All Questions
Tagged with discussion answers
60 questions
21
votes
1
answer
283
views
Is it okay to ask a user to accept an answer for his/her question?
Recently I have seen questions where few good answers were given but no answer was accepted and no comment was left on any answer i.e no activity from the user who asked the question. Is it okay to ...
- 13.1k
37
votes
3
answers
670
views
Is it possible to ask a Question you already know and answer it
After reading this question: Ought one to answer one's own question? what happens in the case that you know several questions that will further help the community but you want to make the question ...
- 215k
29
votes
6
answers
874
views
How can we improve the site's answered rate?
According to this our answered rate (percentage of questions with an upvoted answer) is now 76%. We took a big hit with the number of new questions for 12.04/12.10 and the difficulty of being able to ...
- 72.9k
10
votes
3
answers
181
views
What should we do about answers with Link Rot?
Many times users simply post an answer to a question which contains a link to an offsite page with little or no context. When that link breaks, what should the policy be to handle those?
- 48.6k
5
votes
1
answer
220
views
How should answers which basically equate to "give up and use x instead" be handled?
Let's say we have a question of the form "How can I make X do Y?" and it is a perfectly valid, on-topic question. Now suppose someone then posts an answer which basically says "Forget X and just ...
- 14.9k
18
votes
1
answer
168
views
Flag answers that should be comments?
As new users can't comment, they sometimes posts answers that would have been comments if they could. Should we flag them so they can be cleaned up properly, or leave them alone because that's how the ...
- 14.4k
15
votes
4
answers
293
views
How to handle duplicate answers that add nothing?
I'm not talking about exact copying, failure to give credit, or one person passing off another person's answer as their own.
Rather, I'd like to know what the best practice is when one user answers a ...
- 119k
14
votes
3
answers
747
views
Should one answer one's own question? [duplicate]
And if one does, is it bad form to then select one's own answer as the preferred one?
Here's the particular case I have in mind:
How do I add a program that must be run from within its own directory ...
8
votes
2
answers
438
views
Should I flag answers with just a link to another site?
I've been going through review lately and flagging answers. I come across a lot of answers like this one that just have a link with no explanation.
Personally, I really dislike these types of answers....
- 13.6k
2
votes
2
answers
160
views
On what basis is the position of an answer decided?
Consider a situation where there are multiple answers on a single question. By how much do these factors weigh in when deciding the position of an answer in top to bottom order?
Number of up votes
...
- 9,106
-2
votes
1
answer
118
views
Moderators should be able to mark questions as answered
I know about similar requests, but after stumbling over this question (just an example; question poster answered himself using edits instead of an answer) I thought you should at least add an option ...
- 109k
21
votes
1
answer
372
views
Please don't flag link-only answers as Very Low Quality
Lately I notice that many link-only (or link-mainly) answers are being flagged as Very Low Quality, so I am taking to meta to ask y'all to use the Not An Answer flag for link-only answer (LOA) posts ...
ZannaMod
- 71.6k
16
votes
3
answers
599
views
Me-too post? Or partial answer?
Where do we draw the line between "I'm having the same problem, too" posts and partial answers?
This answer and its comments are what have motivated me to ask this. But I'm hoping for a ...
- 119k
14
votes
1
answer
401
views
Should I flag "me too" answers?
I am seeing a small issue with "me too"s on a few questions, especially common hardware that often has driver issues, like this question. Should this be flagged, commented, or something else?
- 20.8k
13
votes
2
answers
363
views
Another "why was my answer deleted" looking for advice to be better
I am new to posting questions and answers on SE, although not new to using the various SE resources. I also get the need for questions and answers to be concise and accurate, we all need answers and ...
- 31
12
votes
3
answers
229
views
What should I (or we) do about answers that obviously miss the point of the question entirely?
I came across this answer to “Adobe PDF for Ubuntu 64 bit 15.10” recently. The question is about installing Adobe Reader on recent Ubuntu releases. The answer explains the whole story with the ...
- 36.7k
11
votes
1
answer
193
views
When to add another answer instead of updating my current one?
If I click on the Add Another Answer button, a warning pops up:
Are you sure you want to add another answer?
You could use the edit link to refine and improve your existing answer, instead.
When ...
- 69.8k
11
votes
2
answers
772
views
Should we unpin the accepted answer from the top of the list on meta?
This is the partner to my other question, concerning specifically Meta Ask Ubuntu. Because accepts may have a somewhat different meaning or purpose on meta I am posting this question to gather ...
ZannaMod
- 71.6k
11
votes
1
answer
297
views
What is the policy for dealing with plagiarism?
Over the last couple of weeks there has been a growing number of answers that are unabashed copy/pastes of entire posts from sources around the web. These have generally been pointed out in the ...
- 23.9k
9
votes
2
answers
194
views
Accepted answer that you don't agree with during review audit
As I was going through and reviewing posts, I saw this one.
I downvoted it and then got this message:
STOP! Look and Listen.
This was an audit, designed to see if you were paying attention. ...
- 11.3k
8
votes
2
answers
135
views
What to do with answers that are just a link to a page that requires registration/login to view?
This answer is an example of an answer that is just a link, and to a page that requires a user account just to view.
Creating an account on that external site is free. You can even log in with a ...
- 119k
8
votes
2
answers
264
views
Is it acceptable to make small edits?
If a user edits an answer to make a small edit that increases the aesthetic value of it. Should it be acceptable?
NOTE: this is not a duplicate of: How to make small but important edits?
That ...
- 2,099
7
votes
3
answers
134
views
Answers based on Ubuntu wiki
Quite often there are questions to which there is an answer on http://help.ubuntu.com.
What is the preferred approach to answer such a question? Should one answer the question based on the content of ...
- 14.5k
4
votes
1
answer
154
views
Is it OK to post, and how should we deal with, non-English (or partly non-English) answers intended for translation? [duplicate]
Questions in languages other than English, or which contain non-English text and translated text, have been discussed before on meta.
But what about answers that are written in other languages? How ...
- 119k
2
votes
2
answers
212
views
Is it appropriate to Ask question and provide an Answer to topic which is not mentioned?
Hi,
My question is about when somebody have a solution (e.g., specific problem which affect a couple of people), but nobody ask for different reasons. This question is similar as Should we seed the ...
- 43
35
votes
2
answers
4k
views
PSA: gksu is no longer installed by default
Turns out gksu is no longer installed by default. Some things still depend on it so it might be installed on your system - but on a clean install, it seems it's no longer required. As for why, see: ...
OliMod
- 297k
19
votes
5
answers
859
views
Should we unpin the accepted answer from the top of the list?
Community manager Nicholas Chabanovsky has posted this on Meta Stack Exchange:
Unpinning the accepted answer from the top of the list of answers.
On Stack Overflow, apparently, answers are now by ...
ZannaMod
- 71.6k
18
votes
2
answers
177
views
Should I consider the timeline while accepting an answer?
Assume that, I get an answer to my question that is OK, and i accept it. After a while I get another answer that is seemed to be more OK.
Now what should I do? Should I accept the new answer? If I ...
- 197
16
votes
1
answer
212
views
Is there an accepted definition of "future proof"?
I was reviewing a question where I noticed that it was recommended to "future proof" older answers. I must admit that even after searching https://meta.askubuntu.com/search?q=future+proof I'm baffled ...
- 36.4k
15
votes
3
answers
301
views
Comments in the answer section from new users
This addresses all the new users out there:
Every day here I see new users commenting in the answer section and saying things like
I don't have the rep to comment but....
It seems redundant that ...
- 18.8k
15
votes
3
answers
240
views
What should I do if someone makes a bad edit to my post?
I've been searching to see if this was already asked; sorry if it's a duplicate, couldn't find an answer.
I've been wondering what I should do if someone bad edits my post?
For example, I explain ...
- 490
15
votes
2
answers
181
views
Making users wait to answer their questions hindering a new user's progress?
Ok so SE has this feature that doesn't let new users answer their own questions in like 6 hours or something. While I appreciate that this helps cut down on whatever big-city problems stack overflow ...
- 72.9k
13
votes
1
answer
237
views
What can be done with duplication of answer
Sometimes I found out on single question One answered and after some time another answer which is very similar to 1st (may with negligible too-minor edit), say duplication of 1st answer!
Which seems ...
- 36.8k
13
votes
3
answers
321
views
Is it ok to comment and see if it works before answer?
Is it ok to comment an answer to the OP because you can't test it, and then you answer if it works? Or should you just answer?
- 3,871
12
votes
3
answers
196
views
Hyperlinked answers with no content
I've noticed a lot of questions where an individual has linked to external content to answer a question without bringing in the actual information. Some of these questions, the links are dead (even ...
- 2,460
12
votes
1
answer
178
views
If the answerer answers the question in the comments of their answer, should the OP accept that answer?
Let's say the question is:
How do I open Terminal Quickly?
I have been looking for an easy way or short-cut to open the Terminal quickly, so I don't have to find it in the Dash.
And the answerer ...
- 1,698
11
votes
1
answer
341
views
Two answers on one question by the same user
What is the correct thing to do when someone posts two different answers to the same question?
Here is my example, I am not trying to say "This user did this wrong!", we have only had a couple of ...
- 18.8k
10
votes
3
answers
311
views
What do we do about answers which propose to introduce a blatant security risk?
So, scanning recently edited things, I found an answer to this question here which is accepted but introduces a massive security risk of storing a keyring with no password.
To that end, I have a ...
Thomas WardMod
- 77.1k
10
votes
2
answers
3k
views
What is a Work in Progress Answer?
I've posted a Question about thumbnailers and even found a half baked answer, the answer that doesn't work, and then I updated my question with the half baked answer that I found asking to fix the ...
- 9,106
9
votes
4
answers
328
views
Should I answer a question which already has an accepted answer?
The title pretty much sums up the question.
If a question has already an accepted answer, should I still try to answer it?
Provided that the answer is not similar to the accepted answer, but an ...
- 7,177
8
votes
1
answer
123
views
Why was my answer flagged as missing sources?
https://askubuntu.com/a/1371070/448998
The Community bot flagged this answer for missing sources:
Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further ...
- 295
7
votes
1
answer
224
views
Should almost identical answers be deleted?
Today I asked a question, and I got this answer, however in a few minutes another answer was posted:
Now this answer is almost identical to the first:
Except for the fact that it does not give an ...
user364819
6
votes
1
answer
60
views
Should comments that answer a question be marked obsolete after full answers are posted?
Sometimes a comment is posted that answers a question. This is not even always wrong--sometimes the comment is insufficiently detailed to constitute a good answer.
Then, sometime later, a good, ...
- 119k
6
votes
2
answers
185
views
What is the most appropriate way to bring an old/outdated question up to date?
How should one bring an older, but appropriate Q & A thread up to date?
Specifically, I am referring to this question. But, I would like to understand what position the community consensus is for ...
- 19.8k
6
votes
3
answers
208
views
Why are the accepted answers always on the top of the answer list?
Currently (from what I can see) the rules for ordering the answers in a question is:
Accepted answer (no matter what votes it has)
Answer with most votes numbers below the accepted answer
Answers ...
- 74.3k
6
votes
1
answer
251
views
Why does Recommend Deletion have an option for link-only answers?
I have recently joined the 2000+ Club and was awarded the privilege of reviewing Low Quality Posts.
If you have not yet seen the following question and its answers, you are urged to go through them (...
- 13.5k
4
votes
5
answers
134
views
What to do with answers that should be comments, but get deleted?
As the reputation requirement to comment is pretty high (50), many new users who want to contribute to the site use answers to leave a comment on questions, e.g. to request additional information ...
- 109k
4
votes
2
answers
195
views
Should I flag answers which only suggest "install a different OS"?
I've seen a few answers which are essentially saying "install a different Linux distro, and you won't have this problem". Even if the answerer is acting in good faith, trying to be helpful, but the ...
- 23.4k
4
votes
1
answer
122
views
What to do when an answer is just a (very good) request for information?
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 ...
- 119k
3
votes
3
answers
137
views
Revealing bug report considered answer?
I've seen this a few times, where an answer is given, and all it says is "This is a bug, see this link...", etc.
This post is an example (at least one of the answers is, it came up in a review).
Is ...
- 3,843