13
votes
How should we ask for improvements to questions and answers?
Clarity in answers (and questions of course) is important. Where it is lacking, we should seek to improve that -- it does nobody any good if people end up answering the wrong question or if an answer ...
- 55.7k
10
votes
How should we ask for improvements to questions and answers?
In addition to everything said by Monica, I think being overly-clear about your expectations of an OP can never hurt (unless you do it in a condescending way).
For example, if someone asks a question ...
- 57.3k
10
votes
Why comments and not answers?
I leave comments that are undeveloped answers so others can build on them to make an answer if they want.
- 31.3k
9
votes
What Yodeyan slang terms are there?
Rfפ - Request for פְּסַק (pesak / rabbinic ruling)
Presumably pronounced, if at all, "arr eff pay."
This is shorthand for a characteristic of a question that could cause it to be closed on Mi Yodeya ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
9
votes
Accepted
Answering a question hinted to in a comment
Yes. This is a great thing to do. Please do this whenever you see a chance to do so.
If you see a comment that's pointing towards an answer, and you are able to flesh it out into a helpful answer ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
9
votes
How to avoid answering in comments
Regarding comments that point to a source that could provide an answer, the optimal outcome is that someone uses that source to write up a proper answer. One example of a community initiative that can ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
8
votes
Accepted
What's our policy on 'thanks' comments?
More often than I'd like, I answer and am left to wonder whether my answer addressed the asker's concern. The asker's thank-you comment on the answer accomplishes that. I agree that, once the answerer ...
msh210Mod
- 73.4k
8
votes
Accepted
Dealing with incorrect answers
Edits that go against the author's intent are bad whether the post is an hour old or a year old, so please don't do that. Here are some things you can do instead:
Provide a better answer (if you can)...
- 55.7k
7
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to access my comment outbox?
Yes. On your profile, first go to the "activities" tab and then choose the "comments" sub-tab. This will show you a date-ordered list of comments you've posted that have not been deleted. (Like ...
- 55.7k
7
votes
How to see deleted comments
According to a a Stack Exchange employee, there is no way for non-moderators to view deleted comments, nor will Stack Exchange implement such a feature. Sorry.
As a piece of device from Shog's answer:...
- 18.6k
7
votes
What's our policy on 'thanks' comments?
If the comment is purely a "thank you," then it's probably not necessary....but no reason to flag as "too chatty," in my opinion, because (as you quoted from animuson), it is certainly nice to ...
- 18.6k
7
votes
Explaining the difference between an answer and a comment
I think a much clearer and to the point response would be something along the lines of:
Answers are only for content that directly address the question. Any
other content relevant to the question ...
- 47.8k
7
votes
Accepted
Questions where I have left a comment
In your user profile, under the activity tab, under the all actions tab, you'll find a tab listing all your comments.
Double AAMod
- 95.1k
6
votes
Why was my comment deleted?
I don't know what the nature of your comment was or why it was deleted, but comments are, according to SE doctrine, "temporary 'Post-It' notes left on a question or answer" for the purpose of ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
6
votes
Can someone request restoration of parts of a deleted answer?
Comments are second-class citizens and are always subject to removal. Any important information should be in a proper post.
This I feel confident is not going to happen.
Double AAMod
- 95.1k
5
votes
Some matters regarding comment deletion
Thank you for bringing your concern to meta.
I believe your post is based on some pretty fundamental misunderstandings, so before I respond to your request, I'm going to address those. They are in ...
- 55.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Standard comment for users who likely need to be merged
Hi [insert username]. Your name looks familiar; is [this other account](link to other account) also yours? If so, please [ask for them to be merged](/help/merging-accounts). That way, you can keep ...
- 22.8k
5
votes
What Yodeyan slang terms are there?
O-Cmon (also O-כמאן) - A fictitious kosher-certification agency with notoriously low standards.
This hechsher was first mentioned on a PTIJ question from 2012 asking what a particular strange marking ...
- 24.3k
5
votes
What Yodeyan slang terms are there?
PTIJ / p-t-i-j - Purim Torah - in jest
This term is the initialization of the purim-torah-in-jest tag, which is applied, in accordance with the Purim Torah policy, to in-season non-serious questions.
...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
5
votes
Is it OK to post extensive comments as answers?
From our Help Center's page on "How do I write a good answer?":
Answer the question
Read the question carefully. What, specifically, is the question asking for? Make sure your answer ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Prompted for a comment on my downvote
That's an auto-prompt from the SE engine, which apparently is not smart enough to detect your comment upvote. (I guess when you vote it checks for a comment from you.) If I recall correctly, the ...
- 55.7k
5
votes
Can an OP request that a group of comments be deleted or archived?
This is a symptom of a bigger problem: comments aren't supposed to be for that kind of chatting. They're to improve the post in some way. So if somebody asks a question about something in the post, ...
- 55.7k
5
votes
Why comments and not answers?
If I don't have an answer at all but have some information that can lead to an answer, I will often post it as a comment.
msh210Mod
- 73.4k
5
votes
Deleting your own obsolete comments
I can't speak for the other moderators, but when I'm facing obsolete flags on comments the first thing I do is pop open the deleted comments so I can see the flags in context. For me that's a one-...
- 55.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Later comment(s) vitiates answer
The answer should definitely not be deleted. Consider that all clarifications to questions (and answers for that matter, but here we are discussing a question) are supposed to be edited into the ...
- 47.8k
4
votes
Can an OP request that a group of comments be deleted or archived?
You can always request deletion of comments by flagging them. If your intent is to flag a collection of comments, the best way is probably to flag the first one, choose "other ..." as the reason, and ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
4
votes
What Yodeyan slang terms are there?
This image is an excerpt from a screenshot of the Badges sidebar on the front page of the Judaism Stack Exchange beta website1, indicating that user Shalom was awarded the bronze badge for answering ...
Isaac MosesMod
- 46.7k
4
votes
Accepted
Flagging an obsolete comment with a non-obsolete response
I think the comments have to go. They don't help the post (but rather, the old post), so they go.
That said, if the information is valuable then we should try to save it somehow. This could mean:
...
Double AAMod
- 95.1k
4
votes
Mass-deleting of comments threads
From the description of the "comment everywhere" privilege:
When should I comment?
You should submit a comment if you want to:
Request clarification from the author;
Leave ...
msh210Mod
- 73.4k
4
votes
Mass-deleting of comments threads
You can always see the edit history of a question or answer by clicking the edited link that appears next to the time stamp of how long ago it was edited. Here is an example.
Regarding comments, for ...
- 31.3k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible