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What to do with seemingly unnecessary formatting or markup? I mean, I just stumbled upon this question at SU, and it makes my brain tinkle that every answer starts with a big, bold sentence.

So, is it just me or are there any guidelines to follow which I missed?

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1 Answer 1

up vote 2 down vote accepted

That question is a poll of sorts. The goal of each post is to highlight a specific suggestion. So, to that end, it makes a bit of sense to highlight what the suggestion is about for people.

Consider a similar situation with this post on Meta. Each answer indicates a different element. The core of each answer is in the first sentence, and while it isn't necessary, the italics are certainly helpful to the skimming eye.

As for what to do in general cases, if it's really bad then either edit it yourself if you have the right reputation (much easier for CW cases like this), or comment about it. If it is serious formatting abuse, you can flag it for immediate action.

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Exactly. It's a CW question, listing possibilities, a bit like that one. Maybe not as big, but the bold is good to mark each possibility, since the point here is not to have "the best", but to list several. –  Gnoupi Jun 7 '10 at 12:36

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