We believe that askers of questions should have agency to select the best answer to their question. When reasonable, we will preserve the asker's choice, but we will also make common sense decisions around which answer should be most prominent to visitors.
In summary, we will select the answer in the following situations:
- Asker approves: If there is no selected answer and the asker responded positively to an answer (e.g., with a comment), then staff will select that answer if there are no lingering concerns over its quality.
- Asker abandons: If there is no selected answer and the asker made no comments about the answers, then staff will select the best answer in their view if there are no concerns about its quality. Correct and up-to-date answers will be selected.
- Better answers first: If an answer is selected that is clearly incorrect, outdated, or unhelpful, then staff will select a different answer that is better, if such an answer exists.
For the second and third condition, a couple of days should pass before an answer is selected, which is enough time for people to point out any problems with it.
To help more questions have a best answer selected, do the following:
- If you see an answer that should be selected, flag it.
- If a question author responds positively to an answer, flag their response to make it even more obvious what the flag is for.
- If you answered a question and believe your answer should be selected, flag the question.
- If you see a question that has no answer worthy of a BA, it is a likely candidate for the outdated/unresolved questions thread. You should submit it there.
None of this applies to endless questions.
