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I'm writing this post because lately I've been declining a lot of flags from different people and maybe this website needs a better explanation of what should be flagged or not.
The other purpose of this is so I can link this post when I decline flags in the future.
I know I've said in a few meta posts that you should flag everything that looks suspicious on the main website, but I guess some people find everything suspicious.

What should you definitely flag (this is in no way a complete list, but you can get the idea).

  • Verbal assault.
  • Single link answers (but try to leave a comment before flagging).
  • posts that have nothing to do with Magento (spam)
  • posts from users that only promote their content. (yeah, you will have to look at the user profile from time to time).
  • Posts linking to commercial extensions without any indication for authors affiliation (thanks @fschmengler for pointing it out)
  • Answers that copy another answer and they are posted far apart.
  • Answers that are not answers (other questions, "thank you" answers, ...)
  • Comments asking for an answer to a different question.
  • Duplicate questions from the same user.

What you should not flag.

  • Wrong answers (if you think a technical answer is not the right answer don't flag it. Comment on it and downvote).
  • duplicate questions from different users (just vote to close as duplicate).
  • Answers that contain links to extensions (paid or free) but have an explanation of what the extension does and how it works.
  • Own questions that have been closed and you think they should not be closed. For this, create a meta post explaining why you think the question is valid.
  • Answers that state basically the same think but they are posted in a short period of time. It is actually very common for 2 people to find the same solution and post it 5 minutes apart.

Feel free to add answers with items that you think should go in one of the lists above and we'll discuss them.

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  • 2
    Good overview, thanks! So far I agree on all points, although I often (not always!) flag posts for promoting commercial extensions without any indication for authors affiliation in the profile, in case that it's obvious marketing jargon.
    – Fabian Schmengler
    Jul 25, 2016 at 9:12
  • @fschmengler. You got a valid point here. I will add that to the list.
    – Marius Mod
    Jul 25, 2016 at 9:13
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    Also what about people who never give back: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/136897/… ?
    – Raphael at Digital Pianism
    Jul 26, 2016 at 9:33
  • 4
    @RaphaelatDigitalPianism. This is my opinion and it should not in any way be considered as the opinion of all the moderators on this website. I think you think too much at what destructive measures you can take. I don't know if you get any thrills out of this, but I don't encourage this behavior. I will not ban/penalize a user just because he keeps asking questions and does not answer other questions. If the questions are low quality you can vote to close them and in time they will go away. If the questions are good, this actually helps the community. (1/2)
    – Marius Mod
    Jul 29, 2016 at 11:03
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    From now I will not even handle flags like these. I will let the other moderators take a look at them. (2/2)
    – Marius Mod
    Jul 29, 2016 at 11:04
  • 1
    @Marius thanks for that explanation I appreciate your opinion it helps me improve my behavior / understanding of the website
    – Raphael at Digital Pianism
    Jul 29, 2016 at 12:03
  • Apologies for my lack of input here - I was traveling and on vacation. I agree fully with Marius. We should be taking approaches to encouraging positive behavior instead of searching out negative behavior. In cases where it is blatant and cannot be ignored, then the flag is your friend.
    – philwinkle
    Aug 5, 2016 at 16:17
  • @Marius thanks for your points. That will help us to change our attitude and improve our behavior.
    – Khoa TruongDinh
    Aug 6, 2016 at 16:14
  • Answers that copy another answer and they are posted far apart.----- User A asked a question, User B Answered on A's questions. User C asked a question which is similar to A's question. User D don't know about the answer. But D saw B's answer. But, D copied B's answer and Pasted at C's question. What to do now?
    – Teja Bhagavan Kollepara
    Jul 17, 2019 at 4:16
  • Should also explicitly add non-English posts to this list. Questions->Needs Details or Clarity. Answers->VLQ/NAA.
    – General Grievance
    Sep 21 at 16:12

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I would add voting irregularities flag.

I recently had to flag a user that was getting answers from an user with the same username.

Both questions and answers were quickly upvoted within the first minute it was posted so I ended flagging that.

I reckon shady stuff like that should be flagged so a mod can look at it.

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