# Answer acceptance rate

I frequently find that when I answer the questions of new users they do not accepts my answers. It seems they tend to just up vote the answer. Thus a number of my answers (which through comments they appear to agree with) go unaccepted. This is starting to make me shy away from answering the questions of users with a low reputation. Is there a way to address this issue?

• Once upon a time, "accept rate" was part of the display, and we could badger users to improve theirs. Maybe we did too much badgering --- anyway, accpet rate is gone, now. You can still leave friendly comments to the effect that the way to show appreciation on m.se is to accept answers by ticking in the check mark. Not sure there's much else you can do. – Gerry Myerson Jan 2 '14 at 17:29
• When this happens to me I usually ask the OP if they would like further clarification (just in case their non acceptance is because my answer is still unclear to them) and then mention that if it has helped them, the question is not really complete until an answer has been accepted. It is sometimes the case that newer users can be happy with answers but haven't yet realised the significance of acceptance. So, a friendly message is a good idea I think and if you're not sure how to word it, the template referred to by @PostNoBulls should help. – Geoff Pointer Jan 2 '14 at 23:58

## 1 Answer

They tend to just up vote the answer.

Users cannot vote until they have 15 points (and are registered). There is a good chance that the vote you see came from someone other than the new user.

But every user is able to accept answers to their question (unless they lost access to their account). If you think they are unaware of the feature, you can tactfully point it out to them. There is a comment template for this purpose.

Added: This query brings up the list of users who asked 10+ questions and never accepted an answer. Off with their heads!

Related resources:

• There is a script User Accept Rate which shows the acceptance rate of the question askers. (It restores the feature that Gerry Myerson mentioned in a comment).
• Instead of installing a script, you can use Stack Exchange API to find the accept rate of a user, if you want to. Put their user id instead of XXXXXX in the following URL string.

Usage example

http://api.stackexchange.com/2.1/users/XXXXXX?site=math&filter=!-w(qwpxEBxkTFOV*UOOs

• Is that filter correct? when I tried that on a few users, I simply got {"items":[{}]} in response. – robjohn Jan 2 '14 at 20:12
• @robjohn That happens if the accept rate is not yet reported for the user, because there are not enough questions (4) on which to base the rate. Only answered, non-CW, non-closed questions older than 3 days count. Another example that works: [the OP of this thread](api.stackexchange.com/2.1/users/…*UOOs). – Post No Bulls Jan 3 '14 at 3:10
• @robjohn Also, you can double-check by removing the filter parameter; this will return unfiltered information about that user. Just as readable if you have JSON formatter. – Post No Bulls Jan 3 '14 at 5:37