Clarification of rules on duplicate answers across posts

Question

A cut and paste of my answer to a question and a comment from the same original poster in two very different questions caused one one of my answers to get deleted as duplicate so I am just trying to get some clarification around what I should do next time this situation arises.

Content plugin doesn't add text to articles

Add Options to {loadedmoduleid ID}

I saw it is two quite different threads where the OP asked where can learn more about Plugins and anyone doing a search is unlikely to see those two questions side by side, so I felt it was okay to copy the answer. I have copied a previous answer before but because it was weeks apart no-one probably noticed.

Am I not allowed to cut and paste an answer?

Should I put my response in the comments and not as an Answer?

Do I rework my answer as a 'FAQ' or whatever is JSE approach and then just point the next person that asks where can they learn more to that post?

Terry

Answer 1

Widely agree with mickmackusa's post here.

By the way, I am the moderator that deleted the second answer.

For general information, make sure you are familiar with how things work here. Please read JSE Tour and JSE Help.

Duplicates copy/paste answers are getting flagged automatically here. Besides this:

• There are rules regarding Duplicate Questions. There is no point in having the same questions getting asked again and again. So duplicate questions are getting deleted/closed/marked as duplicate and linked to existing questions that already have answers.

• For duplicate answers read:

  • Is it acceptable to add a duplicate answer to several questions?

  Especially from this page I am quoting the part that is most close to your case:

Are they promotional in any way?

Duplicate answers across questions that promote external links or resources are considered astro-turfing and will likely result in the immediate deletion of all the answers involved. Most often, these answers get posted to questions which are only remotely related to the link or product they're trying to promote, and they often consist of little more than a vague explanation of what the link contains or what the tool does. Depending on the degree of astro-turfing and status of the account, a wide range of punishments could get issued, from a simple warning to account destruction.

• Are there any non-trivial examples of exact-duplicate answers to non-duplicate questions?

• https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/320351/how-to-handle-copy-and-pasted-answers-from-dupes

As you can see, basically you can't copy/paste (including tweaking a little) the same answers to many questions.

Also, it's clear that the second answer is far away from trying to provide a solution to the question asked. In my opinion, it doesn't provide a clear/straight solution to the first question as well - but the OP found it helpful so it's ok.

Apparently, things can't work like this, otherwise try to think it like this: Your answer should be the answer to all questions here mentioning anything about Joomla plugins. How that would sound to you?

....

As to what you could possibly do if you think an existing answer can be helpful on another/new question? You can comment below the question and include the link to the existing answer. Note that you need to be sure that you link to a really helpful and related answer. For the current example that we are talking, making that connection between the Questions/Answers would not be any helpful at all.

Let us know if you have any other concerns or questions.

Answer 2

I haven't yet consulted with the other moderators, but...

Extension development questions tend to be on the "heavier" / "more demanding" side of questions that are posted here. When a question is dumping extension requirements and does not include any coding attempt, then it is probably asking too much of volunteers.

Whenever you feel the "answer" to a problem is to recommend a book or offsite resource, there is a fair chance that the question is Too Broad or Off-topic: Requires professional hands-on involvement.

Many well-intentioned volunteers want to lead askers in the right direction, but it is more important that the questions are kept narrow so that volunteers are not abused and answers are brief and valuable to researchers. The OP on those pages doesn't have a long track record of posting here, but there is such a thing as Help Vampirism and it is generally not a good thing.

I do not mean to shame anyone who has needed support; I've been there too, in the deep end with not much to grab on to. Just keep in mind that if you are attempting to "develop an extension", then you are attempting to be a "developer". A developer should be expected to exhaustively research and try something. When becoming stuck, clearly explain where you are stuck and ask a question that gets you over the most immediate challenge. (rinse and repeat until you are successful)

Both responses at Add Options to {loadedmoduleid ID} are benevolent yet vague hints leading to directions to resources, but Stack Exchange doesn't endeavour to be a traffic controller -- it wants to be the final destination. If a question is sufficiently narrow, a concise/articulate/educational answer should be hard-written into an answer. (supplemental hyperlinks and references to resources re-enforce an answer but do not solely constitute a good answer)

When you wish to offer general guidance or resources, often writing a comment under the question is ideal. There's no real downside to doing this and you aren't likely require the special formatting that answers enjoy. You may also include in the comment that you'd like to see their efforts so you can better understand where they are stuck.

As for posting answers in the future, if you feel the urge to post redundant advice AND the two questions are not duplicates, then go out of your way to tailor your advice to be unique/specific to each question.