Questions tagged [self-answer]
Questions also answered by the user asking, easily marked by the shaded user card attached to the answer.
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How does accepting an answer work?
What does it mean to accept an answer?
How do I accept an answer, and what are the rules?
Can I accept my own self-answer?
What are the reputation benefits?
Which answer should I accept?
Should I ...
307
votes
3
answers
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Can I answer my own questions, even if I knew the answer before asking?
I might want to answer my own question because:
I arrived at a solution before there were any other correct answers or I like mine better, can I still answer my own question?
I have a folder with ...
123
votes
16
answers
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Should I not answer my own questions? [duplicate]
I asked a question recently, looking for examples of an online tool. Per the FAQ, I answered my own question with a few examples that I had already found. I did this so that these examples would be ...
119
votes
10
answers
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Posting and answering questions you have already found the answer to [duplicate]
Sometimes you spend a day or more solving a technical problem, and when you finally solve it, you may want to post it on your blog (if you have one) to share with the community.
However, most ...
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120
votes
3
answers
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What is this "answer your own question" jazz?
I showed up here to write a perfectly normal rant about misaligned pixels, and there's a big fat checkbox cluttering up the "Ask" page, labeled:
Answer your own question – share your ...
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205
votes
5
answers
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Etiquette for answering your own question
Often you have a question, you can't find the answer on Stack Overflow so you search for it (or think a bit more). Having found the answer you'd like to keep a record so you can find it again later.
...
22
votes
3
answers
860
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Accepted answer appearing below top voted [duplicate]
On Add year to question and answer dates, sorted by votes, the accepted answer is #3 in order of votes. It appears as number 3 in the list as well.
Is this new behavior intended?
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31
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6
answers
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What can be done to improve moderation of self-answered questions?
About a month ago, we rolled out a new feature: instant self-answered questions.
So far, the reception has been mostly positive, and I've definitely seen some really good stuff posted in this form.
...
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10
votes
4
answers
678
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Is a short description of a question OK if self-answering?
Since answering your own questions is encouraged, I am planning to document a few things I unnecessarily retype from time to time (answering other questions). These are general (though focused) ...
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28
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3
answers
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What should I do if I find the answer to an old question of mine that was automatically deleted as abandoned?
I originally asked the question Implementing PPPoE half-bridge/ip-passthrough to suit IPSec VPN firewall appliance with Linux a little more than a year ago, which no one was able to answer. The ...
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114
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1
answer
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Detect edits to add [SOLVED] or [RESOLVED] to the title and direct the user to add an answer
Users often ask questions that they answer for themselves. Good for them. And good for us.
Symptom
The correct procedure seems to be:
Write new answer to own question
Wait two days
Accept own ...
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30
votes
9
answers
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Is Stack Overflow a central store for tutorials?
I ask this question because of the following questions: this and this. The same user asked those questions and immediately answered them.
I know that there's no problem in answering your own ...
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44
votes
1
answer
511
views
Clarify the "8 hour delay" self-answer message to discourage self-answering with edits or comments
It's not uncommon to find new users editing or commenting on their questions with something along the lines of "Update: I solved it by Xing the Y with Z" instead of posting their solution as a self-...
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35
votes
7
answers
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Permission to start a series of advanced regex articles [closed]
There are many problems with what I perceive to be countless dupes of low quality questions in the [regex] tag. Rather than complaining about it, I've decided to take matters into my own hands.
I'm ...
8
votes
1
answer
293
views
How to correctly post a Q&A style question (i.e.self answer) without it failing minimal understanding [duplicate]
As I understand it Q&A style questions are encouraged but a self answered question should be judged independently of the answer. Often after I've solved a problem I would like to share the ...
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6
votes
2
answers
243
views
Accepted answers don't float "on top" when self-answered?
On this question, the accepted answer doesn't float on top. Apart from that, the display is correct (i.e. the V mark and the green border).
If I sort by "vote", I've got the following answer ...
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5
votes
1
answer
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Accepted answer subject to random sorting [duplicate]
I answered one of my questions (see How can I use Microsoft Word's spelling/grammar checker programmatically?) and accepted it but it randomly appears first or second (out of two answers).
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votes
4
answers
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48 hour accept own answer delay wastes other answerers' time
I have read all the discussions around the 48 hour delay on accepting ones own answers. To quote Jeff Atwood:
You must wait 2 days from the time you originally asked your question before you can ...
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16
votes
6
answers
876
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Why can't you get awarded the bounty for answering your own question?
Consider this question on How to run/debug multiple web application projects with-in the same solution?. I put out a 200 bounty on the question, but did not get an answer from anyone other than ...
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13
votes
1
answer
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What are limitations on self-answered questions?
Here I see that "Stack Exchange has always explicitly encouraged users to answer their own questions".
But is there any limitations on the self-answered questions?
I guess they are surely ...
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vote
1
answer
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Accepting one's own answer does not move it to the top of the answers list [duplicate]
I have the following question: Display Alternative Content for Users with AdBlockers. I've posted my own solution after a while and accepted it.
The expected behavior is that even though it doesn't ...
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64
votes
2
answers
780
views
Should we really be suggesting that people put the answer in the question? [duplicate]
I saw this question that the user had self-answered by editing the question.
I pointed out that they should really answer the question. I know they wouldn't be able to straight away, but I assumed ...
ChrisFMod
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39
votes
3
answers
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Encyclopedia Stack Exchange vs. commercial products
We are having a discussion over on Stack Overflow about whether or not people representing a commercial product can answer their own questions about their own product.
To make it more concrete, just ...
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13
votes
1
answer
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Should I continue adding a question if I have found the answer myself?
I start typing a question (which may be interesting and useful), but then think and/or google more and find answer myself.
Should I just close the window or add the question with my answer to enrich ...
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5
votes
2
answers
177
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Should I ask a question which I learned its answer while asking it? [duplicate]
This happens quite a lot for me lately. I encounter a problem in my code, I want to ask it here and while I type the question, I have an idea which proves useful. I think that this question might ...
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5
votes
2
answers
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Accepted answer does not always appear at the top [duplicate]
I just recognised that an accepted answer does not always appear first, at the top of the other answers (for example here).
Sometimes it does, but if I reload the page the two answers change their ...
- 1,735
-9
votes
4
answers
376
views
Reduce accepting-own-answer delay
In light of It's ok to ask and answer your own questions, it seems that we ought to be able to accept our own answers within the same time limits as accepting someone else's answer.
Of course, this ...
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49
votes
1
answer
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Can I award a bounty to myself if I provide the best answer? [duplicate]
I finally found the solution to a problem that was killing me. Before I found it, I asked an SO question about it, and had even started a bounty on the question. Can I now post a self-answer and, if ...
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3
answers
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I don't always answer myself, but when I do, I fail to ask a good question
Sometimes I'll encounter problems while coding, or sometimes out of simple interest for a question, I'll google for an answer, and most of the time I find that answer is here on stackoverflow.com.
...
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10
votes
5
answers
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accepting your own answer yields -2?
My rep on SO just went down from 15191 to 15189 at about the same time I accepted my own answer for an old post that I felt needed closure.
Do you get -2 for accepting your own answer? If so why ...
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4
votes
1
answer
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Posting self-answered questions for information: Should they be community wiki?
I recently posted a question to SO in which I immediately answered myself because I figured it would be a common question about the newly released Windows Phone 8. Someone suggested I make my answer ...
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4
votes
2
answers
196
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Direct answer of own question lead to immediate close
I recently came across that situation: I found out something useful while formulating the problem on Stackoverflow. Being half-way through, i figured out the solution and wanted to share my knowledge ...
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3
votes
1
answer
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What to do if you find the answer to your own question?
For the second time (IIRC) since I have joined SO, I have found the answer on my own, immediately (within minutes) after posting the question. I answered my own question the first time, but seeing ...
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28
votes
0
answers
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Allow authors to self-answer their own protected questions even if they don't have enough reputation
I'm asking this question because of Can't answer protected question despite meeting reputation requirement:
For the purposes of your reputation "on this site", Stack Exchange has ...
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15
votes
2
answers
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Should an appended answer *within* a question be moved?
Editing Etiquette: I've encountered what must be a common problem: Several answers which were appended to the OP's question rather than being placed as 'formal' answers below it.
Is it appropriate to ...
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14
votes
2
answers
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Why haven't I earned the Guru badge?
According to StackOverflow's badge page, one can earn the Guru badge with an accepted answer with a score of 40 or more. As of the time of this writing, I have an accepted answer with a score of 41 on ...
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11
votes
2
answers
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My improved answer based on another's accepted answer for my own question
Yesterday, I asked a question in which I stated a primary requirement but also asked for an optional improvement. The primary requirement was answered perfectly, and I upvoted it and accepted it. ...
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9
votes
1
answer
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Is it possible to search self-answers using the advanced search?
Is there a way to find self-answers with the advanced search?
Preferably, not using the data explorer and including results of all time and not just the recent ones with the new share your knowledge, ...
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votes
8
answers
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Is it generally frowned upon to answer your own question immediately?
I am not a big Stack Overflow user these days, but I had an issue today that I couldn't find an answer to (on Stack Overflow or elsewhere online) -- long story short is I spent some time ...
7
votes
8
answers
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views
How do sites moderate self-answered questions?
Historically our beta site has discouraged self-answered questions.
The site has been running for 6 years (3 questions/day, 98% answered, 3 ½ answers/question, and very few questions are closed).
The ...
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6
votes
1
answer
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Is there an etiquette for asking questions originally intended to be self-answered?
According to Oded's answer to What are limitations on self-answered questions? self answered questions have the same quality requirements as "the other" questions. So if we found a question ...
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5
votes
2
answers
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Posting to share knowledge instead of a strict Q&A
I have a post that I made to share with others my experience of app submission to the iOS App Store. I don't know what I should do except post a question and answer it myself. I don't know how to move ...
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answer
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I have a stupid self-answered question. Should I accept my own answer?
This question which I asked was genuine at the time, but I realised that the solution gave the right advice, but required me to restart my Linux (which wasn't mentioned in the solution).
It's a bit ...
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4
votes
4
answers
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Is it appropriate to answer one's own question with code derived from another answer?
I've come across this situation a few times, and I'm not sure what to make of it. A user will post a question, often there is a bug in his code that he cannot find. Someone, perhaps multiple people, ...
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3
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Most recent bad behaviours of Stack Overflow users I have faced [closed]
I have a serious question about Stack Overflow, and I think Meta Stack Overflow is a good place to make myself correct on my confusions.
As we know, Stack Overflow is a Q/A forum. ...
user233372
54
votes
2
answers
618
views
Don't ask high-rep users if they're sure they want to answer their own question
I've been answering a lot of my own Meta questions lately and I'm really tired of seeing this:
I'm a moderator and 15k rep user. I know when to answer my own question. Especially on Meta where self ...
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33
votes
2
answers
341
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Give badges to people for coming back and answering their own question
Someone's asked why you can't earn the self-answer badge more than once the answer being that it's intended to help people learn about the site's functionality. Answering your own question is ...
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24
votes
4
answers
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A way to reduce criticism and down-voting for answering your own question
Answering your own question, even if you know the answer before asking, is acceptable and encouraged according to the FAQ:
There are already numerous posts that answer their own questions. There's ...
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7
answers
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Rep-requirement for Answering Own Question [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Limiting Self-Answers
It appears to be a common mistake of the new-user to treat Stack Overflow as if it were a forum, posting the initial question, and then adding follow-up ...
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16
votes
2
answers
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Is there stigma associated with self-answers on certain network sites? Or different etiquette? If so, why?
Background
I was told in chat that some sites don't / might not see self-answers in a positive light, which I found surprising, having read the (fairly old) "It’s OK to Ask and Answer Your Own ...
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