Questions tagged [etiquette]
Etiquette is the norms and standards of accepted behavior and politeness in our community. The golden rule is "Think before you post."
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How long should I wait before posting a second answer to a question I have already answered?
When I have just answered a question and a second approach strikes me a few minutes later, should I post it right away or wait for some time? Is it acceptable if I post it a few minutes later? I would ...
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People using comments to answer questions [duplicate]
I have been noticing new questions often have answers in the comments instead of the answer list.
What is the rationale behind this?
I have seen this with users that have a lot of reputation too, so ...
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How should I inform a user I'm using their answer in a book?
I used my popular question Do Projects Ever End Early? as the basis of a book I wrote. (Available for free, for a limited time, here.)
What is the appropriate protocol to inform the 14 users whose ...
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Is it possible to require pre-approval for content on an SE site? If not, how can I deal with a site with too much hostile content?
The comments on this Politics SE answer are but one of example of how argumentative and caustic people can be to each other specifically on that SE site compared to other SE sites.
I am open to the ...
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Clarification - Code of Conduct - Sensitive content and questions
The section "Sensitive content and imagery policy" of the Code of Conduct available on this page states that the network does not allow some types of content or imagery including
Sexually ...
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Etiquette for inviting to chat: Asking about removing "noise" / "chit chat" from own Meta SE answered questions
I want to clean up my posts on Meta Stack Exchange from noise/chit-chat.
I know that these edits should not invalidate the answers. How should I proceed if I'm unsure about a part? More specifically, ...
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Is "spoon-feeding" banned like it is "help vampire"?
As an ESL, low proficient speaker moderator of an English-only site, I frequently take terms and phrases from the Stack Overflow blog and Meta Stack Exchange and the link sources. Is "spoon-...
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Should edits to one’s own answers be isolated and highlighted? [duplicate]
I’ve observed that some answers include sections at the bottom that are explicitly labeled Edit or the like. But there are also many other answers that (as the system indicates) have been edited but ...
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On which sites is off-site research strongly encouraged or required, and for what types of questions?
My understanding has been that off-site research to find answers to a question before posting is generally not required to ask a question on a Stack Exchange site. Searching for duplicate questions ...
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A comment is better than my answer - should I remove the answer?
I answered a question, and a user later added a correct comment that would actually make a better answer than mine. Should I remove my answer?
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Is "the community" an arbiter or an authority of "belonging" on the site?
tl;dr version: Is "the community" a legislative body or a judicial one?
In What topics can I ask about here? there are a few guidelines right at the top that ostensibly inform you whether or ...
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Should comments that only serve to self-deprecate be flagged? If so, how?
For example, "I'm such a X", or "I feel like such a X", where "X" is often "idiot", "moron", or some other words I don't like to see or say.
Such ...
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Is there stigma associated with self-answers on certain network sites? Or different etiquette? If so, why?
Background
I was told in chat that some sites don't / might not see self-answers in a positive light, which I found surprising, having read the (fairly old) "It’s OK to Ask and Answer Your Own ...
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Is there a list of ChatGPT or other AI-related discussions and policies for our sites?
Lately, the use of ChatGPT on the network has become controversial, with Stack Overflow completely banning using generated text for content and several other sites considering bans.
Could we get a ...
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Would anyone support a feature request to give users a "no comments" option when posting a question?
Who would support this idea of a "comments off" toggle on your own questions when you post a question? Requests for clarification would be submitted, and publicly displayed after approval - ...
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How do Stack Exchange sites that do not require professionals work?
This is just from assumption, but the Stack Exchange websites such as Movies & TV or Anime & Manga are most likely having their questions answered by similar viewers and readers, rather than ...
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Reversing and redownvoting to force reputation loss
Background
I am aware of the reasons reputation has a floor of 1, and I think that's just fine. Occasionally I will downvote a post whose OP has a reputation of 1. I'm OK with how the downvote will ...
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Is it ok for a moderator to join a private WhatsApp or Telegram group with users from the same site they moderate?
All SE sites already have chat rooms and meta sites to discuss things related to the main site. However, some like-minded users can sometimes create parallel groups on WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram, ...
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Where in my cross-posted question should I mention that the question is cross-posted?
What I understand about cross-posting: Usually, don't. But whenever you do (like if it's really justified to do so), then mention it.
Ok, assuming for the sake of argument that something is allowed to ...
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Can the recommendation to ask a new question when it's closed be removed everywhere? It never works [duplicate]
Since my previous question was closed as a duplicate but the issue wasn't resolved, I'm asking a new one as the close reason recommends me to. It either demonstrates the issue or should stand based ...
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Having 'nice' text - are we too strict? [duplicate]
I recently posted an answer and also have posted questions as well with text like
"Thanks for your help"
"I hope this helps you"
"I hope this is helpful"
These types of ...
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Posting questions on different Stack Exchange sites [duplicate]
I asked a question on unix.stackexchange and after not getting an answer for two days I asked the same question on Ask Ubuntu. There I got an answer immediately.
Should I now delete my first question, ...
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On using SE as a sort of survey of perspectives on hypothetical issues. Also, on posting same questions in different SE sites to do so [closed]
I am writing a science fiction novel. It is my first time trying to write sci-fi. My knowledge of science is rather amateur. I have, somewhat seriously, taught myself physics and chemistry. On ...
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How to ask a question when self-answering?
I've been researching lots of questions in the game World of Warcraft (WoW), and usually the answers to practical questions such as "Where is an item located?" are buried in the comment ...
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Is it good etiquette to stall accepting an answer just to raise the visibility or advertise your question?
I am a user in several SE sites and I regularly observe the following situation. There are posts with many good answers and the OP stalls to accept any of them. First of all I am aware that:
When I ...
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Does the Age Eligibility section of ToS apply to biological or mental age? [closed]
Current version of the Public Network Terms of Service (accessed 2021-02-13) includes a section about underage users:
3. Age Eligibility
You must be at least 13 years old to access or use the Network ...
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What constitutes an affiliation disclosure?
The guidelines for expected behavior state:
The community tends to vote down overt self-promotion and flag it as spam. Post good, relevant answers, and if some (but not all) happen to be about your ...
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Is it acceptable to edit old posts to change ASCII-styled tables to the new table syntax?
Before the introduction of table support, there were various posts across the network that used ASCII-styled (or other similar) tables as a workaround. An example of this is this answer.
Is it ...
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Dealing with a question you've answered, but have partially / completely misunderstood?
I'm pretty sure this happens to someone out there now and then:
You've read a question, done the work with writing a pretty decent answer, at least you think you have, then you find some detail in the ...
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Preempting inadequate answers and the ‘XY problem problem’
A number of times I have asked a certain kind of ‘attractive nuisance’ question – that is, one in which I anticipate a certain kind of answer would be given that I already know I am going to find ...
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Challenge delete policy for a question with a low quality answer
On my first question on a specific Stack Exchange site, someone basically answered: "You can find the answer online".
Since they're top 2%, and the answer has upvotes, it's not my place to ...
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Appropriate way to refer to your own Feature Request from a related post?
I recently made the feature request Support browser "reader views" to allow user-controlled formatting
This is a standalone FR, but it is also a relevant as a potential solution (and at ...
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Could we describe what we think two questions have in common, when claiming that one question is possiblely a duplicate of another?
I know that when someone claims that a question is a duplicate there is an option to edit the question to make it more clear how it's different from the other question. Sometimes it can be clear how ...
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Is there an etiquette for answering questions originally intended to be self-answered?
This question is inspired by Is there an etiquette for asking questions originally intended to be self-answered?.
A few times, I have encountered a self-answered question with a question that seems to ...
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Dropping a question, and then just logging out and leaving [duplicate]
This is an etiquette and maybe even rules question.
I take the questions I ask seriously over at StackExchange. I form my question in an editor, I check for clarity and make edits, I take care to ...
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What is the etiquette for extending my question?
I've recently asked a question, then thought about it more, and now I want to add to my question something like "I've tried A and it didn't work. Might B work?"
What is the etiquette for this kind of ...
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What is the opposite of the XY problem?
There is the XY problem, where a solution for X is wanted, but a question about Y is asked.
I think there's also the problem of the assumed XY problem, where a question about Y is asked, but X is ...
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How can I prevent wholesale changes to my question? [duplicate]
I have a question on Stack Overflow which some one has taken the liberty of editing massively. I reverted the question, and in my re-revision stated, among other things, that I felt the edits missed ...
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How to handle situation when another community member has a different view?
Yesterday, I get into an interesting conversation which I don't know how should it be handled.
I had a question regarding enabling and disabling a functionality in Laravel Nova, after some hours, I ...
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Is the use of "Disclaimer" to disclose existent affiliation correct?
We all know that on Stack Exchange users are required to disclose affiliation with links and potential promotions they post. In case of being unaffiliated, one often writes a "disclaimer". Searching ...
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Educating users gently about pronoun usage
This is a follow up to Can a user use neopronouns for any third party? where the community response has been "don't use neopronouns that are uncalled for".
It seems to me that certain people ...
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Is it considered poor form to answer old and inactive questions? (thread resurrection) [duplicate]
I think the title says it all. On some support boards and forums it is considered poor form because it causes activity that bothers some. Especially to those that monitors that site's "newest changes" ...
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Is this an appropriate place to call for the resignation of an SO employee?
In a completely hypothetical situation wherein a known employee of Stack Overflow takes public actions that are objectively detrimental to both the company and community, and for which actions shows ...
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Pinging etiquette
Say somebody gets annoyed and writes, "Don't ping me again." (In a discussion below a post.) I'll try to reconstruct the approximate situation (this part of the comment discussion was removed).
A:...
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If someone is hurt by a literary reference, should it be removed?
Today I submitted an answer supporting Monica, using a reference to a famous short poem First they came .... The reference itself incurred quite some dispute that drove me into asking this question.
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To reach out: on Monica, the Lavender community, and the future of the Stack Exchange network
Edit: While I do stand by my personal opinion that Monica did not intend harm, I regret posting this as if my position as a queer nonbinary person allowed me to speak for whether or not Monica Did ...
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Directly editing or leaving a comment instead? [duplicate]
I tried to find a faq post about that, but couldn't find one.
When should one directly edit a post and when should one just suggest improvement in comments instead?
So far, I have been using my "gut ...
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How to (or request feature to) designate the answer you submit as partial or diverging? [duplicate]
Beware! This is my first SE post, so some of what follows may be seen as taboo by more experienced or professional community members. I wrote as clearly & well-formatted as I could.
For TL;DR, ...
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Have we already had discussions about how to function more effectively in such a culturally diverse online community?
Tl;Dr
The Stack Exchange community is culturally very diverse. Please help me find discussions on Meta SE about how to be nice with all the community members while moderating the sites and communicate ...
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Does Stack Exchange insist on a special language for posts? Please describe
Reading a bit about recent Monica Cellio related posts, I am afraid that I may be using a language that is a lot like English, but might not be the Stack-Exchange-approved version of English. For ...
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