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One of my questions has been answered really comprehensively, and it does answer the question in theory, but I haven't tested the answer, and don't understand the code so well. Do I accept because the question was answered in theory and a very good answer, or do I wait until I've tested it first and understand it properly?

In this particular case, it is the only answer to my question.

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You can un-accept and re-accept at a later date. –  Martijn Pieters Jun 18 '12 at 15:49
Accept when it was helpful to you (more than other answers) and solved your problem. Awesomeness of answers is determined by upvotes by the community. Test first. –  Daniel Fischer Jun 18 '12 at 15:50
There is no hurry in accepting an answer. There is no problem in waiting a while until you've verified it. –  Bart Jun 18 '12 at 15:50
Bear in mind that once you accept an answer, you'll diminish your chances of getting additional answers; as accepting an answer screams "It's solved, I don't need any more help". –  Matt Jun 18 '12 at 15:55
Can't decide if this is a dupe of "How long should I wait before accepting an answer?" It pretty much covers the same ground. –  jadarnel27 Jun 18 '12 at 15:57

3 Answers 3

up vote 11 down vote accepted

Accepted answer means "This answer helped me (the most)".

You have two things that you can do:

  1. Accept it, test it, and unaccept if it's wrong (you can unaccept whenever you want). Leave a comment as well explaining why you think it didn't work.

  2. Test it first and then accept it. There's no hurry, no matter what irate commenters may tell you. In fact, when a question of mine is quickly answered, I wait for others to answer it before accepting one. In such cases, I usually comment "I'll accept this answer once I've tested it/let others see it".

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There is no hurry. Try out the suggestions provided in the answer, see if it really answers your question. If not, ask follow up questions in the comments and/or update your question with specifics to get a more elaborate answer.

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+1 for the 1st part of your answer. -1 for the help-vampirey part of the second part of your answer. –  amanaP lanaC A nalP A naM A Jun 18 '12 at 15:56
@amanaPlanaCAnalPAnaMA: I'm not sure I understand, -1 for the part about updating the question with specifics if the question is unclear? –  ohaal Jun 18 '12 at 17:01

I'd suggest waiting awhile, especially if the question only has one answer. You never know when someone else might write another, better one, but people are less likely to contribute more answers if one has been accepted already.

I sometimes see people accept the first answer they see that sort-of helps, and seemingly never notice another, better answer that's added later (or at least, they never accept the better one instead). I think that's unfortunate.

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