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Good manners says to say thank you when somebody answers your question. E-mail load control suggests not replying "thanks" because it's too much e-mail and people would rather have less. I'm not sure what StackOverflow expects. I got an e-mail notification today "3 Questions Have 1 Answer - Stack Overflow". When I clicked, only 1 of the answers was new to me. That one was a short, correct, and complete answer. :-)

I cannot vote it up because I don't have reputation.

Should I comment "thanks" on it?

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1
  • What was the question?
    – ChrisF Mod
    Commented Jul 21, 2009 at 11:11

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
15

Accept it ?

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5
  • 5
    ..and perhaps come back to vote it up when you have the 15 reputation points required (probably soon enough)
    – Jonik
    Commented Jul 21, 2009 at 11:17
  • @Jonik - I've just checked and he has 21 rep now on SO.
    – ChrisF Mod
    Commented Jul 21, 2009 at 11:19
  • How do I "accept" an answer, such as this one? Where do I click? I don't see "accept" anywhere on the screen. Hmm. I asked this already in a comment and nobody answered. I'll look in existing questions.
    – Tom Harris
    Commented Jul 23, 2009 at 11:06
  • There should be a big tick on the left, under the vote score. The tool-tip is "accept this answer". It could be more clear, but now it is a good compromise between user-friendliness (no clutter) and informative (You only need the information once anyway)
    – Steve Schnepp
    Commented Jul 23, 2009 at 12:35
  • @Tom: I see that you just asked this same question using the system (meta.stackexchange.com/questions/8396). Perfect :-)
    – Steve Schnepp
    Commented Jul 23, 2009 at 15:02
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If its the answer you are looking for, then mark it as the correct answer, so that others will know what you were actually looking for. Marking it as the correct answer itself means thanks in a way. As for voting up, stay a bit longer and you will be able to do it too.

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0

Don't just write "Thank You" in a comment. If they were really helpful, write a more detailed comment about how it was useful.

If you cannot possibly see anyone coming up with a better answer, Up-vote and Accept their answer.

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2
  • I can't Up-vote without reputation? Can I Accept? Where do I do that? E.g. on this answer here, I don't see "Accept" anywhere.
    – Tom Harris
    Commented Jul 22, 2009 at 9:44
  • Well, I guess you are going to have to wait until you get more reputation.
    – Brad Gilbert
    Commented Jul 22, 2009 at 13:33
-1

Clearly, accepting is when you get the best answer and accept it. So I suggest accept. But upvotes (only for more than 15 rep) can also be used. Unlike accepting, you can upvote as many answers as you want!

But you can combine these votes together (note there can only be 1 accepted answer) and the user gets +25 rep from you.

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-2

You can never go wrong by saying "thank you" via a comment -- unless, of course, you're being sarcastic.

...waits for the sarcastic comment to this answer...

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8
  • Not being sarcastic, but you do raise a valid point there. Don't know the best phrasing of "thanks" to avoid it being misinterpreted.
    – ChrisF Mod
    Commented Jul 21, 2009 at 12:25
  • 1
    "I really appreciate the answer. Thanks!"
    – tvanfosson
    Commented Jul 21, 2009 at 13:55
  • 1
    Uh, Ok, thanks, I guess. ( requisite sarcastic comment )
    – Brad Gilbert
    Commented Jul 21, 2009 at 15:33
  • 2
    If he doesn't have rep to vote, he won't have rep for leaving a comment.
    – Ian Elliott
    Commented Jul 21, 2009 at 16:00
  • Just making a general observation -- not specific to his situation, but rather in response to the question title.
    – tvanfosson
    Commented Jul 21, 2009 at 21:56
  • The comment privelege page suggests not to write comments that are just compliments which do not add new information.
    – oberlies
    Commented Aug 21, 2012 at 11:55
  • There are any number of things that I disagree with respecting the FAQ, a brief thank you never hurt anyone.
    – tvanfosson
    Commented Aug 21, 2012 at 12:38
  • Ya would get flagged by me.
    – new Q Open Wid
    Commented Apr 15, 2020 at 15:53

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