All Questions
32,010
questions
578
votes
1answer
63k views
How does the bounty system work?
It's possible to offer and award bounties of reputation on questions.
What is a bounty?
How can I find questions that have a bounty attached?
How do I start a bounty? When can I start a bounty?
Why ...
564
votes
1answer
80k views
How does “Reputation” work?
On Stack Exchange, users may gain a certain level of reputation.
What does reputation do?
How can a user gain or lose reputation?
See also
What is reputation? How do I earn (and lose) it? in the ...
255
votes
1answer
125k views
What can I do when getting “We are no longer accepting questions/answers from this account”?
If you are reading this, you may have been affected by one of our post quality bans. If so, it is important that you read the following information to understand what has happened and how to regain ...
796
votes
9answers
44k views
What are the badges I can earn on each site, and what are the exact criteria for earning each badge?
Formerly List of all badges with full descriptions.
What are badge name's requirements?
Why didn't I get badge name (right now)?
Which badges can I earn multiple times?
Jump to:
Question Badges
...
829
votes
73answers
173k views
The Many Memes of Meta
Catchphrases and concepts that spread from person to person are known as memes, which, courtesy the Internet, can now explode across the Earth like a highly contagious virus (hence "going viral"). As ...
483
votes
1answer
83k views
How does deleting work? What can cause a post to be deleted, and what does that actually mean? What are the criteria for deletion?
What circumstances can cause a question or answer to be deleted, and what does that actually mean?
How can a post be deleted?
When can't I delete my own post?
Can I still see my post even after it's ...
388
votes
1answer
28k views
Which computer science / programming Stack Exchange sites do I post on?
There seems to be more than a few computer science/programming Stack Exchange networks (is that the correct term?). Stack Overflow, being the first, has by far the most users, questions, and answers.
...
645
votes
1answer
121k views
How do comment @replies work?
How do the comment replies (aka "pinging users") work?
Who can I send an @reply to?
How do I respond to a specific user when entering my comment?
Will they be notified?
What do people mean ...
986
votes
1answer
97k views
What are “Community Wiki” posts?
Some questions and answers are marked Community Wiki and are owned by a community wiki user:
(In fact, this very question is one of them)
Why have Community Wiki posts?
How do Community Wiki posts ...
1812
votes
0answers
105k views
FAQ for Stack Exchange sites
Community FAQ
For sites in the Stack Exchange 2.0 network
To see a list of commonly used words and phrases, see the glossary.
For official guidance from Stack Exchange, visit the Help Center.
Asking ...
291
votes
1answer
40k views
How do suggested edits work?
When clicking "edit" I see:
Your edit will be placed in a queue until it is peer reviewed.
We welcome edits that make the post easier to understand and more valuable for readers. Because ...
601
votes
149answers
72k views
Formatting Sandbox
Notes:
Answers will occasionally be moved to the Sandbox archive when there are too many of them. When using them to report bugs, keep an eye on the post.
This site, Meta Stack Exchange, is usually ...
87
votes
7answers
5k views
Give each site a parallel site for polling, recommendations and subjective-ish stuff
Stuff like polls, recommendations based on subjective constraints, puzzles, webcomics etc. do not belong on the serious main SE sites, where professionals should be considered at work and having just ...
702
votes
1answer
42k views
How do I get attention for one of my own questions without a good answer?
I asked a question almost as soon as I got my account. I got a few decent answers, but none of them helped solve my problem. The question has long since become buried by newer questions, and there's ...
1067
votes
1answer
461k views
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 ...
573
votes
1answer
27k views
What is serial voting and how does it affect me?
I just noticed that I lost a bunch of points from my reputation score, and I used the "reputation" tab on my user profile page to try and track down the cause.
During my investigation, I noticed ...
167
votes
1answer
33k views
How can one link / merge / combine / associate two accounts / users? (Anonymous / unregistered / cookie, or Google / Facebook / registered)
I accidentally posted a question without being logged in. Is there a way to associate that question with my account?
Return to FAQ Index
For more information, visit "I accidentally created two ...
1177
votes
32answers
43k views
Encouraging people to explain downvotes
Note: If you're looking for a simple explanation as to why comments aren't required on downvotes, see Why isn't providing feedback mandatory on downvotes, and why are ideas suggesting such ...
781
votes
13answers
72k views
Recent feature changes to Stack Exchange
This is an unofficial list/changelog of new features and various changes to Stack Overflow and the Stack Exchange network.
It is maintained by the community, while a Stack Exchange employee changes ...
189
votes
1answer
32k views
How do comments work?
Across the Stack Exchange network you may leave comments on a question or answer.
How do comments work?
What are comments for, and when shouldn't I comment?
Who can post comments?
Who can edit ...
1048
votes
35answers
106k views
Should 'Hi', 'thanks', taglines, and salutations be removed from posts?
I edit a lot of posts every day. I often run across posts with 'Hi' and 'Thanks' on the top and the bottom of the post respectively. I also run across things like:
--User
Should these items be ...
367
votes
1answer
259k views
How do I format my code blocks?
How do I post text so that it is formatted as code?
What do I need to do so that my code shows up properly — not escaped or removed — when posted? And how to get the correct syntax ...
736
votes
1answer
128k views
Which tools and technologies are used to build the Stack Exchange Network?
What tools and technologies are used to build the Stack Exchange Network?
See also: Which tools and technologies are used to build Data Explorer?
Return to FAQ index
338
votes
2answers
79k views
Database schema documentation for the public data dump and SEDE
Stack Exchange releases "data dumps" of all its publicly available content roughly every three months via archive.org, and also makes that information queryable over the Internet at the Stack Exchange ...
212
votes
1answer
50k views
Which browsers are officially supported, and what else do I need?
Which browsers are officially supported by Stack Exchange?
Also, what else is needed in order to use every feature of the site?
Return to FAQ index
529
votes
1answer
89k views
What is syntax highlighting and how does it work?
I noticed that sometimes my code gets highlighted in different colors when rendered.
What is syntax highlighting?
How does it work?
Why isn't my code being highlighted correctly?
How do I report a ...
198
votes
1answer
25k views
What is a “closed” or “duplicate” question?
Questions can be closed or marked as duplicates.
What does it mean for a question to be "closed"?
What does it mean for a question to be marked as a "duplicate"?
Who can close a ...
299
votes
12answers
79k views
Enable automatic deletion of old, unanswered, zero-score questions after a year?
Related to Meta Super User efforts:
Old unanswered inactive questions with low views/votes
and Meta Server Fault efforts:
Cleaning house, really old, unloved questions
We already auto-remove ...
1443
votes
51answers
53k views
Fastest Gun in the West Problem
I feel like there's a problem with Stack Overflow, as the number of people prowling it increases.
Each question's answers are sorted by descending score and then by descending time of posting. This ...
620
votes
8answers
343k views
Are answers that just contain links elsewhere really “good answers”?
I have often wondered at the practice on Stack Overflow, Server Fault, and the other sites where someone will ask a question and an answer will come in that says Look here: http://link ...
290
votes
3answers
47k views
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 ...
432
votes
1answer
19k views
A site (or scraper) is copying content from Stack Exchange. What should I do?
Since day one of Stack Overflow, all content posted on Stack Exchange sites by their users (i.e. you wonderful people) has been provided to the whole universe under the CC BY-SA license. For my fellow ...
323
votes
1answer
65k views
Why do I need 50 reputation to comment? What can I do instead?
Users with less than 50 reputation points cannot write comments on questions and answers that they don't own.
Why does this limit exist?
But I want to contribute now. What should I do instead?
But I ...
1086
votes
2answers
326k views
Are there any clones/alternatives for running a Stack Exchange style Q&A site?
Since the source code for this site isn't available for purchase or external use, I'm looking for software that can run a Q&A environment similar to Stack Exchange. Are there any such pieces of ...
267
votes
1answer
80k views
How can I delete my account?
How can I delete my Stack Exchange account(s)? Also,
What happens to my content? Can I request it be deleted as well?
What if I'm suspended, rate-limited, or banned from posting questions or answers?
...
115
votes
1answer
10k views
How can I propose a new site?
I have an idea or subject that should have a Q&A, and want to propose a new site. How can I do this?
Related: What makes a winning site proposal?
Return to FAQ index
955
votes
23answers
91k views
Show all of my question/answers to me even if they are deleted
I would really like to see all of my questions and answers on the profile page, even if some of them were deleted, and I don't have enough rep to see them on the site.
(Note that some questions are ...
573
votes
13answers
18k views
Exit strategies for “chameleon questions”
I'm not sure if there's already an existing term for this, so I'm inventing my own.
(tl;dr: I call them "chameleon questions" because they change every time you submit or edit an answer. If ...
1802
votes
50answers
43k views
Could we please be a bit nicer to new users?
There is a distinct decline in the level of civility on all the sites here. Some of this is due to new users coming in and posting spam and other nonsense, but the off-topic and downvote buttons are ...
72
votes
4answers
4k views
How does Meta Stack Exchange work?
Meta Stack Exchange seems to have different rules and user behavior than the "regular" Stack Exchange sites. How is it different?
Individual questions answered below:
What do votes mean on Meta? ...
261
votes
1answer
39k views
How do question bookmarks work?
What does bookmarking a question mean?
How do you bookmark a question?
Do users get updates on their bookmarked questions?
How do you see your own bookmarks?
How do you see other users' bookmarks?
How ...
292
votes
2answers
29k views
What are the “spam” and “rude or abusive” (offensive) flags, and how do they work?
When flagging, there are two special case options: spam and rude or abusive.
What is spam, and when should I flag content as such?
What is considered offensive, rude or abusive content?
How does the ...
490
votes
1answer
263k views
What HTML tags are allowed on Stack Exchange sites?
The Stack Overflow site engine, as you know, uses Markdown for questions and answers. Per the Markdown specification, you are allowed to freely intermix HTML and Markdown tags.
Not all HTML tags are ...
312
votes
1answer
14k views
The Complete Rate-Limiting Guide
I noticed that I can only perform certain actions such as commenting a finite number of times in a given period of time. Obviously, rate limiting is in place to prevent accidental misuse or ...
194
votes
1answer
19k views
How do I change my login provider(s)?
I no longer use the service that I originally used to register, and would like to change the service I use to log in, or at least add a second account.
Is this possible? How do I change my login ...
130
votes
1answer
12k views
How do “badges” work?
What are badges?
How do users get badges?
How can users get tag badges?
Can badges be lost/revoked/taken away after they are awarded? If so, how and when?
How can I suggest a new badge?
For more ...
442
votes
5answers
34k views
Is cross-posting a question on multiple Stack Exchange sites permitted if the question is on-topic for each site?
It is possible to migrate a question from one Stack Exchange site to another by closing, but if I have a question that I think is on-topic for multiple Stack Exchange sites, is it OK to post it on ...
352
votes
1answer
11k views
What are review tests (audits) and how do they work?
I recently received this rather amusing message while reviewing a user's first post:
Congratulations!
This was only a test, designed to make sure you were paying attention. This post
has already been ...
189
votes
1answer
25k views
What is migration and how does it work?
I posted a question which was closed as off-topic and it seems like it could fit on another site in the network. How can I go about moving it there?
What is migration?
When can a question be migrated,...
211
votes
1answer
38k views
What can I do when getting “This question body does not meet our quality standards”?
While trying to ask a question, I got the error message
This question body does not meet our quality standards. Please make sure that it completely describes your problem - including what you have ...