Questions regarding etiquette and proper behavior toward other users, both on and off Stack Overflow.

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140
votes
8answers
6k views

Dealing with an answer that wasn't accepted (maybe because a user is a newbie in SO)

I answered somebody's question. It was a new person who joined Stack Overflow today. He/she thanked me and said it works, but he/she hasn't accepted my answer. The question is here for your ...
48
votes
8answers
4k views

Is it OK to promote my own code by self-answering my own questions?

I have written some plugins for jQuery that are very often searched on Google. One of them is used for long-click event handler, presented in a "beautiful" way, for example: $("a").longclick( ...
140
votes
9answers
3k views

Should I remove 'fluff' when editing questions?

When I edit questions I typically focus on style, grammar, and spelling. However, in the process I often also remove 'fluff' like: This may be simple but, ... or Can you help me with this? ...
5
votes
1answer
281 views

My opening “Hi everyone” in my question keeps disappearing

Whenever I write a question (on Stack Overflow at least) it removes the greeting I put in the message. What is the reason for this? It was just removed here as well.
184
votes
6answers
5k views

What do I do about receiving an offensive email from another user on Stack Overflow? [duplicate]

So, this is a little bit odd, and I've been confused if I should have this question here, or not; however I'm going ahead, posting it, after reading multiple related questions about editing posts on ...
4
votes
4answers
589 views

What is the best way to deal with toxic/unhelpful comments?

Occasionally questions that I ask, especially those related to certain opinionated subjects, I get a rash of comments that can be most charitably described as 'unhelpful'. I see these often when ...
-3
votes
2answers
646 views

Are we supposed to speak like robots when asking questions or are we allowed to be human? [closed]

I posted a question earlier today about changing grid sizes. Here is the body of the question - Having problems trying to resize gridworld grid So I basically want to resize the grid in ...
95
votes
7answers
5k views

OP keeps asking more questions based on a single question which was answered already

Recently I had answered this question on Stack Overflow. The OP was satisfied with that answer and has accepted it. After that, on a daily/weekly basis, he/she is asking child questions based on the ...
53
votes
2answers
2k views

Abusive/aggressive users taking it outside of Stack Overflow [duplicate]

I know that the powers of Stack Overflow moderators and administrators are limited to within Stack Overflow, but what happens in a situation where a user is clearly being argumentative and abusive to ...
16
votes
9answers
4k views

How to deal with a 'stolen' answer? [closed]

This has happened to me a fair number of times... I check out a question that has been answered but not accepted because the answer was flat out incorrect I then provide an answer that does indeed ...
170
votes
5answers
4k views

What do you do when someone calls you personally about an answer?

It's after midnight and I'm unwinding, trying to finish off a nice concoction of Baileys and Kahlúa on the rocks (long day). I get a phone call from a number I don't recognize, but what the heck, I'm ...
94
votes
17answers
3k views

The use of gender-specific pronouns on Stack Overflow

This is just a small lingual question, but it started bothering me when writing an answer. I was writing something like this: "As User1234 pointed out in his answer..." Then I realized that if ...
134
votes
4answers
4k views

What to do when an OP asks to delete my code from my answer?

In this question I gave a good answer, and the OP was happy with it. But then he asked me to remove the code from my post, since his instructor did a search for plagiarism. Presumably he was worried ...
27
votes
4answers
1k views

Improving an accepted but wrong answer

I recently posted an answer to this question, and was dismayed to see that the asker accepted an answer that was (in my opinion) plain wrong. Briefly put, the question was asking whether SQL Server ...
7
votes
2answers
271 views

Comment Poaching

Recently, I have noticed a question "answering" technique in which an answerer simply rephrases an existing comment. For instance, I recently posted a question (no link, as there is no reason to have ...
80
votes
5answers
3k views

Are political avatars and profiles OK?

Are political profiles and/or avatars appropriate? Should they be allowed? Some context: Today I've had a chat with this user: I'd like to hear what the community thinks about this. Full ...
3
votes
2answers
223 views

Dealing with patronizing answers (which assume you're asking the wrong question) [duplicate]

Sometimes I ask questions about fairly obscure topics (details of compiler, proprocessor behavior..., ways of using lesser known language features). (C/Python mostly though I'm not sure it matters). ...
70
votes
3answers
2k views

How to Warn of Serious Issues in Code Unrelated to Question?

I just came across this question and it scared me. The question itself is pretty bad, typical "where's the bug in this bunch of code?". But that's not what scared me. The code is a security disaster ...
85
votes
5answers
2k views

What is the policy for Stack Overflow and political matters, such as the logo color change?

Just curious, I cannot help but notice the political implications of the timely color change of the Stack Overflow logo and the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Is there any policy ...
44
votes
2answers
1k views

Yet another offensive email from another new user on Stack Overflow [duplicate]

So, I previously had asked a similar question regarding a harassing and offensive email I received from an S.O. user who didn't like to have high-quality posts! S.O. team was very helpful and they ...
96
votes
4answers
4k views

What do I do about being harassed by users outside of Stack Overflow? [duplicate]

Earlier I voted to close a question on Stack Overflow (the user was ranting about the site). This person proceeded to track down an email address via my publicly listed website and email me regarding ...
19
votes
2answers
622 views

Can I edit an answer to add a prevention message to a security vulnerability?

I read this How to get the client IP address in PHP? answers, but in Tim Kennedy's answer the code has a security issue. The user doesn't necessarily read all sentences of the message and comments ...
3
votes
3answers
284 views

Should we add [project-euler] to everything from Project Euler?

There are a number of questions about Project Euler problems that don't actually identify themselves as such. (The most recent example, though I'm pretty sure I saw a question about another problem ...
1
vote
1answer
211 views

Where do you post questions that are not “permitted” in StackOverflow? [duplicate]

I'm still somewhat new although getting the hang of StackOverflow. I have asked a couple of questions now that were closed or put on hold as being either too broad or asking for opinions on best ...
45
votes
4answers
3k views

Please stop linking to the “Zalgo” / anti-Cthulhu regex rant

Anyone who has stopped for more than 5 seconds in the regex tag knows of this "dubious" answer: Every time you attempt to parse HTML with regular expressions, the unholy child weeps the blood of ...
47
votes
4answers
2k views

How should we handle links to adult content in posts?

So this question has links to an adult site inside the code, since the website the OP is making is adult in nature. Which is fine. Is this inappropriate for the site? If so, should we be more ...
33
votes
1answer
773 views

I have a new answer for one (or more) old questions

I've been struggling with an issue all day, finally to discover the solution. I've found several SO questions that directly cover this issue, and all have been marked with an answer that is different ...
30
votes
7answers
640 views

Answers that use a different technology than what is asked

On occasion on SO, I've noticed that certain users like to post answers that may solve the problem, but intentionally do it with a methodology that's different from the one specified in the OP and/or ...
25
votes
7answers
2k views

Is it bad to answer “Don't do this, it is bad Android design”?

Example question: Splash Screen in Android using Fragment I am a big fan of Android design, and I design all of my apps perfectly according to the Android design guidelines. The guidelines are that ...
32
votes
3answers
1k views

Are inoffensive tongue-in-cheek comments considered bad form?

SO can be a fairly humorless place sometimes, and on occasion I see a post that is begging for an inoffensive remark that would hopefully give the poster a bit of a laugh. Now humor is always ...
5
votes
1answer
115 views

Question Deletion Etiquette

When is it alright to delete your own question? I recently posted a question in which I showed correct working code, but it was not working for me. Later I realized that the problem was in a ...
-17
votes
4answers
332 views

Reject comments with “Thanks” and “Thank you” with a tooltip explaining why

Cleaning up chatty comments from posts such as: "This saved my day, thanks!" "This answer is the greatest! Thank you!" is very time consuming for users, and I'm sure it creates a lot of work for ...
44
votes
4answers
2k views

How should I handle downvote complaints?

When a question or answer gets downvoted, the person asking the question or answer seems to routinely comment, complaining about the down vote. How should I handle that? This happens even when an ...
101
votes
9answers
2k views

Should comments saying “google it.” be flagged?

I saw a comment just now saying "google it dude" IMHO, it is not helpful either to the OP or to other readers. Am I alone here? Or is it Ok to respond to people with "Google it" as a comment? Not ...
14
votes
5answers
1k views

What to do when I feel that someone is stalking me?

There is a particular user that follows me around (SO) and wants to be a "cool kid" and prove me wrong on every occasion he gets... It's becoming really annoying and I want to avoid having extended ...
24
votes
4answers
1k views

Is it OK to make a clarifying edit to a question if it will invalidate existing answers?

Every now and again, I'll come across a question that was not clearly explained, so much so that users attempting to answer the question end up completely misunderstanding the problem, and end up ...
19
votes
4answers
1k views

New account or delete my posts?

After being in denial for many posts, I’ve learnt that my approach to asking/answering questions must be making a lot of mods and Stack Overflow members quite angry. I’m anxious that I’m getting quite ...
38
votes
1answer
818 views

Are GrammarBots supported?

I enjoy answering and nurturing the ruby and rubyonrails questions on Stack Exchange. However I'm often having to edit the English of a question before addressing the technical bits. Say I wrote a bot ...
77
votes
9answers
4k views

Editing etiquette: why did I receive such a negative reaction?

Today I posted a mostly well received question (currently at +12). I received several useful answers. I amended one with extra information and its poster received it well. Another good answer (by a ...
66
votes
5answers
2k views

What do you do if a user sends an aggressive message to you off-site after you have downvoted their post?

Some time ago, I have been tracked down online about a down vote I have made. It was a simple question, and the answer of the guy X have provided was pretty wrong one. So I downvoted it, left a ...
33
votes
1answer
2k views

Is Stack Overflow over-polite?

Not a dupe of Why is Stack Overflow so negative of late? because (citation from that post) ... what can be done to improve the attitude (positivity) of the Stack Overflow users/moderators such ...
-5
votes
2answers
283 views

Do you think people can be more nice about correcting you? [closed]

Me, being a new user, accidentally posted a coding question on programmers.stackexchange that asked how something could be done when I should have posted it on Stack Overflow. This was an honest ...
43
votes
2answers
1k views

Changes to discourage plagiarism

A large number of contributors have contributed high quality posts over the years on Stack Overflow, and the community collectively moderates to keep the standards of the site high. However, some ...
24
votes
2answers
489 views

How to answer a homework question, when the entire example is bad syntax?

This is a more specific question about how to answer homework questions, and I have wondered this frequently. Please refer to this question as my primary example: Locate and replace script, few ...
6
votes
2answers
317 views

Is it OK to hard-wrap posts to a certain column length while writing and editing posts? [closed]

Markdown, which is used to write Stack Overflow posts, will ignore line breaks in paragraphs as long as each line does not end with two spaces, and each paragraph contains "one or more consecutive ...
-17
votes
3answers
452 views

Stack Overflow seems harsh compared to programming forums I've been participating in

Two years ago, for the first time in my life, I started to work at a small company as a programmer. I was an amateur programmer, and I thought a forum like Stack Overflow would be a great help for me. ...
14
votes
2answers
412 views

Answering questions that show lack of research?

There is always a discussion open regarding homework questions, duplicates, etc. But I can't seem to find anything that tackles a few questions I have. I have just come across this question that ...
2
votes
4answers
582 views

Is it allowed to ask if my code is correct in Stack Overflow?

I have a piece of code, I don't know if it creates the error or not. Can I ask Stack Overflow if I wrote the code correctly? I mean if the usage of a class is correct.
-1
votes
4answers
941 views

Should political (possibly offensive) content be allowed in user's profile?

I was reading a question and I decided to take a look to OP's profile. I found his About Me section expresses offensive political opinions. According to this post political opinions can be expressed ...
-52
votes
3answers
495 views

Is advising unfairly-treated newbies to use other SE sites okay? [duplicate]

For example, I am thinking of this question. In my opinion, this question (and its answer) got a groundless unfair treatment. But everything happened normally - at least, in theory. I think, in a ...
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