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I would like to understand why my answer to this question was deleted by moderators in the past 17:28 by Stephen with comments to modify the answer in future time 17:29 by oW_.

After spending 45 mins on providing self contained answer, I had no other option but to revert my answer to initial shortened answer by disabling the links.

Its humanly impossible for someone to travel back in time and edit the answer within 60 seconds.

A humble request, if you plan to mute someone's attempt to help someone, atleast let us know, I can save my previous time to helping someone else. Unable to delete answer deleted time

Update as per information from community catija
Moderator oW_ and Stephen seemed to have taken action at the same time Stephen .

  • Requesting the reason why Stephen proceeded to take up an unfair action when another moderator oW_ sought to give a fair shot at updating as self contained answer.
  • Stephen Kindly provide a written explanation as why this special treatment for me
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  • $\begingroup$ @stephen-rauch It would be great if you could provide an explanation. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 9:47
  • $\begingroup$ Catija's response look quite accurate. I will try to take a look at this after to work today. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 19:30
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    $\begingroup$ I have undeleted the post. But it could likely use some additional information to be a truly useful answer. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 21, 2021 at 0:46

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In general, I'd let a moderator speak for themselves - and Stephen Rauch is welcome to add an answer, too - but I happened to come across this and I think that you're a bit confused about how this site works and what is expected in an answer.

The explanation of deletion was right there in a comment (visible in your screenshot):

link-only answers are discouraged. please provide a self-contained answer.

A link-only answer is one that relies solely on links for the content. All answers on this platform should be self-contained. This means they should not require that viewers visit outside links or content to get the answer to the question. This is explained on the "How to Answer" help center article:

Links to external resources are encouraged, but please add context around the link so your fellow users will have some idea what it is and why it’s there. Always quote the most relevant part of an important link, in case the external resource is unreachable or goes permanently offline.

Your answer does not explain the content of the links in a way that's sufficient that a viewer can avoid visiting them. You didn't quote the content of the article that relates to the question and put it in the context of the question.

Additionally, answers should be truly answers - a link to an article with a "This may have something to do with your question, so go read it" sort of comment isn't useful here. And your link to a product with the comment "unsure if it works" indicates that you haven't actually vetted the solution you're providing - which makes it not an answer.

This platform is not a message board where you can just drop a bunch of links and not expect them to be vetted or judged. Your answer was incomplete and relied too heavily on off-site content that could be removed rendering the answer useless and unsupported claims about a solution that may not even work.

The deletion of your answer, in this case, was correct.

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  • $\begingroup$ thanks for your response. Comment posted also requests me to provide self contained answer and I had proceeded to make the edits which was submitted between 18:45 to 18:50. What I fail to understand is the misleading statement at 17:29 to edit the answer when the Stephen had deleted the entire answer at 17:28, a minute in the past. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 13:54
  • $\begingroup$ You have access to the database, kindly verify the answer that I have provided from 18:30 to 18:45. It was more 30 lines of explanation. It’s not right for a moderator to Not allow a user to change the response without even providing a time frame. Truly sad that I was denied the right to help someone with their query in the present and those in future that needed $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 13:59
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    $\begingroup$ The answer was flagged as not an answer - what I'm guessing happened is that both moderators were looking at the flag simultaneously - one left the comment, the other deleted. Deleted answers can still be edited - as you, yourself, found out because you edited it twice after it was deleted. You could easily have flagged the answer and request it be undeleted. But, instead you... removed the edit within the grace period, making it impossible for anyone to see the edit, and then you edited it again "to prevent moderators from utilising as their own answer" - which, makes no sense. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 14:46
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    $\begingroup$ In the current state, there is zero reason for a moderator to undelete your answer - you have, essentially, proven the answer to be of no value because removing the links removes any value that might have existed. Also, the links are still visible to anyone in the revision history, so removing them from the most recent version, again... serves no purpose at all. What you changed in that earlier edit is lost to the ether - your work was wasted and it can't be recovered. Regardless, the question is closed, so I recommend you don't spend any additional effort on it. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 14:49
  • $\begingroup$ Could you kindly confirm if the moderator has access to my revision of the deleted answers. As I have put the effort, I don’t want the moderators(or their group of friends) to utilise my insights by quoting as their own when someone else asks the similar question $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 15:50
  • $\begingroup$ As per norms of your website comments to a deleted answer is not possible. Answer was deleted at 17:28 by Stephen. Comments posted at 17:29 by oW_ provided a fair option to edit and provide a self contained answer. I can’t say the same for Stephen’s action. For these same reasons I would prefer he provides a written explanation $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 16:05
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    $\begingroup$ I can confirm that we cannot see the revision. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 19, 2021 at 17:39
  • $\begingroup$ @oW_ thanks for confirmation. I would like to personally thank you for giving me a fair chance to provide self contained answer. Wish I really had the chance instead of being denied by other moderator(Stephen) $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 20, 2021 at 22:12
  • $\begingroup$ @catija kindly note flagging an answer doesn’t provide an option to undelete. I was refrained from raising an undelete request on my answer as per the error message in screenshot. “Moderator(i.e., Stephen rauch) deleted the answer and can’t be undeleted” $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 20, 2021 at 22:12
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    $\begingroup$ @ArchanaDavid No, it doesn't allow you to undelete it - you have to use a custom flag and request it be undeleted after you've edited it in the flag text. $\endgroup$ Commented Oct 20, 2021 at 22:36

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