32 votes

Pronoun trolling - what to do?

The problem with questions like this is that it's basically a live hand grenade waiting for some imbecile to throw themselves upon it. While it seems reasonably clear and common sense that grimble ...
Valorum's user avatar
  • 688k
27 votes
Accepted

Why the massive rep-drop yesterday?

I can't get super deep into detail here, but it deserves some explanation. I know this question touches a... whole hell of a lot of users on this site. To be brief, we released a new tool to help mods ...
Slate's user avatar
  • 101
25 votes

Pronoun trolling - what to do?

A new FAQ regarding the updated CoC is due out shortly. I've seen a draft of it but until it is public it is not official, and until official guidance is due out I don't think it makes any sense for ...
Null's user avatar
  • 69.8k
23 votes

first who, second why

You were suspended for posting inappropriate content by a mod who has been entrusted by the powers that be (read: the community team) to make that judgment. In my opinion, it was merited. And for ...
jmac's user avatar
  • 101
22 votes
Accepted

How do I search for questions on the site?

First of all, go to the search box in the left-hand side of the topbar: You can type any word or collection of words into there to get a list of all posts on the SFF site containing all of those ...
Rand al'Thor's user avatar
  • 134k
22 votes
Accepted

Which question on SFF has the highest number of downvotes?

I've forked "Most Downvoted Answers" to show the most downvoted questions. The top 5 (at the last edit) 1) What is “DON'T PANIC” a reference to on the dashboard of Elon Musk's car? (71 downvotes) 2)...
Valorum's user avatar
  • 688k
22 votes
Accepted

Why do some questions get 4k views, and some only 80?

Basically, it's luck of the draw. There are a number of factors which can go into how many views a question gets. The most important ones I can think of are as follows, in (IMO) decreasing order of ...
Rand al'Thor's user avatar
  • 134k
21 votes
Accepted

Why are people interested in undeleting this question?

Probably because deleting duplicate questions is discouraged here. We have a very clear meta consensus, and it's even tagged faq. To quote from the question: If I post a question after searching ...
Mithical's user avatar
  • 38.8k
21 votes

Please, clarify Answer Deletion privilege clauses

I can't see anything in that answer that would qualify for deletion. It's not spam, it's clearly an answer to the question being asked, and there's nothing rude or offensive in it. I've vote to ...
KutuluMike's user avatar
  • 104k
20 votes

Pronoun trolling - what to do?

The new Code of Conduct doesn't give you room to do anything about it. Neo-pronouns are not clearly defined, there is no authoritative list of them, they're rarely used, and they don't follow common ...
LCIII's user avatar
  • 10.9k
19 votes
Accepted

What is alt text, and how do I write good alt text?

This text is called the alternative text or "alt text." Users with impaired or no vision, poor internet connections, or other difficulty with loading and viewing images will see or hear this text ...
Kevin's user avatar
  • 9,503
18 votes
Accepted

Why do we have pentagrams as our "favorite" icon?

Stars are commonly used to denote favorites It’s not merely Science Fiction and Fantasy Stack Exchange that uses a star to denote favorites. The other stacks do, too. Here are the “favorite” icons ...
Adamant's user avatar
  • 116k
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 ...
Null's user avatar
  • 69.8k
18 votes
Accepted

How to find a quotation?

What I do largely depends on the media in question. Books I have all of my main books in (full-text searchable) e-book format: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, etc. All seven Harry Potter ...
Jason Baker's user avatar
18 votes

Major Complaint

I'm very sorry to hear that you're not having a good time on your first day with us. Let's have a quick review of your actions so far; Q. "Genetics and Origins of Mutants/Inhumans" - Rather too vague ...
Valorum's user avatar
  • 688k
18 votes

Why was my answer deleted?

I marked your answer for deletion because you seem to be trying to make some sort of ham-fisted political point about Hitler and the British Empire rather than making a serious effort to answer the ...
Valorum's user avatar
  • 688k
17 votes

Why can't I add a comment?

For commenting anywhere, you need 50 reputation points. (This equates to 5 upvotes on answers or questions, so you should be able to pick up those points fairly quickly if you have good content to ...
Rand al'Thor's user avatar
  • 134k
17 votes
Accepted

Pronoun trolling - what to do?

I've come around to @Valorum's position, which is: Editing it into shape means that you're going to give a troll account a boost. So even if it could be salvaged by a deep-cutting edit, it's not a ...
einpoklum's user avatar
  • 10.1k
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 ...
Jason Baker's user avatar
16 votes

Why can't I review posts anymore?

In that dialog, you are expected to do something to the post you're reviewing. You have all the same options you do when looking at a post outside review, and once you do, the review is considered "...
KutuluMike's user avatar
  • 104k
16 votes
Accepted

What does closing a Question as a Duplicate actually do?

Duplication is a type of closure, but it's less punitive than other types. We close questions as duplicates. The option to mark it as a duplicate is found under the list of vote-to-close options, for ...
Rand al'Thor's user avatar
  • 134k
15 votes
Accepted

How do I log out when I'm ready to leave the site?

You can simply click On Stack Exchange (top left of your screen) then click log out : Then you will be asked if you want to quit all Stack Exchange communities.
Bebs V's user avatar
  • 4,987
15 votes
Accepted

Why does the site think my question is subjective?

Because you included the word 'you'. Any title with the words you, your, best, favorite/favourite, worst, and hardest get this warning. It's kind of outdated; see What algorithm does Stack Exchange ...
Mithical's user avatar
  • 38.8k
15 votes
Accepted

Please, clarify Answer Deletion privilege clauses

I am not familiar with the film in question but as far as I can tell the answer should not be subject to deletion under the guidelines for the vote to delete privilege. According to Meta.SE An answer ...
Null's user avatar
  • 69.8k
15 votes
Accepted

What is the yellow background on some questions?

The background color that you see is to show that the question contains a tag that you have selected as a "watched tag". Based on the tags on the questions that are highlighted in your screenshot, it ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 44.7k
15 votes

Why do I have to have rep50 to answer someone else's question?

You don't need 50 rep to answer someone's question. You can do so right away! The different levels of reputation needed for certain actions are called privileges. The ones relevant to you are: 1: ...
SQB's user avatar
  • 38.7k
14 votes
Accepted

How to hide list or multi-line text behind anti-spoiler?

You have to use HTML tags. I’m not quite sure why the regular Markdown formatting works in blockquotes but not in spoiler blocks; I dug into it a while back but never got very far with it. The ...
alexwlchan's user avatar
  • 103k
14 votes
Accepted

Please change my name

Done Oddly enough, the name field already had 'Alex' in it. I had to change your avatar to the Identicon in order to change your name. You should be able to change your avatar if you want. Let us ...
Null's user avatar
  • 69.8k
14 votes

What should I do when I am getting death threats because of this site?

It's impossible to guess at what's going on here with the information you've provided thus far; there are numerous ways in which someone could have obtained your email: you've been a member here for ...
Shog9's user avatar
  • 101

Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible