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I am new to the VLQ queue. I was met with this answer to review (as VLQ):

Why do you have two NTFS and two ext4 partitions? I'd suggest backing up all data on partitions except sda1 and sda2. Remove all partitions except sda1 and sda2 and then fill this empty space with one ext4 partition.

Once this is done you can boot from your installation media and proceed to install Ubuntu on to the new (should be sda3) partition created.

My first instincts said to say "Looks OK" because of the salvageable content. But I looked at the question and found that it did not answer the question. So should say "Looks OK" and then I flag it as Not an Answer?

On a second look, it has come to my attention that there is a bit of controversy on this answer - two Looks OK and one Recommended Deletion.

Link to the review

TL;DR - What should I do if VLQ is not applicable but it is still a bad answer/question?

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    I know that "Skip" was the right thing to do because of my lack of knowledge, but I am asking what should I do in the future.
    – fosslinux
    Apr 12, 2018 at 3:45
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    Might be useful to link to either review or the post itself.
    – muru
    Apr 12, 2018 at 4:33
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    I wouldn't call that NAA, if only because it seems to answer (1): "Are my partitions good enough to handle future requirements and Did I assigned wrong spaces at locations ,actually need recommendation from experienced users/developers in this regard" (at least, it looks it does try to answer that with this: "I'd suggest backing up all data on partitions except sda1 and sda2. Remove all partitions except sda1 and sda2 and then fill this empty space with one ext4 partition.")
    – muru
    Apr 12, 2018 at 4:47
  • @muru Ok, sure. Your reasoning makes sense. But it isn't VLQ?
    – fosslinux
    Apr 12, 2018 at 4:50

1 Answer 1

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The name of the queue is Low Quality Posts, not VLQ (Very Low Quality).

Posts sent to this queue include those flagged as NaA (Not an Answer), and since the VLQ flag is of limited use (where it applies, the NaA flag may generally be reasonably applied anyway), posts in this queue are far more likely to have been flagged as NaA than VLQ.

I believe, though I may be wrong, that posts flagged as Spam or as Rude/Abusive are also sent to the Low Quality Posts queue, although they are likely to be deleted before they reach the queue by the flags themselves or by moderators.

See How do I flag correctly? for guidance on flag usage.

As explained in the linked post, VLQ only applies when the post cannot be salvaged by editing, meaning that it does not make any sense at all. If the post seems not to be an attempt to answer at all, or seems not to be an answer to this particular question (it misunderstands or misses the point of the question), then it is flaggable as Not an Answer.

At first reading, the post in question seems to attempt to answer the question asked, so seems not to be flaggable as NaA. However, it lacks detail, since it doesn't explain how to do what it suggests. This means that it could be improved by editing (what is being suggested is certainly clear). That means that the VLQ flag does not apply.

If you know how to improve this post to make it substantially more useful as an answer to this question, you can choose Edit. That will complete the review, immediately removing the post from the queue, and resolving the flag as helpful, as the system will consider the post to have needed fixing and to now be fixed. (If you want to make superficial edits to the post like fixing formatting, and you are not sure whether it should be deleted or not, you can click the link to the right of the post in review and edit it outside of the queue to avoid completing the review.)

If you think an answer should be deleted, you can Recommend deletion or Delete in this queue. See Why and how are some answers deleted? for guidance. If you do not think the post should be deleted, but you cannot edit it to improve it yourself (perhaps it does not need improvement at all), you should vote Looks OK, leaving a comment for the author on how to improve if it seems helpful to do so.

In this case, I think the post is neither VLQ nor NaA and should probably not be deleted. I don't know how to edit this post, so I would probably vote Looks OK and perhaps advise the author to add some more details.

Also, since I don't have much experience in the topic and unsure whether this answer was really useful, I might simply Skip the review. It's always fine to do this. The skip button is your friend. When you are unsure, let someone who knows better deal with it.

If you are not sure whether the post qualifies for deletion, or you think that it does not, but you still think it is of low quality, you may follow the link to the post and downvote it. This post seems possibly worthy of downvoting to me. If the answer seems to be an answer, but seems to you to be wrong or misleading, you should definitely downvote it.

Also note that although we cannot downvote directly from the queue, downvoting posts that should be deleted is helpful, because it makes it easier for users with >20k reputation to cast delete votes on the post, and makes it more likely that people will notice it and flag it or vote to delete it.

If, on the other hand, you feel the post is actually a useful answer (as it is, or after your edits to it), you should upvote it :)

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    A reviewer may, in addition to any of these things, choose to click the post link and cast a downvote or upvote vote on the post. Apr 12, 2018 at 8:53
  • Thanks @EliahKagan :) I have added some notes about voting, which I realised I should do while editing the question the flagged answer was posted to. Actually "downvote it" is probably the answer to ubashu's question in bold... hmm...
    – Zanna Mod
    Apr 12, 2018 at 9:00
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    @Zanna thanks for the very comprehensive answer on the Low Quality Posts queue. This clears up so much. Thanks!
    – fosslinux
    Apr 12, 2018 at 20:48

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