff Atwood seemed to think parallel paths to a solution were a good thing. He wrote,
some duplication is desirable. There’s often benefit to having multiple subtle variants of a ...
-6
votes
1answer
162 views
My new account is brand new and I can't submit answers [duplicate]
Today I've seen an user requesting help for a bug which I have stumbled upon and I'd like to share my solution with him.
My account is pristine (Angular wink), at least I don't remember to have answer,...
-3
votes
0answers
145 views
Share links to own answers without disclosure [duplicate]
In my latest question in this community, the answer i envisioned would include the answer to this question as well. Instead, it was marked as dup and I still didn't manage to find out the answer.
...
3
votes
0answers
64 views
How to answer a question which already has acceptable answers and my answer will add at most 5% to the existing answers
Few hours ago I answered the question reading file without newlines in Python. The problem is that my answer is made up of existing answers with probably 5% tweak. I did it to facilitate future ...
0
votes
0answers
5 views
Acceptable answer for a code golf [migrated]
The code golf stackexchange tour gives a detailed explanation on, how to ask a code golf question.
But what about how to answer? I have multiple questions about: How to give an answer?. Neither the ...
11
votes
2answers
136 views
Is it acceptable to copy your own answer verbatim from an off-site resource?
An answer on Stack Overflow was recently brought to my attention as possible plagiarism, but I determined that the source of the suspected plagiarism was actually written and posted by the answerer ...
6
votes
2answers
92 views
What's the best way to compose very long answers?
In the process of writing very long answers, whether on meta sites or main sites, what is the best way to format content for future visitors?
For the record, I am not talking about the validity of ...
-4
votes
1answer
107 views
Can't comment yet, but can't answer without the ability to clarify [duplicate]
I want to answer a question, but I need clarification from the author first. But I don't have enough reputation yet to comment, I can only answer. So how can I answer if I can't get clarification? ...
1
vote
1answer
69 views
How do I check if a question author has found an (unposted) answer in the meantime?
How do I check or ask whether somebody has found the answer to their own question?
(I do not have enough reputation points to post it as a comment.)
Note that this is not the question about getting ...
4
votes
0answers
25 views
'Add Another Answer' button lacks styling in Safari on iOS
When viewing the website in full site mode in Safari on iOS, some of the buttons lack the new styling. I've already reported a few instances occurring in the new flag dashboard: 'Undelete post'...
9
votes
1answer
55 views
Editing answers for removing excuses for answering an old question
I often read excuses for answering an old question. Like this one that I quote for the following question:
I see this question is a bit old, but I decided to give an answer
anyway for those who ...
-13
votes
1answer
154 views
Recognition for Answers that Save Lives
We should have an explicit feature for recognizing/rewarding/glorifying answers that save peoples' lives.
The OP of this question over at Great Outdoors commented in the accepted answer several years ...
6
votes
1answer
79 views
What does it mean when an answer is submitted by Community?
What does it mean when an answer is submitted by Community? (The example I came across - the screenshot is from the Aviation home page.)
Surely a user didn't answer and delete the unregistered ...
9
votes
0answers
75 views
Is there a limit to the number of answers that a single user can submit to the same question?
Some websites run weekly, fortnightly or monthly topic challenges, e.g. Gardening, Worldbuilding and Literature. On Literature Meta SE, anyone can submit reading challenges, using one answer per ...
-5
votes
1answer
79 views
What are my choices when I don't receive any correct answers for my bounty question? [duplicate]
I've asked a question on Stack Overflow with a bounty. Assume I have received three answers, but all of them are incorrect and not what I asked. I clearly mentioned what my problem was and what I'm ...
-8
votes
2answers
115 views
Are we aiming for a single answer that covers everything about a question on Stack Exchange? [duplicate]
So I was thinking about why only one answer can be accepted to any particular question on Stack Exchange. I was thinking, most likely, so there would develop one answer that covers "everything" about ...
-11
votes
1answer
99 views
The descriptions on the vote buttons for answers should be updated to be as helpful as those for questions
The criteria for voting for questions is relatively clear, with the upvote and downvote buttons displaying:
This question shows research effort; it is useful and clear.
This question does not show ...
0
votes
0answers
25 views
How does sorting for answers work? [duplicate]
I understand that the accepted answer is shown at the top and other answers in the order of number of votes.
But how does sorting for answers with same score works? I sometimes see that the ordering ...
1
vote
0answers
29 views
Should we always accept a better answer, or also reward response speed? [duplicate]
Case in point here. Akrun gave a great answer in ~2 minutes. Grada's answer is slightly better (because it's simpler and more generalizable), but came in a little later (but still before Akrun's ...
2
votes
1answer
55 views
Can a bounty be awarded to a non-accepted answer? [duplicate]
I have a problem one of the users who asked awhile ago about something related to SQL injection. I provided an answer for his problem, and some solutions, but he did not accept my answer nor did he ...
7
votes
0answers
37 views
Answer draft is lost if you click to sign up
When writing an answer on a site where you don't have an account or are not logged in, below the answer entry textbox are options to create an account or continue as guest by providing a nickname and ...
4
votes
1answer
42 views
Copying other answers
I've noticed a trend where some users post an answer as early as possible that's not very good but gets some up-votes. Then when better answers are posted, they simply copy/paste the contents of those ...
3
votes
2answers
87 views
What should I do when answers contradict each other, but both sides seem correct?
I recently asked a question on the Politics Stack Exchange site, which I thought was a "Yes or No only" question and the first three answers where clearly stating no. I was about to accept an ...
1
vote
0answers
63 views
Getting attention for answers that have aways been incorrect [duplicate]
There's a question about what to do about outdated answers, but what if the answer is not outdated but was always incorrect and gave simply wrong information, or more seriously information that might ...
-1
votes
1answer
97 views
Repeated downvotes on my posts [duplicate]
Yesterday someone started downvoting my answers. I ignored the downvotes knowing that the system will reverse them, and the system did reverse some of those downvotes.
Today I flagged one of my ...
-2
votes
3answers
133 views
Is it ok to give two different answers to a question? [duplicate]
A moderator has deleted one of my answers in two different cases. If a person comes up with two substantially different answers that are based on substantially different viewpoints, is it not ...
1
vote
0answers
38 views
Drag down the question indefinitely when editing answer
How to reproduce the bug:
Answer a question/go to a question that you have answered.
Click "Edit"
Drag the slider down.
I think this is a bug because it doesn't make sense to be able to drag this ...
-12
votes
2answers
108 views
Allow short questions if the Answer My Question box is checked [duplicate]
I wrote up a pretty short and succinct question on the Mechanics site, and wrote up a very long answer using the Answer Your Question checkbox. When I tried to post the q/a, it told me that I needed ...
4
votes
3answers
424 views
Is it OK to be facetious?
Although I searched for it, I did not find a question that directly address this topic (not for a specific case but) in general.
And I am genuinely asking to know the answer to make my own behavior ...
-8
votes
1answer
97 views
Using spoiler to have better answers [closed]
I recently asked this question. That was a homework problem; the response people gave was very nice, but in one answer they basically solved it for me. That was the most useful answer. I think there ...
2
votes
1answer
147 views
Can there be too many answers to a question?
Sometimes there are many answers to a single question, for example this question on Stack Overflow, with 60+ answers. I find it to be too many.
Is there a procedure to maybe close such questions, or ...
7
votes
0answers
79 views
Redesign “lots of answers” JS confirm dialog to use Stacks stylized popups instead
Currently, when attempting to answer questions with lots of answers (usually 30 but configurable per site), users are shown the following generic JS confirmation prompt (from one's browser, in this ...
asked May 11 at 9:49
Sonic the Anonymous Hedgehog
21.8k9 gold badges55 silver badges128 bronze badges
4
votes
0answers
23 views
Clicking on answer item from the achivements dialog doesn't close the dialog
Achivements dialog can contains items linked to the answers (e.g. when your answers got votes or you accept an answer for your question). In that case if you already had opened a page via that link, ...
1
vote
1answer
99 views
Valuable responses to my question are spread over numerous answers. As the asker, how can I make them more visible?
In my recent question on Travel Stack Exchange I attracted a lot of attention (not least in part because it was a hot network question) and I got a lot of answers.
Frustratingly, early answers drove ...
1
vote
1answer
85 views
Reward someone who edited their answer as obsolete to point to mine
I've been active on SO since 2009, and have seen many old questions get new answers as technology changes. Sometimes the accepted answer becomes suboptimal, and the OP is no longer active to mark ...
-12
votes
2answers
89 views
Are link based answers ok if they link to other Stack Exchange Answers?
Is it ever ok to provide an answer to a question that's essentially a link only answer to another Stack Exchange question or answer?
Often I do this when
The answers of the other question could be ...
1
vote
0answers
34 views
Converting an answer to a comment makes the comment a reply to a comment posted after the converted comment
On the site where I am moderator, I closed a question using a custom reason, and then converted the answer in a comment.
Even though the answer was posted the day before, and the comment is shown ...
-4
votes
1answer
97 views
Shall I accept an answer that answers part of my question?
So I bet you all met into a scenario, where someone wrote a good, detailed answer which answers part (or most, or the core) of your question. Then should you mark it as accepted? Or should you just ...
7
votes
0answers
83 views
Difficult to lose the “converted to a comment” status message
If an answer is converted to a comment and then subsequently undeleted, and then deleted again (without being converted to a comment), the message beneath the post still reads:
If the answer is then ...
-11
votes
1answer
77 views
Writing how the advice turned out
There are some SE sites, where an answer is obviously either correct or wrong (like math) and then there are some where there isnt a correct answer in principle (like codegolf) and some where the ...
-21
votes
2answers
219 views
Why shouldn't existing answers that don't match the typical pattern of good answers be skimmed only?
I understand generally one should read existing answers before giving another one. This can avoid duplicated answer, add more votes to them, and even when the existing answers miss your point, they ...
4
votes
1answer
92 views
How do I answer a bug report?
I regularly see bug reports on Meta, occasionally with heavily upvoted answers.
When is it appropriate to answer a bug report?
How would I write a good answer to a bug report?
How could I write an ...
2
votes
1answer
34 views
Contriving questions to fit answers [duplicate]
There have been a couple of questions here on meta asking about changing questions to fit existing answers. However, this presupposes the existence of a question for which there exists a question/...
5
votes
1answer
82 views
Stats about askers and answerers in Stack Exchange
How can I get the statistics data of how many people ask questions and how many answer here? I'm curious about the distributions and seeing if more people ask than answer.
2
votes
2answers
86 views
Is it possible to find answers by ID?
It's possible to find questions by ID by going to <site>/questions/<id> (which automatically redirects to <site>/questions/<id><question name>), but I don't know how to ...
asked Mar 6 at 1:32
Pika the Wizard of the Whales
6,1894 gold badges18 silver badges54 bronze badges
0
votes
1answer
55 views
How do I link the Stack Exchange data together? [duplicate]
I was trying to link the Stack Exchange data together from the archive.org data dump as my college database subject project, but I can't understand how to link the Post and its answer. I tried to link ...
