Questions tagged [support]
You need help with the use of one or more of the site's features.
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Would it be on-topic to ask whether the NHS of the UK is wrong about when to call the emergency number?
The UK's NHS page on heart palpitations says at the top:
Heart palpitations are when your heartbeat becomes more noticeable."
and says in the middle:
Heart palpitations are common and not ...
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What is the best way to cite a YouTube video ad?
As of late, I've been seeing a lot of video ads on YouTube that include specific claims that are quite questionable. These are generally of the "one weird trick to save a questionably high amount ...
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Why do I have another 7 day posting embargo despite for a question that's open and upvoted?
I've posted exactly 2 questions in the last 2 months.
The first one was closed and I got a 7 day lockout.
Two weeks later I posted a second question. It is still open and has 3 upvotes, yet I've been ...
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Why are questions that I deleted being counted as strikes against my account?
Why are questions that I deleted myself because they were being dragged off topic being counted as strikes for the purposes of a posting ban?
They weren't counted as strikes until after I'd deleted ...
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Is it allowed to ask if a certain measurement index is reliable?
I'd like to ask about how valid HDI (Human development index) is. I mean, if what they use for making the index, is more and less valid (obviously there can be errors, but at least it uses a good ...
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Add a "landfill" tag to the sites tags (withdrawn)
A user recently suggested in a comment that we have a "landfill" tag:
I just think we also need to explicitly label unreliable sites as unreliable/conspiracy/etc. instead of letting people ...
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Request to undelete mod-deleted "Transgender" question
@MadScientist deleted this question:
"Do Trans people want to change "their biological sex"? Is that impossible?"
He apparently also suspended the account for a day.
While the &...
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The first link on this help page needs to be fixed
The first link on this help page needs to be fixed:
https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic
It links to:
https://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/864/when-in-doubt-ask-for-a-citation
...
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Why was my question downvoted?
I have a question about my Skeptics Stack Exchange post: Why did Biden make a strategic mistake and create a crisis by leaving Afghanistan?
Why was it closed?
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1
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Way to retract bad edit in review queue?
I realized after I submitted an edit that it sucked. It was held for review due to my lack of privileges. I wasn't able to find a way to undo it from the UI I can get at, is there a way for me to undo ...
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Many StackExchange sites wrongly claim you don't have to register to use them
The Skeptics.SE site has a welcome message:
Welcome!
This is a collaboratively edited question and answer site for scientific skepticism. It's 100% free, no registration required.
All StackExchange ...
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Why do I have a question ban after posting a well reccived question?
I recently had a question ban, because I asked two poorly formulated questions. I waited until the ban had expired, and then asked another question. This was relatively well received, with quite a few ...
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My question is not a duplicate. Can it be reopened?
My question is not a duplicate, for reasons that I have explained within the question itself. Can it please be re-opened?
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My question is marked as duplicate although it was not
I have a question about my Skeptics Stack Exchange post: Can you prove a plane hit Pentagon on September 11, 2001?
Although my question was not same, it was marked as duplicate. In my question, I ...
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What is this site for?
"Scientific skepticism" doesn't sound like an adequate explanation to me. Is it like a Q&A factcheck regardless of the topic?
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Have these COVID-19 questions with thousands of views not been HNQ'd?
I've looked at the timeline and edit history of Is COVID-19 more dangerous than typical annual coronavirus variants? which has 4K views presently, but I see no HNQ note anywhere. So what explains the ...
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How can non-moderators suggest a better duplicate target without flagging?
I posted a flag to this question suggesting a better duplicate target. The response I got was "helpful - You are able to edit in additional dupe targets". However, when I tried clicking on the "edit" ...
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Why do I have a -2 rep today for "User was removed"
I saw in the reputation dropdown a -2 for this site.
On inspection my reputation tab looks as follows. Both of my positive reputation entries come from approved edits - how can these be affected by ...
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Question about site policy, determined by vote count or chosen answer?
I recently asked a question: Did Hunter Biden launder 3 million dollars of Ukrainian money? That question has a comment that says,
Voted to close since "questions about unresolved current events ...
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Why was an answer about fracking deleted?
I posted this question, Can fracking help reduce CO2?. It got 3 interesting answers, all of which provided some useful information, from users LShaver, Brythan, and Randy Orrison.
Since then, it ...
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Tag synonym proposal: [archeology] and [archaeology]
Please make archeology and archaeology tag synonyms. Otherwise a single word is represented twice with variant spellings.
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How to increase font size and use bolds?
How to increase font size and use bolds? And other formatting?
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Black hole question needs moderators intervention!
Was credit for the black hole image misattributed?
My question was about using the algorithm to create a black hole image. The moderator Mad Scientist locked my question because they dont agree to ...
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Are encyclopedias a good source?
Are encyclopedias (e.g. the Encyclopedia Britannica, the World Book Encyclopedia) a good source? Why or why not?
I have read this sentence from here:
References should have credibility in the ...
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Why is this question “POB?
I asked the following question Do British people think they are losing face on Brexit? asking to confirm or deny what, according to some articles, appears to be an emerging concern about reputation.
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My answer deleted for downvotes... better answer deleted on a misunderstanding
I recently wrote an answer to "Did people and dinosaurs see each other?" that got deleted, with the note that if I wanted to write an additional answer instead I ought to undelete my first answer (and ...
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How can I change an erroneously cast vote?
I have cast an erroneous vote on a question but cannot rectify my mistake. The tooltip says my vote is "locked in" and I can only change my vote, when the question is edited. Why ?
Can I do something ...
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Is it acceptable to ask a question about general methodology?
For example, this answer makes the following statement:
What is true is that [vaccine effectiveness] in people aged 65 or older is 9%, with a 95% confidence interval that spans from -84% to 55%. ...
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Understanding Skeptics rules!
Why was this question Did Trump say “going loco”? closed as off-topic for for “not challenging notable claims such as pseudoscience”, while the following one was not? Did Barron Trump wear a “I'm ...
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Using skeptics.SE as a personal, political blogging platform
This user has recently posted a number of questions here on Skeptics about controversial recent political events, sometimes concurrently cross-posting on Politics.SE, sometimes self-answering. Most of ...
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Was my question offensive?
I posted the following question and I received a series of comments that appeared to take the issue more on the sensititive side rather than on the rational one.
In doubt I chose to remove it, but ...
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What's the best way to deal with off-topic comments
Unlike some other SE sites, I've noticed (and sometimes contributed to) a good deal of discussion in the comments here at skeptics. Sometimes these back-and-forth comments are about problems with an ...
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Are we supposed to flag these kinds of questions?
This question is poorly written, and doesn't meet the site requirements for a notable claim, as I understand them. It's also a Holocaust denial question. Should we treat the question just like any ...
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What is the best practice for referring to an online text that is subject to subtle changes
This is somehow related to Future broken Links and Best practice for dealing with link rot?.
In a recent answer I referred to an online article that was very sloppily written when it was posted.
...
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Flagging up a user
Earlier today a number of old questions have been brought up again by a user called EDtreatment. The questions A, B and C all relate to erectile dysfunction as does his user name and user profile. ...
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How can this question be closed?
Would a full scale Thermonuclear War create centuries of Nuclear Winter?
This question has been closed as duplicate of this question:
Do we have enough nuclear weapons to wipe out all of humanity?
...
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Is my question OK for the site?
I read about people taking a drug and seeing the same hallucination ("Sex, Drugs, Einstein, and Elves"). I became skeptical and wonder if seeing the same hallucaination for different people at ...
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Are conspiracy theory based questions allowed here?
There are lots of conspiracy theories out there. These conspiracy theories are backed by lots of thought-provoking theories which can make anyone skeptical. For example, "Earth is Flat" is backed by ...
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Is it possible to retrieve old answers to deleted questions?
There is a live question about whether global warming will cause an oxygen shortage.
I remember writing a (controversial because of original research) answer to a question about how long atmospheric ...
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2
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Rules around the daily reputation limit
Having recently experienced (for the first time I remember) the daily reputation limit, I wanted to clarify one of the rules.
When the daily reputation limit is in force, is is just that further ...
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Should possible/partial answers be edited out of a question?
This question quotes a critique in the question text.
It is my understanding* that this should be edited out.
Is that correct? I can't find this on meta yet.
* First comment under my question here
user22865
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Is there a way to flag/delete extremely offensive user names?
I don't want to see "modified 1 hour ago [extremely offensive username]".
Is there a way to eliminate this?
Right now people are seeing the N-word and an anti-gay slur when they go to the default ...
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When you first visit skeptics SE there is a cover picture with a flying saucer
How to you get back to that picture?
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"Abusing the flagging system" - really?
On this question Was it harder for Syrian Christians to immigrate to the US than Muslims? , comments were as shown below:
While the question is on topic, it seems of little importance. – Sklivvz♦ ...
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Why was my question closed as "Primarily Opinion Based"?
This question was closed as Primarily Opinion Based. What does that mean on a site about skepticism? On what grounds was my question a POB one? How could it be improved and made on-topic according to ...
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How are we supposed to use tags associated with a person?
The description for the "donald-trump" tag is:
for questions where the claim is about Donald Trump. Do not use this tag for questions about stuff Trump claims.
When I posted the question Did a ...
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Delete/undelete protocol: bug or by design?
I deleted my own answer to this question: Does the Quran say in its verse 4:89 that "Those who reject Islam must be killed"? while the question was on IslamSE .
Then my answer was somehow ...
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Can the admin please check my account for an instance of serial down voting?
I've been the target of serial down voting before, so I'm familiar with the auto-script that will undo it if triggered, but the exact trigger is not publicly known. I'm also familiar with the secrecy ...
user11643
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How to discuss the deletion of my answer?
My answer to this question has been deleted by a moderator on the grounds of being based on original research. I read the guidelines here, and I can argue that the answer still fits on Skeptics. The ...
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