Guidelines for reviewing Late Answers

Answers in the Late Answers review queue are also First Posts or very nearly so, since they are posted by new users, so apply all the steps for reviewing First Posts here.

Basic workflow

1. Many Late Answers are spam or self promotion. A new user searches for a word or phrase and adds the answer "My product does that - check it out at link!" to an old answer, or dozens of them. Check the answer against the guidelines for self promotion. If it meets them, add a comment mentioning this, to reduce the chance of other reviewers marking it spam. If it does not, add a comment linking to them and encouraging an edit. Consider keeping the question open in a tab so you can return and flag as spam in an hour or two.

2. Many Late Answers are non-answers, either thanking the author of the question or one of its answers, asking a new question, or asking for clarification from the author. Remember, the authors of these answers haven't gained the ability to comment, so they can't properly ask for clarification. Also, many users mistake Stack Exchange for a traditional forum, where it's okay to post "thank you" answers or new questions with an answer.

3. It's important to check if the answer is really relevant to the question. If you don't know the topic well enough to assess this, avoid actions beyond simple editing for format.

4. In addition to voting or flagging, you can also leave a comment. Unless there is an existing comment that covers the situation, do add one - the user needs to learn what they did wrong in this case.

Common reasons to Flag / Delete

• Spam or rude/abusive
• Well-intentioned "not an answer" from someone who needs to be educated about our site

Common reasons to Upvote

• The answer is high-quality and correctly answers the question

Guidelines for reviewing Late answers

Answers in the Late answers review queue are also First posts or very nearly so, since they are posted by new users, so apply all the steps for reviewing First posts here.

Basic workflow

1. Many Late answers are spam or self promotion. A new user searches for a word or phrase and adds the answer "My product does that - check it out at link!" to an old answer, or dozens of them. Check the answer against the guidelines for self promotion. If it meets them, add a comment mentioning this, to reduce the chance of other reviewers marking it spam. If it does not, add a comment linking to them and encouraging an edit. Consider keeping the question open in a tab so you can return and flag as spam in an hour or two.

2. Many Late answers are non-answers, either thanking the author of the question or one of its answers, asking a new question, or asking for clarification from the author. Remember, the authors of these answers haven't gained the ability to comment, so they can't properly ask for clarification. Also, many users mistake Stack Exchange for a traditional forum, where it's okay to post "thank you" answers or new questions with an answer.

3. It's important to check if the answer is really relevant to the question. If you don't know the topic well enough to assess this, avoid actions beyond simple editing for format.

4. In addition to voting or flagging, you can also leave a comment. Unless there is an existing comment that covers the situation, do add one - the user needs to learn what they did wrong in this case.

Common reasons to Flag / Delete

• Spam or rude/abusive
• Well-intentioned "not an answer" from someone who needs to be educated about our site

Common reasons to Upvote

• The answer is high-quality and correctly answers the question

Guidelines for reviewing Late Answers

Answers in the Late Answers review queue are also First Posts or very nearly so, since they are posted by new users, so apply all the steps for reviewing First Posts here.

Basic workflow

1. Many Late Answers are spam or self promotion. A new user searches for a word or phrase and adds the answer "My product does that - check it out at link!" to an old answer, or dozens of them. Check the answer against the guidelines for self promotion. If it meets them, add a comment mentioning this, to reduce the chance of other reviewers marking it spam. If it does not, add a comment linking to them and encouraging an edit. Consider keeping the question open in a tab so you can return and flag as spam in an hour or two.

2. Many Late Answers are non-answers, either thanking the author of the question or one of its answers, asking a new question, or asking for clarification from the author. Remember, the authors of these answers haven't gained the ability to comment, so they can't properly ask for clarification. Also, many users mistake Stack Exchange for a traditional forum, where it's okay to post "thank you" answers or new questions with an answer.

3. It's important to check if the answer is really relevant to the question. If you don't know the topic well enough to assess this, avoid actions beyond simple editing for format.

4. If you flag, you can leave one of several "canned" comments or your own. Unless there is an existing comment that covers the situation, do add one - the user needs to learn what they did wrong in this case.

Common reasons to Flag / Delete

• Spam
• Well-intentioned "not an answer" from someone who needs to be educated about our site

Common reasons to Upvote

• The answer is high-quality and correctly answers the question

Guidelines for reviewing Late Answers

Answers in the Late Answers review queue are also First Posts or very nearly so, since they are posted by new users, so apply all the steps for reviewing First Posts here.

Basic workflow

1. Many Late Answers are spam or self promotion. A new user searches for a word or phrase and adds the answer "My product does that - check it out at link!" to an old answer, or dozens of them. Check the answer against the guidelines for self promotion. If it meets them, add a comment mentioning this, to reduce the chance of other reviewers marking it spam. If it does not, add a comment linking to them and encouraging an edit. Consider keeping the question open in a tab so you can return and flag as spam in an hour or two.

2. Many Late Answers are non-answers, either thanking the author of the question or one of its answers, asking a new question, or asking for clarification from the author. Remember, the authors of these answers haven't gained the ability to comment, so they can't properly ask for clarification. Also, many users mistake Stack Exchange for a traditional forum, where it's okay to post "thank you" answers or new questions with an answer.

3. It's important to check if the answer is really relevant to the question. If you don't know the topic well enough to assess this, avoid actions beyond simple editing for format.

4. In addition to voting or flagging, you can also leave a comment. Unless there is an existing comment that covers the situation, do add one - the user needs to learn what they did wrong in this case.

Common reasons to Flag / Delete

• Spam or rude/abusive
• Well-intentioned "not an answer" from someone who needs to be educated about our site

Common reasons to Upvote

• The answer is high-quality and correctly answers the question

##Guidelines for reviewing Late Answers

Answers in the Late Answers review queue are also First Posts or very nearly so, since they are posted by new users, so apply all the steps for reviewing First Posts here.

Basic workflow

1. Many Late Answers are spam or self promotion. A new user searches for a word or phrase and adds the answer "My product does that - check it out at link!" to an old answer, or dozens of them. Check the answer against the guidelines for self promotion. If it meets them, add a comment mentioning this, to reduce the chance of other reviewers marking it spam. If it does not, add a comment linking to them and encouraging an edit. Consider keeping the question open in a tab so you can return and flag as spam in an hour or two.

2. Many Late Answers are non-answers, either thanking the author of the question or one of its answers, asking a new question, or asking for clarification from the author. Remember, the authors of these answers haven't gained the ability to comment, so they can't properly ask for clarification. Also, many users mistake Stack Exchange for a traditional forum, where it's okay to post "thank you" answers or new questions with an answer.

3. It's important to check if the answer is really relevant to the question. If you don't know the topic well enough to assess this, avoid actions beyond simple editing for format.

4. If you flag, you can leave one of several "canned" comments or your own. Unless there is an existing comment that covers the situation, do add one - the user needs to learn what they did wrong in this case.

Common reasons to Flag / Delete

• Spam
• Well-intentioned "not an answer" from someone who needs to be educated about our site

Common reasons to Upvote

• The answer is high-quality and correctly answers the question

Guidelines for reviewing Late Answers

Answers in the Late Answers review queue are also First Posts or very nearly so, since they are posted by new users, so apply all the steps for reviewing First Posts here.

Basic workflow

1. Many Late Answers are spam or self promotion. A new user searches for a word or phrase and adds the answer "My product does that - check it out at link!" to an old answer, or dozens of them. Check the answer against the guidelines for self promotion. If it meets them, add a comment mentioning this, to reduce the chance of other reviewers marking it spam. If it does not, add a comment linking to them and encouraging an edit. Consider keeping the question open in a tab so you can return and flag as spam in an hour or two.

2. Many Late Answers are non-answers, either thanking the author of the question or one of its answers, asking a new question, or asking for clarification from the author. Remember, the authors of these answers haven't gained the ability to comment, so they can't properly ask for clarification. Also, many users mistake Stack Exchange for a traditional forum, where it's okay to post "thank you" answers or new questions with an answer.

3. It's important to check if the answer is really relevant to the question. If you don't know the topic well enough to assess this, avoid actions beyond simple editing for format.

4. If you flag, you can leave one of several "canned" comments or your own. Unless there is an existing comment that covers the situation, do add one - the user needs to learn what they did wrong in this case.

Common reasons to Flag / Delete

• Spam
• Well-intentioned "not an answer" from someone who needs to be educated about our site

Common reasons to Upvote

• The answer is high-quality and correctly answers the question