30
votes
Accepted
What should I do if I find the answer to an old question of mine that was automatically deleted as abandoned?
It's better to pursue undeletion (with edits). Deletions are designed to be reversible. There's an "undelete" link right there, which implies that it's meant to be used when the problems that led to ...
- 183k
23
votes
What should I do if I find the answer to an old question of mine that was automatically deleted as abandoned?
Monica's advice on fixing the question is solid - anything you can do to correct whatever caused it to not get the necessary attention the first time around is worth doing.
In particular, take this ...
- 454k
22
votes
Self-answering a non-question
Ignore the self-answer when evaluating the question. Is the question valid?
A person may face an actual problem and find an answer to that. All outside Stack Exchange. Then that person might wish to ...
- 2,499
20
votes
How do sites moderate self-answered questions?
I'm a moderator on two sites, on both of which I've earned Reversal badges on meta for defending self-answered questions to OPs who suggested discouraging or disallowing them:
https://scifi.meta....
- 33.5k
19
votes
Accepted
Enable marking posts as answered on a different site? It seems like a good idea to me
Recently I asked a question on stack overflow, but then found an answer on computer science stack exchange
While copying the answer verbatim isn't right, there's nothing stopping you from referencing ...
- 186k
18
votes
Is there an etiquette for answering questions originally intended to be self-answered?
Unless it has been closed or locked every question asked is still available to answer.
When a question is self-answered and that answer is not of the highest quality I would encourage potential ...
- 35.7k
16
votes
Should I say "You" to myself in self-answers?
IMHO, it doesn't really matter. Just like novels are sometimes written in third person, sometimes in first person (and even in second person, as I learned a week ago), pick one of the two styles and ...
GlorfindelMod
- 253k
15
votes
Is it a problem if a user posts "many" self answered questions?
If they're low quality questions, or low quality answers, then it's a problem, and you should treat the situation exactly the same as any other time where you see a user with a pattern of providing ...
- 76k
15
votes
Is there a bias against using the "answer your own question" feature?
This can't be comprehensively answered because the premise of not deserving downvotes tacitly assumes that the question and answer pair were useful. Without seeing the Q&A pair and without ...
- 58.3k
14
votes
Accepted
Self-learner badge has been incorrectly awarded
The question and answer were originally posted by Juan M, and during the first few minutes they were live they both had a positive score (+5 or so, if I recall correctly). If you expand the Nov 14 ...
GlorfindelMod
- 253k
14
votes
Is it typical for self-answered questions to be downvoted?
Is it typical for self-answered questions to be downvoted?
We can even answer that with the help of the Stack Exchange Data Explorer. It took me a while because there's such a vast number of ...
GlorfindelMod
- 253k
13
votes
Is there a bias against using the "answer your own question" feature?
Whether or not there are biases, it's not reflected in the votes; which is the premise of your question.
SEDE - Glorfindel's Query: "Downvotes on self-answered questions":
Total
Average ...
- 17.9k
11
votes
Make self-accepted answers rise to the top
The biggest (from my point of view) problem with this request is that it can lead to abuse and becomes particularly problematic on meta.
Pinning has the side effect of getting the answer more ...
- 109k
11
votes
Accepted
Is it typical for self-answered questions to be downvoted?
Self-Answer
The main reasons for self-answered questions to be downvoted typically have nothing to do with a discouraging attitude towards self-answering. Instead, as pointed out above, these are the ...
- 343
11
votes
Is there stigma associated with self-answers on certain network sites? Or different etiquette? If so, why?
I feel like it's very much a matter of perceived intent more than anything else. If it's a 'low hanging fruit' type question or a simple one, that's self-answered, it might not go great.
If it's an ...
- 186k
10
votes
Hide votes for self-answered by community wiki questions for a few hours
Curation does not deserve a delay, even for self-answered questions. If the content is actually good, then the positive votes will outweigh the negative votes. While I won't disagree with the ...
- 58.3k
9
votes
Accepted
Is it OK to ask and answer a general question?
Is it fine if I do that?
No. The question is too broad, as you yourself acknowledged.
That you intend to answer the question yourself in no way changes the quality standards of the question. The ...
- 76k
9
votes
Accepted
Should the question of a Q&A have the same details as if it weren't a Q&A?
Both the question and your answer need to stand on their own.
Without your answer, are there enough details in the question that someone (besides you) could answer it? No? Then you need to fix that ...
- 24.8k
9
votes
Accepted
If someone answers his own question why don't they get upvotes?
People vote answers up because they're helpful, not because its author is smart. Good answers gets many upvotes because the comunity think it's helpful to further readers (or themselves). There are ...
9
votes
Make it clearer that a question is self answered
I find the whole premise:
I have noticed that when people are asking a question just to self answer it right away, they - for very obvious reasons - does not put to much effort into the actual ...
- 38.1k
9
votes
Accepted
If you answer your own question will you be credited once or twice for the "people reached" statistics in your profile?
I found this user whose only contribution is a self-answered question (with a positively scoring answer) with (as I'm writing this) 30 views, and a 'people reached' value of 30. That would suggest the ...
GlorfindelMod
- 253k
8
votes
Accepted
Is it bad to create large number of self-answered questions which are textbook problems?
Self-answers are in principle absolutely fine. They have some common pitfalls that you must be careful not to fall into:
If this is a small site, be careful of flooding the site with lots of similar ...
- 36.3k
8
votes
Prevent answer ban from kicking in for a single honest mistake for a new user
I kind of suspect this is a mix of the system working as designed, and some degree of getting used to 'how we do things' compared to a forum. And really what the user did makes complete sense on a ...
- 186k
8
votes
Accepted
Answering your own question, but don't accept answer
I've had the same angst as you about whether people would look at my posts as some sort of attempt to generate somehow-illegitimate rep. There will always be people who are suspicious of the motives ...
- 4,562
8
votes
Is there an etiquette for asking questions originally intended to be self-answered?
I think that this is about quality rather than etiquette.
From @Oded's answer to What are limitations on self-answered questions?:
The limitations on self-answered questions are the same limitations ...
- 35.7k
7
votes
Accepted
Does self-answering a question increase reputation?
Does it increases reputation ?
You do not get the 15 points (or the +2) for accepting your own answer on a self-answered question. However, votes still count as usual (that is +10 for an upvote, -2 ...
- 26k
7
votes
Special status for questions with self-answers
And when somebody asks a question, gets no help, and later finds a solution on his own -- and comes back to share it -- would you revoke the reputation earned from the question before that point?
And ...
- 183k
7
votes
Accepted
Should I include a partial solution in my question? Or should I post it as an answer?
Don't post half-answers, especially if you know the solution did not work for you.
There is nothing wrong with outlining your initial progress as part of your overall problem statement. Just put it ...
- 111k
7
votes
Accepted
Add status-completed tag to my question
Is there a process or way for me to add or suggest that tag to my question now that is solved?
You can flag your question as "in need of moderator intervention" and suggest the addition of the ...
- 4,413
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible