All Questions
99,412
questions
2811
votes
9
answers
321k
views
A Terms of Service update restricting companies that scrape your profile information without your permission
Update (April 19, 2016): This change is now live. You can view the updated Terms of Service here, or read about them below.
tl;dr:
We’re planning to make some changes to our Terms of Service to stop ...
- 52.7k
2563
votes
45
answers
260k
views
Firing mods and forced relicensing: is Stack Exchange still interested in cooperating with the community?
The last weeks and days have seen some erratic behaviour by Stack Exchange Inc., such as likely illegal changes to the content license and the firing of an upstanding community moderator with no ...
- 15.1k
2355
votes
30
answers
145k
views
Stack Overflow is doing me ongoing harm; it's time to fix it!
Over the last month, Stack Overflow has violated its own policies
and precedents to cause egregious and unnecessary harm to me -- to my
reputation (personal and professional), to my health, and to my ...
- 182k
1966
votes
7
answers
725k
views
What is the XY problem?
What is the XY problem?
When asking questions, how do I recognize when I'm falling into it? How do I avoid it?
Return to FAQ index
Other languages:
ES, JA, PT, RU
1868
votes
51
answers
49k
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 ...
1859
votes
0
answers
124k
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 ...
1597
votes
46
answers
56k
views
Thank you, Shog9
@Shog9, a longtime Community Manager here at Stack Exchange, has just tweeted that he is no longer working at Stack Overflow:
@shog9: Well... I suddenly find myself in need of work.
If anyone's ...
- 75.4k
1528
votes
51
answers
64k
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 ...
1268
votes
13
answers
19k
views
Don't throw away all votes when a user is deleted
Currently, when a moderator deletes a user all of the user's votes are removed along with the user themselves. I was pretty surprised at this behaviour when I first heard about it, and I don't think ...
- 185k
1247
votes
31
answers
47k
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 ...
1195
votes
3
answers
365k
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 ...
1182
votes
14
answers
111k
views
Moderation Strike: Stack Overflow, Inc. cannot consistently ignore, mistreat, and malign its volunteers
Update
On August 2nd, 2023, negotiations between community representatives and representatives of the company concluded with an agreement being reached. The details of the agreement can be found at ...
- 75.4k
1122
votes
32
answers
119k
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 ...
1112
votes
1
answer
530k
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 ...
1098
votes
3
answers
15k
views
Why is Stack Overflow trying to start audio?
I often have my browser's devtools open since I'm often debugging a snippet. I noticed this message often recently:
Why is Stack Overflow trying to start audio?
Update.
I see it's from an ad(?).
...
- 4,520
1060
votes
1
answer
111k
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 ...
1017
votes
22
answers
89k
views
Firing Community Managers: Stack Exchange is not interested in cooperating with the community, is it?
Less than a month ago, there was some settling of the incident with firing Monica. It's obvious that there was not a lot of approval from the community on the course of action chosen by SE, or the ...
- 10.5k
1007
votes
24
answers
96k
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 ...
- 13.2k
941
votes
56
answers
20k
views
Why aren't people voting for questions?
While at least some answers from every question seem to have been up-voted as a "helpful" answer:
about 49% of questions have score of 0 or 1.
another 21% of questions have a score of 2.
Most ...
928
votes
25
answers
242k
views
Is there Markdown to create tables? [duplicate]
It seems like a lot of people try to display tables in Stack Overflow questions, but don't do a very good job. Is there Markdown syntax that supports creating a proper table?
- 10.8k
888
votes
76
answers
193k
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&...
885
votes
21
answers
13k
views
Allow an edit to notify downvoters: "I think I've fixed the issue now - please check"
To me, a downvote usually indicates a problem with an answer. When I downvote it's to mark the answer as having a problem, not the person. If the answer is fixed, I want to remove that downvote - but ...
- 93.7k
860
votes
21
answers
18k
views
Can we have the ability to retract a close vote before it closes?
Sometimes you vote to close something and the OP then changes it to fix the issue or issues. You can't take a close vote back though. It would be nice if you could.
With the new Duplicate close ...
- 48.3k
846
votes
1
answer
21k
views
What does "user was removed" mean and why did my reputation change because of it?
Message appearing when a user was removed.
It seems I lost 1765 reputation points on Stack Overflow yesterday. The reason given in my history is "removed", with the description of
User was ...
843
votes
9
answers
48k
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
51
answers
30k
views
Net Neutrality and Stack Overflow / Stack Exchange
It's July 12th! (2017) (in Coordinated Universal Stack Exchange Time)
Today we're gonna be showing a banner directing readers to the blog post (and thus, indirectly, this discussion) from every Stack ...
- 447k
826
votes
25
answers
10k
views
Give an incentive for finding duplicate questions [duplicate]
At present if you see a question that may be a duplicate and has an easy answer you can post the answers or post a link to the duplicate question. (Or the few hi-rep users can vote to close it as ...
- 26.7k
810
votes
15
answers
77k
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 ...
810
votes
16
answers
43k
views
Thank you, Robert Cartaino
The title says it all.
Thank you, Robert Cartaino, for everything you did for SE and the community.
I don't post much on MSE, but have been a mod for about eight years. There is a lot that can go on ...
- 6,487
782
votes
21
answers
67k
views
Moderation strike: Results of negotiations
We have reached the following conclusions during negotiations between community-selected strike representatives and representatives of Stack Exchange, Inc. This aims to address most of the concerns ...
- 75.4k
772
votes
1
answer
142k
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
768
votes
41
answers
32k
views
New Feature: Table Support
Update: I've just enabled this feature network-wide. All sites across Stack Exchange are now able to use tables. Thanks for all the feedback. We'll keep monitoring this question and we'll continue to ...
- 11.6k
746
votes
3
answers
61k
views
Your answer is in another castle: when is an answer not an answer?
I think we can all agree, this sucks:
If you've been around a little while, you've probably encountered hundreds of answers like this in various forums, some of them even marked as "The Answer&...
- 447k
734
votes
1
answer
45k
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 ...
730
votes
26
answers
88k
views
Stack Exchange Public Q&A access will not be restricted in Russia
Like so many people around the world, we are watching the tragic and unlawful invasion of Ukraine unfold. Several of the discussions on Meta and in conversations with us have raised the question of ...
- 20.2k
726
votes
7
answers
42k
views
Dear Stack Exchange: a statement and a letter from your moderators
Dear Stack Exchange, Inc.,
We know you know about this already, so we'll keep this brief. The past two weeks have been rough. Lots of moderators have lost confidence in you; for some, it was the final ...
- 36.3k
720
votes
37
answers
225k
views
Six simple tips to get Stack Overflow reputation fast
From "6 Simple Tips to Get Stackoverflow Reputation Fast" at codexon.com:
Be the First to Answer. Even at the cost of quality.
Use Downvotes and Comments Strategically
Use obnoxious in-...
718
votes
1
answer
71k
views
What is the association bonus, and how does it work?
I was just awarded +100 reputation on all of my Stack Exchange accounts.
What is this bonus for? It simply says "Association Bonus" on my reputation overview.
Also:
What privileges does the ...
703
votes
1
answer
137k
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 ...
696
votes
147
answers
28k
views
Help us test the shiny new "User Activity" page! (Plus a bunch of new features.) [duplicate]
We've launched! Please give feedback here.
Today, we're shipping the new "Activity Page" of the Profile here on Meta SE, so you can test it out and hopefully share some feedback and ...
- 52.7k
696
votes
6
answers
329k
views
How do I escape a backtick ` within in-line code in Markdown?
How do I escape a backtick ` within a code block?
This is probably a duplicate, since I'm sure it's a common concern, but I can't find a question that addresses this specifically.
How do I write ...
- 9,972
681
votes
19
answers
116k
views
Any way to send a personal message to another user?
There has been quite a few times that I wished I could send a message to another user on SO - not ask a question for everyone to see, but just a short message informing them of something or requesting ...
- 10.9k
670
votes
18
answers
26k
views
Monica's situation continues unresolved. Is SE hoping the problem just goes away?
This surfaced in the apology thread, but I believe it deserves more exposure.
The apology thread was posted October 6th, 2019. In it, the idea was expressed that SE, the company, had done wrong by ...
- 10.1k
658
votes
8
answers
411k
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: https://link ...
642
votes
281
answers
87k
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.
You may also want to take a look at the ...
624
votes
13
answers
21k
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 ...
- 34.9k
617
votes
1
answer
125k
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 ...
615
votes
1
answer
70k
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 ...
613
votes
2
answers
16k
views
Winter Bash 2016 - All Hats [closed]
I decided to start the traditional secret hats post, but instead of just another "here is how you get the secret hats" post, to also add in all the hats. There are two answers: one for the ...
585
votes
55
answers
63k
views
We're switching to CommonMark
I’m Ham and I’m a developer on the Teams team here at Stack Overflow. Over the past few months, I’ve been heads down working on the way we turn Markdown into HTML when writing and editing posts across ...
- 11.6k