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If an answer gets deleted by a moderator - presumably because it was considered a duplicate - why would said moderator delete the first answer in the timeline, especially after the poster has put in time to clarify the question? Should s/he not delete the second answer, which copies the first?

Sometimes posts are duplicated and a screenshot added to make it appear as if the duplicate answer brings something new to the thread (which it really doesn’t). This not only lowers the quality and usability of this site, but also leads to a points collecting mentality in which adding screenshots to text answers becomes common practice - not to talk about wasted space and fostering illiteracy.

Its deletion also antagonises the poster of the initial answer (who spent time ascertaining the correct one, improving the question and subsequently formulating an answer), which s/he then might feel is a waste of his/her time and eventually stop frequenting the site. This in turn leads to an ever increasing amount of unanswered questions.

At the very, very least and if it is commonly agreed upon that screenshots are necessary for less literate people to understand the post, adding it to the first and correct answer should be sufficient, which can be easily done via the “Edit” option. The same goes for formatting.

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  • Can you point to any specific examples of this happening?
    – F1Krazy
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 15:22
  • 2
    When you bring it this way of course the only possible answer is "Sure, you're correct, the mod is wrong!" however, there is always more to it. This is off topic here, ask this on the per-site meta and the relevant mod(s) can give you real answer, knowing all the details.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 15:24
  • 2
    Caution: I've seen many people complain about "duplicate" answers when the same result can trivially be reached independently. For answers posted close together but one has a bit more details, it could just be that it took longer to write due to the additions, rather than copying an existing one and including more things.
    – VLAZ
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 15:24
  • 3
    If you refer to apple.stackexchange.com/questions/453405/…, your post seemed to be more a comment than an answer, was flagged as Not an Answer, and deleted based on that.
    – nohillside Mod
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 15:32
  • @nohillside Thank you for the explanation. I don't see much difference to the second answer (apart from mistakes omitted and the possibility of a bug considered). If that's not enough, both answers should have been deleted.
    – Redarm
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 15:38
  • Thank you @Shadow Wizard Chasing Stars and sorry for choosing the wrong meta forum.
    – Redarm
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 15:43
  • 1
    @F1Krazy nohillside and the answer mention a specific example.
    – Redarm
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 15:44
  • 1
    Personally I don't see the point to delete duplicate answers, unless of course copy and paste on purpose. But each site has its own policies, and looks like this site is very strict about it. To change it, start a discussion here and if you get enough support, the policy might change.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 15:53
  • We don't have a policy against duplicate answers at all. But the post in question (cited below) read more like a comment than an answer so it got deleted due to that.
    – nohillside Mod
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 18:33

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Note: I was not the ♦ moderator who deleted your answer, but I can see why it happened. Yes, you indicated the correct Finder setting, but the answer itself is hard to parse:

Even with "Hide extension" ticked in the info window, the Finder setting...
Finder > Preferences > Advanced > Show all filename extensions
...is meant to prevent hidden extensions.

"is meant to prevent hidden extensions." is kind of a double negative, and it's also conditional ("Even with"). The other answer is much clearer (at least to me, being a non-native English speaker).

Stack Exchange is not about being the first to answer, even though it sometimes helps the author of the question; we're here to build a library of high-quality Q&A about Apple products.

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  • A "double negative" is something else. The expression "is meant to" was used to consider the possibility of a bug, i.e. Finder should show the extensions, but could be malfunctioning.
    – Redarm
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 15:46
  • Sorry, I meant the negativeness of "prevent" and "hidden".
    – Glorfindel Mod
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 16:08
  • Yes, the original poster specifically mentioned having to untick the "hidden" flag in the Finder info window for each and every file in his/her attempt to see the extension(s) - hence it prevents hidden extensions. But you are most likely right that skimming through (an embarrassingly short answer) might prove difficult for some. But then what is the "Edit" option for?
    – Redarm
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 16:17
  • @Redarm Feel free to undelete and edit it to make the "answer" aspect more easy to understand. As written it's hard to understand how it answers the question asked.
    – nohillside Mod
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 18:35
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    @nohillside Thank you for the offer. But I don't like posting duplicates. I just think it somewhat rude to delete an answer, because it subjectively reads like a comment (it reads like an answer in my head). A polite nudge might be more constructive.
    – Redarm
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 18:55
  • 2
    @redarm Agreed, I should have left a comment.
    – nohillside Mod
    Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 21:58

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