Skip to content

Users seem to use the [Post your answer] as a reply often #1504

Description

@brocaar

Context

I observe that users are often using the [Post your answer] as a reply to an answer, not understanding that this option is to answer a question. E.g. the following happens:

  • User creates new question
  • The question is answered, sometimes requesting for some more feedback if it does not solve the issue.
  • The user has feedback, but instead of using the [Add comment] option, he / she uses the [Post your answer] thinking it is to reply to the previous answer.

I think the reason is because the Your Answer form is immediately displayed, where the [Add comment] option requires an additional click to show the form. Thus users are missing that they are using the wrong form.

Examples:

Describe the solution you'd like

Maybe an additional check should be added when the user of the question is the same as the user trying to press the [Post your answer]. Something like Only use this field to answer your own question. To reply to an answer please use the [Add comment] button.

Alternatively, maybe it should be made a bit "harded" to self-answer a question. E.g. when the user of the question and the user trying to answer is the same, do not show the Your Answer form but add a Button to expand it + making the user aware that it should only be used to answer the question, not to reply.

Activity

  1. added theissue type on Feb 12, 2026
  2. fenbox commented on Feb 12, 2026

    @fenbox
    Member

    @brocaar The issue is indeed common. This is a great suggestion.

  3. Dinesht04 commented on Feb 26, 2026

    @Dinesht04
    Contributor

    Hey, can I work on this?

  4. fenbox commented on Feb 27, 2026

    @fenbox
    Member

    @Dinesht04 Yes you can. Looking forward to it.

  5. Dinesht04 commented on Mar 10, 2026

    @Dinesht04
    Contributor

    Hey! As of now, the tooltip suggests how to go about writing the answer and what to avoid.

    Image

    Implementing an extra check or hiding the answer field behind a button seemed a little intrusive and blocking, so I tried with an approach where there is a sub-heading rendered only in the author's Answer Field

    Image

    I am now a little confused as to what approach to take 😅. Any Suggestions?

  6. fenbox commented on Mar 11, 2026

    @fenbox
    Member

    @Dinesht04 I remember that this prompt appears when reputation is below 100. But it seems users automatically ignore it, and I'm wondering how to resolve this.

  7. assigned and unassigned on Mar 11, 2026
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

No milestone

Relationships

None yet

Development

No branches or pull requests

Issue actions