39
votes
Is it acceptable to use unicode fonts for general discourse (Questions/Answers/Comments)?
NO.
Font styles should not be manipulated in any way beyond the tools given to us by Stack Exchange (bold, italic, block quote, preformatted, etc.) or basic html (strike-through, breaks, etc.)
...
- 59.6k
30
votes
Is it acceptable to use unicode fonts for general discourse (Questions/Answers/Comments)?
First of all, some relevant nitpicking: This user is not using a different font, but special Unicode characters that are intended for Cyrillic, phonetics, mathematics, and other uses that are not ...
- 3,304
29
votes
Do we want Smoke Detector to auto flag spam?
Clarifying Smokey
Let me start with a very brief summary of what Smoke Detector does, since there's been some confusion over this. (Charcoal people, please correct me in comments if I get anything ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 134k
26
votes
Should we encourage or discourage flags for personal taste?
Every group of people who interact on a regular basis develop their own social norms, unique to the blend of individuals who comprise the whole. Different customs, humor, jargon, they all become key ...
- 1,038
26
votes
Accepted
Was I "not very nice"?
Einar Petersen's post was a link-only, partial answer at best. Valorum used the hints provided at the link to find the story. It would not have been appropriate to edit the information into Einar's ...
- 4,742
26
votes
Accepted
Is a user allowed to ask the same question twice if they didn't get an answer the first time?
Thanks for raising this. As Kevin said, the usual policy on story-ID duplication (both must be answered and have confirmation that the answer is correct) doesn't apply for this type of scenario. I don'...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 134k
25
votes
Are analogies acceptable as answers?
Of course.
An argument by analogy is a perfectly good example of a reasonable argument which can be used to support a point. If someone asks why X happens in a work of sci-fi or fantasy, it may well ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 134k
24
votes
What was spammy, rude or abusive about this answer?
It was flagged in error
I flagged it, because I mistook it for trying to advertise the song.
I should have taken a second look.
But by the power of mod magic the spam flag has been removed and the ...
- 81.8k
20
votes
Accepted
What is the proper recourse for bubble-burster comments?
Should these types of comments be flagged, addressed, or merely ignored?
If you feel that a comment is not constructive, flag it.
If a comment does not relate to improving the question or one of the ...
- 9,433
18
votes
Accepted
Why was this 'not an answer' flag on a rant about US declined?
There is an answer buried in that wall of text:
So back to question, why would a Jedi serve a corrupt democracy? well why are our leaders doing the same thing in real life? because generations of ...
NullMod
- 69.5k
17
votes
Is it acceptable to use unicode fonts for general discourse (Questions/Answers/Comments)?
I had a somehow related discussion on the main network wide meta site. Here is the link:
Zalgo in user names and effects on comments rendering
As you may see from Mark Gravel comment:
I'm pretty ...
- 6,490
17
votes
Are analogies acceptable as answers?
A poor attempt at an answer is still an answer
The bar for what constitutes "an answer" is extremely low. From what you say, the user was attempting to answer the question, which is more than enough ...
- 21.1k
17
votes
Am I misusing the "Not An Answer" flag?
The Not An Answer flag has nothing to do with whether the answer answers the question. It has to do with whether the answer is an answer. That is, was the person posting it at least trying to answer ...
- 103k
16
votes
Why was this 'not an answer' flag on a rant about US declined?
Although I can't comment on the particular moderator's reasons for declining the NAA flags, I agree with the decision; despite all the noise, there is an answer in there:
why would a Jedi serve a ...
- 163k
15
votes
Accepted
Why was this flag declined?
I declined this "rude or abusive" flag.
The relevant guidance on main meta for when to use the rude/abusive flag is:
If an otherwise valid post contains vulgar words as an expression of ...
NullMod
- 69.5k
14
votes
Is a user allowed to ask the same question twice if they didn't get an answer the first time?
For Stack Exchange in general: We didn't put "already has an answer" into the flag description. That's a network-wide requirement: Dupe targets must have an upvoted or accepted answer, "with the ...
- 9,433
13
votes
Should I flag "Why all the Downvotes" comments as obsolete?
I think that all "Why the downvote?" comments are pointless and should be flagged and deleted.
In general, I think those comments are not constructive because the meaning of a downvote is right there ...
- 9,418
12
votes
Accepted
Is it better to flag with a custom flag or a preset one?
Clear communication between flagger and handling moderator.
That's the optimal situation when you're flagging anything. You want the moderator to understand why you're flagging and to agree with your ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 134k
12
votes
Accepted
Why was this flag disputed?
Arguably this lump of text
"if like I said elves have dominant traits that would have a higher
chance to pass through each generation instead of the human ones then
technically Aragon would ...
- 677k
12
votes
What is the proper recourse for bubble-burster comments?
Speaking as someone who periodically posts those sort of comments ...
In Star Trek Beyond, how does terminal velocity help "jump start" the Franklin?
"Because terrible writing"
...
- 677k
12
votes
Is this question Rude?
I think this a valid question and the "offensive" part can easily be removed without changing the premise of the question.
I have done just that in an edit.
- 59.6k
11
votes
Accepted
Why this comment was appropriate?
I declined this flag. Others have linked to various SciFi Meta threads on this issue, and I will admit that many of them suggest that they should be flagged and deleted.
I declined it in part because ...
NullMod
- 69.5k
11
votes
Should we encourage or discourage flags for personal taste?
Everyone knows the MPAA ratings are horribly inconsistent and flawed. To say that any image or sequence of images within a PG-13 rating would be appropriate to be displayed indefinitely in the main ...
- 114k
11
votes
Accepted
If someone uses all of their flags, are they not allowed to flag anymore?
Flag limits
See How many flags does a user have per day? and On the recent changes to flagging and limits on main meta. You get a fixed flag allowance each day, varying from 10 to 100:
default 10 per ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 134k
11
votes
Let's get aligned on our site specific usage of the Not an Answer flag
As Shog9 notes:
That said, there's a change I would love to see to this flag text, that might make some small difference here: stop using the word "answer" to refer to both the post itself ...
- 38.5k
11
votes
Do we want Smoke Detector to auto flag spam?
To give you a bit of background, I'm the user that posted the current post about increasing the number of automatic flags, the previous one a year ago, and the automated comment flagger over on Stack ...
- 1,310
10
votes
Accepted
Flag a comment for containing a spoiler when OP requested no spoilers?
First let me point out that you can flag anything you want for any reason you want - that doesn't mean the flag will be marked helpful :-)
Pedantry aside:
Yes, this can certainly be a valid reason ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 134k
10
votes
Accepted
What to do when Very Low Quality flags are not available?
Should we flag as Not An Answer? Presumably this is a bad idea if the answer attempts to answer the question.
Indeed: NaA flags should be reserved for actual non-answers. (For more information, see ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 134k
10
votes
Accepted
What is our policy on new redundant answers to old questions?
Do not flag posts because they only repeat existing information. Those flags should be, and usually are, declined. Downvote, comment, and move on.
Answers should be evaluated on their own merits. Not ...
- 30.8k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible