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Moderator Recommended Answers

When a helpful reply goes unmarked by the question author, moderators can now step in with a new feature: Moderator Recommended Answers. This label helps surface high-quality responses for future readers—without overriding the question author’s authority.

A Moderator Recommended Answer is a reply that a moderator believes is accurate, complete, and helpful—even if the question author hasn’t marked it as the accepted solution. It appears with a distinct label to signal trust and improve discoverability.

If the question author later accepts the same reply, the label updates to:
Answer accepted by question author and recommended by moderator

Prerequisites

  • You need to be signed into Q&A.
  • You need to be a moderator in Q&A.

Why It Matters

Some threads never get marked as answered - especially when the question author doesn’t return. This can leave helpful replies buried and hard to find. Moderator recommendations:

  • Highlight trusted solutions
  • Improve visibility for future readers
  • Help search engines and AI tools prioritize quality content

When to Recommend an Answer

Moderators may recommend a reply when:

  • The question author confirms the issue is resolved but hasn’t marked the thread as answered
  • The question author shares the solution but is unable to mark it
  • At least 72 hours have passed, and two or more users confirmed the solution worked
  • The reply has received five or more helpful votes after several days
  • The moderator knows from personal experience that the solution is valid

The selected reply should be the most accurate and complete solution - regardless of who posted it.

When Not to Recommend

Avoid recommending a reply if:

  • The question author is still active and confirms the issue persists
  • The response was just posted - give the question author time to engage
  • The reply only asks for more info or clarification
  • The reply offers generic troubleshooting steps without addressing the root cause
  • The thread lacks a clear solution
  • You wrote the answer yourself - in this case, please ask another moderator to recommend it on your behalf
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