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when is it appropriate to mark the "community wiki" checkbox while posting an answer to a question?

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I use it when I don't feel I've done anything to deserve reputation, typically when I'm just quoting documentation. This isn't an 'official' appropriate use, necessarily.

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When you want to make the answer editable by users that would otherwise be barred by insufficient reputation. You should click the checkmark if your post is likely to be frequently updated in the future (eg. a FAQ post).

Making a post Community Wiki represents handing the post over to the community for curation.

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    Since anyone can suggest an edit now, CW is almost never used for this purpose.
    – Bill the Lizard
    Commented Feb 13, 2013 at 14:07
  • @BilltheLizard I used to think it was intended for posts that you did not want to gain reputation from, but I've had a CW flag on one of my questions rejected with the following reason: "There's no reason for this to be CW, why would it need to be accessible to edits by more users?"
    – user200500
    Commented Feb 13, 2013 at 17:18
  • That used to be the purpose, before we allowed edit suggestions by anyone. Now it's pretty much fallen out of usage. The Community user will automatically mark posts CW if more than 30 answers are posted or if someone bumps their post with too many edits, but that's about it.
    – Bill the Lizard
    Commented Feb 13, 2013 at 17:21
  • @BilltheLizard Well, this was a month ago, so I was assuming it was still current. Are there any legitimate reasons for which you should use CW now?
    – user200500
    Commented Feb 13, 2013 at 17:23
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    The only reason I use it is if I explicitly don't want reputation for an answer. I only do that when I'm copying someone's comment that they failed to post as an answer. I don't see any other reason to use it.
    – Bill the Lizard
    Commented Feb 13, 2013 at 18:03
  • I too will do it to avoid rep on answers, but usually for those that seem not worth any rep from upvotes; e.g. technically correct, but likely the question shouldn't exist.
    – user7116
    Commented Mar 15, 2013 at 2:53
  • @sixlettervariables: nice answer. Here: have an upvote ... um ... well.
    – Joachim Sauer
    Commented Mar 15, 2013 at 12:25

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