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What should I do when I come upon a question that's missing some information, which has been requested...but only in an answer that does not actually attempt to answer the question, nor even to outline or even hint at how the information could lead to an answer? Should I repost it in summary (and in quotes or my own words) as a comment, in case it's deleted? Should I flag it for moderator attention? Should I do both? Neither? Something else?

This "answer" is what I have in mind (though who knows if it will still be there, and still fit this description, when you are reading this). But I find this happens frequently, and I've never been quite sure what to do.

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These should be flagged as not an answer:

This was posted as an answer, but it does not answer the question. It should possibly be an edit, a comment, another question, or deleted altogether.

When you do so, you should probably also post a comment explaining that the answer's content needs to be moved into a comment on the question (since it is clearly asking for clarification from the OP), and possibly add a link to the FAQ if the answerer's reputation score seems low enough to justify it.

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    Yes! Posting a comment on the question is such a great help for us dealing with the flags.
    – Stefano Palazzo Mod
    Commented Nov 28, 2011 at 12:57
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    There's also a script for pro-forma comments.
    – Stefano Palazzo Mod
    Commented Nov 28, 2011 at 12:58

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