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What should our rules be regarding partial answers? For example,

  • answers to questions that are not yet golfed
  • answers that almost work, but not quite (answers that require a simple bugfix)
  • answers that are missing a trivial rule specified in the question (that can be easily added)
  • answers that have not yet finished running for a question that scores on output (so they don't have a full score yet)
  • answers that only solve parts of a question so far

Should we allow these, or flag them as NAA / delete?

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    \$\begingroup\$ I think we need to draw a division between cases where the answerer doesn't know it's not complete and when the answerer knows it's not complete. \$\endgroup\$
    – PhiNotPi
    Commented Apr 29, 2015 at 3:24

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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To quote Robert Harvey's answer (emphasis mine):

"Not an Answer" flags are for posts that make no attempt to answer the question. They are usually things like:

  • I have the same problem
  • Have you seen my glasses?
  • Check out this great new product!

In all of your examples, the author made some attempt to answer the question. Therefore, none of your examples qualify as "Not an Answer".

If you feel that the answer is harming the site, then use a custom flag instead. Explain in your own words why the answer is harming the site and should be removed. No such case was made here.

So I shouldn't flag as Not an Answer. What should I do then?

If you feel comfortable editing the post to solve the problem, do it. Otherwise, leave a comment explaining the problem.

Downvote accordingly. You may hold your vote, see if the author responds in a timely manner, and then vote. You may choose not to vote at all. You may even upvote the efforts of the answer despite its shortcomings. When and how you vote is entirely up to you.

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