Scenario: a new question is posted of the type "Is it possible to...?". A user kindly points to a possible duplicate question, particularly old (+1 year) which has an accepted answer (also of +1 year) of the type "No it is not possible...". However one finds that the question does have an "It's possible..." answer now that time has passed.

What would be the proper thing to do:

  • Flag the new question as duplicate so it gets closed and post valid new answer on old question?
  • Post answer on new question and just leave old question/answer alone?
  • Same as before but flag or do something on old question/answer?
  • Something else?
share|improve this question
add comment

1 Answer

up vote 7 down vote accepted

If the new question's a duplicate, it should be closed as such.1

If the accepted answer to the old question is inaccurate, a comment to that effect should be made on it, and a new, correct, answer added. A comment to the questioner would also not be out of place to make sure that they have a chance to reevaluate.

The overarching goal is to have one good source of correct information for the question.
While a new answer on an old question might not immediately garner enough views to be brought to the top, over time it should gravitate upwards (especially in the case of a "yes" answer to an "is this possible" question).

1 Assuming that the new question doesn't already have better answers than the older one, as SomeHelpfulCommenter points out .

share|improve this answer
If the new question's a duplicate, it should be closed as such. Actually age shouldn't matter only which is better see Should I vote to close a duplicate question, even though it's much newer, and has more up to date answers? –  Some Helpful Commenter Oct 9 '12 at 21:40
@SomeHelpfulCommenter Good point. I assumed that in this case the new question hadn't yet garnered any answers, in which case it'd be preferable to keep all the information in one place (provided the older question wasn't terrible). –  blahdiblah Oct 9 '12 at 21:42
Understood. Thank you. –  Betoverse Oct 10 '12 at 17:34
add comment

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .