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Sometimes when I'm going through the First Post queue (or just perusing the site), I come across an answer that is essentially just a link, for example:

https://superuser.com/review/first-posts/178694

How should I flag this answer, "Not An Answer" or "Low Quality"? I'm not sure if it qualifies as either.

In the past when I've flagged as "Low Quality", moderators have rejected it saying "flags should only be used to make moderators aware of content that requires their intervention". That's confusing.

At this point all I did was leave a comment.

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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You shouldn't flag them at all.

By flagging the post, you would essentially tell a moderator to handle the post. But there really isn't anything moderator-specific about it. Link-only answers are bad and they should either be:

  • downvoted

  • edited to include the information that was linked to

  • commented on

    I usually use the auto comment:

    Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.

Low quality flags should be reserved for posts that are beyond recovery and should be deleted.

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  • "By flagging the post, you would essentially tell a moderator to handle the post. But there really isn't anything moderator-specific about it." This was very helpful. Thank you!
    – user201262
    Commented Dec 2, 2013 at 13:49
  • actually "barely more than a link to an external site" are to be deleted according to the help page, since "do not fundamentally answer the question". You can also flag "Other" and ask for it to be moved to a comment.
    – Braiam
    Commented Dec 8, 2013 at 0:03
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You don't, you comment and optionally downvote. There's nothing that inherently needs a mod's immediate attention unless its spam. In this situation a quiet word and a gentle nudge in the right direction is the best idea

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