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What does it mean to accept an answer?

The system allows the answer to mark an answer as "accepted", to indicate which answer solved the problem or most thoroughly answered the question in the end. Accepting an answer is beneficial as it rewards posters for correctly answering the question and informs others that the issue is resolved. On most sites (except Stack Overflow and some other sites), it also pins the answer to the top so others reading the question see that answer first.

• If the question author started the bounty, and accepted an answer posted during the bounty period (not before), that answer will be automatically awarded the full bounty at the end (provided the answer is still accepted).
• If another user started the bounty, the answer to automatically award the bounty to will still be selected in the usual manner (posted during the bounty period, highest-scoring answer with a minimum of 2, oldest answer in case of ties), but if the selected answer happens to have been accepted by the author, it will be awarded the full bounty instead of half.

What does it mean to accept an answer to my question?

The system allows you to mark an answer as "accepted", in order to indicate which answer solved your problem or most thoroughly answered your question in the end. Accepting an answer is beneficial as it rewards posters for correctly answering your question and informs others that your issue is resolved. On most sites (except Stack Overflow and some other sites), it also pins the answer to the top so others reading your question read that answer first.

• If the question author started the bounty, and accepted an answer posted during the bounty period (not before), that answer will be automatically awarded the full bounty at the end (provided the answer is still accepted).
• If another user started the bounty, the answer to automatically award the bounty will still be selected in the usual manner (posted during the bounty period, highest-scoring answer with a minimum of 2, oldest answer in case of ties), but if the selected answer happens to have been accepted by the author, it will be awarded the full bounty instead of half.

The system allows you to mark an answer as "accepted", in order to indicate which answer solved your problem or most thoroughly answered your question in the end. Accepting an answer is beneficial as it rewards posters for correctly answering your question and informs others that your issue is resolved. On most sites (except Stack Overflow and some other sites), it also pins the answer to the top so others reading your question read that answer first.

• Re-read your question critically and make certain that it's clear what the problem is, and what the specific question is. You might want to place a bold single sentence version of your question at the bottom of your post to make sure it's clear what's being asked.
• Re-read the answers. Consider accepting the best answer of the bunch, even if none of them are exactly what's needed.
• Wait a few days after asking it, and then edit your question with what you've learned since asking it — perhaps additional information will help others help you. This will also have the effect of bringing your question back onto the homepage where fresh eyes can see it.
• If you have at least 75 reputation, you can add a bounty two days after the question is asked. This will place your question in the "Featured Questions" list, and it will be more visible. A bounty will also add incentive for people to answer your question.
• Eventually you'll resolve the problem or find a work-around (which may be, "This won't work, so here's what I did instead"). Please add an answer with this information and accept your own answer so that others with your same question can see the path you eventually followed. This is also applicable if no one answer helped you, but you instead combined information from multiple answers.

• If the question author started the bounty, and accepted an answer posted during the bounty period (not before), that answer will be automatically awarded the full bounty at the end (provided the answer is still accepted).
• If another user started the bounty, the answer to automatically award the bounty will still be selected in the usual manner (posted during the bounty period, highest-scoring answer with a minimum of 2, oldest answer in case of ties), but if the selected answer happens to have been accepted by the author, it will be awarded the full bounty instead of half.

The system allows the answer to mark an answer as "accepted", to indicate which answer solved the problem or most thoroughly answered the question in the end. Accepting an answer is beneficial as it rewards posters for correctly answering the question and informs others that the issue is resolved. On most sites (except Stack Overflow and some other sites), it also pins the answer to the top so others reading the question see that answer first.

• Re-read your question critically and make certain that it's clear what the problem is, and what the specific question is. You might want to place a bold single sentence version of your question at the bottom of your post to make sure it's clear what's being asked.
• Re-read the answers. Consider accepting the best answer of the bunch, even if none of them are exactly what's needed.
• Wait a few days after asking it, and then edit your question with what you've learned since asking it — perhaps additional information will help others help you. This will also have the effect of bringing your question back onto the homepage where fresh eyes can see it.
• If you have at least 75 reputation, you can add a bounty two days after the question is asked. This will place your question in the "Bountied Questions" list, and it will be more visible. A bounty will also add an incentive for people to answer your question.
• Eventually, if you resolve the problem or find a work-around (which may be, "This won't work, so here's what I did instead"), add an answer with this information and accept your own answer so that others with your same question can see the path you eventually followed. This is also applicable if no one answer helped you, but you instead combined information from multiple answers.

• If the question author started the bounty, and accepted an answer posted during the bounty period (not before), that answer will be automatically awarded the full bounty at the end (provided the answer is still accepted).
• If another user started the bounty, the answer to automatically award the bounty to will still be selected in the usual manner (posted during the bounty period, highest-scoring answer with a minimum of 2, oldest answer in case of ties), but if the selected answer happens to have been accepted by the author, it will be awarded the full bounty instead of half.