I keep on seeing percentage of accept rates beneath account info showing at answers or questions. what I don't get is, what are they? what do they do?
asked Aug 17, 2011 at 18:52
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This is probably in the FAQ on any SE site, or could be asked on meta.SO.– MitchAug 17, 2011 at 19:49
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I was about to vote to close this because it is so obviously 'general reference' but... I couldn't find this mentioned anywhere. In the FAQ, it encourages you to accept answers in order to reward the answerers, but there is not mention of 'accept rate' and that phrase is not to be found anywhere (anywhere that I looked).– MitchAug 17, 2011 at 19:51
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@Miltch ....so?– Phonics The HedgehogAug 17, 2011 at 19:53
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2For my first comment, the question is general reference -style-, for regular sites or meta sites; that is, it should be easily searchable without having to bother asking explicitly. My second comment shows that the information is actually missing, and that the documentation here should be fixed.– MitchAug 17, 2011 at 20:42
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1 Answer
Accept rate is the percentage of questions you've asked for which you've accepted answers. By accepting an answer (that check mark you only see when you are the question author), you let future searchers know that that answer was most helpful in solving your problem.
Accept rate is not displayed for users who have asked very few questions.
Accept rate does not include very recently asked questions (so you aren't penalized for waiting a couple of days to see if a better answer shows up).
Some users feel that their time is best spent answering questions for which the questioner is likely to accept an answer -- either because they want the chance at the reputation awarded when one's answer is marked "accepted", or because they want to help other visitors to this site find the right answer faster.
Accept rate is calculated and displayed by the site, but has no actual effect. It's just there for other users to see.
