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I don't want to start linking examples (because that's pointing a finger) but there is a definitely a (small but enthusiastic) group of users here who routinely answer questions in the comments field. I don't mean one-liners, but substantial multi-line comments, making full use of the space available in a comment (or two).

Some SE sites are clearly against this practice, and some don't seem to care so much. Those who do oppose it tend to use the justification that answers in comments can't be downvoted, so that the normal community-feedback mechanisms cannot be applied to gauging the quality of the answer. Equally, the rep of the author is not raised by upvotes, so it's not so clear to people reading them that they're written by someone with a track record of good answers.

How do we feel about it?

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    Preliminary reading on SE's own policy for commenting: "When shouldn't I comment? [...] Answering a question or providing an alternate solution to an existing answer; instead, post an actual answer (or edit to expand an existing one);"
    – Andrew T.
    Oct 19, 2018 at 9:51
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    @AndrewT. don't get me wrong, but is that not, in fact, an answer?
    – MadHatter Mod
    Oct 19, 2018 at 9:56
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    Well, I'm not a regular here at all, and some sites do have a leaner policy on this issue (e.g. what threshold is considered as answer or not, what should be done to the comments, etc), so I think it's better for this community to discuss and set the policy.
    – Andrew T.
    Oct 19, 2018 at 10:02
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    <grin> I take your point, but you're advancing one side of the argument while honouring the other side, which seems, I don't know, odd? It also falls foul of exactly what I said, which is that the community cannot, in fact, express a full range of opinions on your answer, because they cannot downvote it. I urge you to write it as an answer, so that the debate you are calling for can actually happen.
    – MadHatter Mod
    Oct 19, 2018 at 10:09

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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As Andrew T said in a comment:

"When shouldn't I comment? [...] Answering a question or providing an alternate solution to an existing answer; instead, post an actual answer (or edit to expand an existing one);..."

That's official SE policy. There aren't really any good arguments against it, so we don't have much cause to do anything differently.

IOW: answers in comments need to be in answers, or they are subject to summary deletion.

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    Um, do you mean "answers in comments need to be in answers, or they are subject to summary deletion"? As is, it looks like you're perfectly happy with answers in comments as long as they're actually answering the question as asked, which slightly conflicts with the official advice you posted.
    – MadHatter Mod
    Oct 26, 2018 at 14:24
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    Hadn't read it like that, thanks @MadHatter :)
    – ArtOfCode
    Oct 26, 2018 at 14:27

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