23
votes
Accepted
Is changing quotation marks from German style to English style a constructive edit?
In and of itself, yes it is constructive. The "German" quotation mark style is not used in any version of English that I know of.
However, it's not a substantive edit. If there are other formatting ...
- 14.8k
15
votes
Problematic Users
Account suspension can occur for a variety of reasons. Repeated complaints and flags against a user are amongst those reasons. They are not the only reasons for account suspension.
In general, it is ...
Kit Z. FoxMod
- 27.8k
12
votes
Flag etiquette and effectiveness
From my perspective, moderation is only indirectly about teaching people to become good citizens. The goal should be to foster an environment where folks feel free to participate and can enjoy the ...
- 1,352
11
votes
Becoming more welcoming to new users, how?
While there is the occasional rude individual, perceived but unintended slight, or even an otherwise polite user acting out of frustration, I suspect that the lion's share of the tension comes from a ...
- 38.4k
10
votes
Accepted
Becoming more welcoming to new users, how?
(I'm not sure that this'll count as an answer. Or even be useful. It's just my ramblings based on the question.)
Yep, I totally agree that experienced users commenting can come across as ...
- 14.8k
8
votes
Is it offensive to use someone's comment as a basis of another question on its own?
Objectively, what you did seems to be above board.
Subjectively, the use of the word "Sadly" in your new question may have been taken to have cast aspersions on the commenter:
Sadly, this comment ...
- 38.4k
8
votes
Accepted
Etiquette re: Answering a question that has been "answered" in comments
It's absolutely fine for you to post an answer regardless of what people have said in comments. If you have a definitive answer that will cover what the OP asked, have at it!
The most obvious ...
- 6,791
7
votes
Edit someone else's answer, or post my own?
For the particular example you give: Allow the OP about 24 hours to respond to your comment; this takes into account differing time zones and the fact that the OP may have a life apart from ELU. Then ...
- 26.2k
7
votes
Edit someone else's answer, or post my own?
There will be divided opinion on how best to handle this. Some feel that editing the missing info into the OP's answer is spoon-feeding them and not our job. Some feel the appropriate response is to ...
- 55.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Etiquette with regard to Downvotes
I've checked your reputation page now, and it appears to me that those serial downvotes are timed mere seconds or minutes apart.
The first thing you can do is wait.
The system has in place some ...
NVZMod
- 22.6k
7
votes
Feature Request: Answer/User tags
I think most of this information is best handled by being included either in the post (or comment) itself or in your user profile, if at all.
I can't really think of a single descriptor for myself ...
LaurelMod
- 65.1k
7
votes
Accepted
Is it good to migrate questions which are on-topic and have answers?
My reasoning for not migrating is as you have stated.
Mods are advised against migrating questions that are on topic where they currently are and have positively received answers. (Moderators can see ...
- 29.1k
7
votes
Accepted
When can we use screenshots?
Pictures are, in general, "inaccessible" — that is, they can't be searched for, and they can't be read by screenreader software. Someone who relies on having the internet read to them ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 101k
6
votes
Feature Request: Answer/User tags
answer
It's perfectly possible to prefix answers with tags: you can even make them up as I've done here. Actual existing tags can be used which will provide a link to questions with that tag, which ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 101k
6
votes
Is it offensive to use someone's comment as a basis of another question on its own?
Your title here is very misleading.
Of course it is ok to quote a comment or part of an answer.
What is bad about your LL question is the framing. You're disparaging the contents of the quote. You'...
- 70.8k
5
votes
Becoming more welcoming to new users, how?
It is undeniable that the minimum site expectations of an acceptable answer must be clearly explained to the new member:
(1) it should answer the question as asked by OP
(2) it should be adequately ...
- 7,300
5
votes
Becoming more welcoming to new users, how?
SO could help with setting an expectation of required editing of OP:
?"We understand that if you are confused or stuck it might be hard to word your problem on your first attempt (but please try!...
- 5,765
5
votes
Becoming more welcoming to new users, how?
This is the first introduction to your pages. Pretty nice, right? Nowhere does it say "Please begin your tour by looking at our standards for answers and questions. Then dive in. You will be ...
- 370
5
votes
Accepted
Should/Can one upvote oneself?
You can't vote (up/down) for your own post.
But you still can vote to close, reopen or (un)delete your own posts.
NVZMod
- 22.6k
5
votes
Editing an answer to remove a section plagiarised from your own answer?
You answered it first.
But yours lacked depth, details, and formatting, compared to hers.
People usually vote up beautifully formatted and detailed answers more.
Can't say she copied yours - maybe she ...
NVZMod
- 22.6k
5
votes
Problematic Users
I think it's worse behavior to try to get someone suspended for criticizing your answer. It's fine by me if people are deterred from sharing their views and opinions; that's not what this site is for. ...
- 80.3k
5
votes
Feature Request: Answer/User tags
There have long been desires to have information on questions and answers that says things about the author: what their native language is, some other indication of authority, context, etc.
Here on ...
- 70.8k
4
votes
Flag etiquette and effectiveness
Use comments to criticise posts, not users.
Publicly advising a person can most likely upset them, and the issue is only magnified in the case of online text only exchanges where you do not show your ...
NVZMod
- 22.6k
4
votes
Edit someone else's answer, or post my own?
Write your own answer. You may think your answer is better, and you may be correct. Alternatively, you might be wrong. The other poster may have very good reasons not to include the information that ...
- 45.1k
4
votes
Etiquette with regard to Downvotes
Another reason could be that, like RaceYouAnytime mentioned, some users downvote answers simply because it's under an off-topic, too-broad, or unclear question, as a means to discourage users from ...
NVZMod
- 22.6k
4
votes
Feature Request: Answer/User tags
For my own part, I resist any effort to categorize or label me in a way that planes off all nuance. I am not a This or a That, but in certain circumstances I may partake of some aspect of Thisness or ...
- 151k
4
votes
May I speculate in comments?
We are a shoot-askers-down community with a crew of hawkish eagle-eyed downvoters ready to slay and humiliate new users with the temerity to ask a question that they haven't the vocabulary to ask ...
- 45.1k
3
votes
Is it offensive to use someone's comment as a basis of another question on its own?
Clearly the person you quoted was offended, as I take from this quote from this comment:
gaazkam, what you seem to have done there appears very deeply offensive. You need both to rectract it and to ...
- 7,148
3
votes
Is it ethical / tolerated to cancel, edit and repost an answer
In the comments under Andrew Leach's now-deleted answer, you mentioned that you're referring to the following question:
Can one correctly hyperbolize the "take with a grain of salt" idiom?
...
NVZMod
- 22.6k
3
votes
Editing an answer to remove a section plagiarised from your own answer?
The purpose of editing is to clarify or otherwise improve a post. Feel free to add citations and attribution when it is clear what the probable sources are (e.g. a direct quote containing many words). ...
- 38.4k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible