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In the recent blog post, stackexchange announced a new feature that would allow to post question and answer at the same time. I just used this to document my solution to a problem I happened to stumble upon. Then it occurred to me that it maybe disappointing if the question comes with the answer right away, as it deprives the reader of the pleasure to work out his/her own solution. It may be better if the answer by the poster where initially collapsed for some few days after the posting.

I am wondering how the community feels about this feature.

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    $\begingroup$ I am not sure how I feel about this, on one hand it can become handy when you have a question you feel deserves to be on the site (abstract duplicate, etc.) but I do agree with your sentiment that it takes the fun out of questions which are coupled with an answer. Perhaps we can agree to conform that when posting such question we wait a day or two before posting an answer, unless this is an "organizer post" which is aimed specifically at abstract duplicates or knowledge organization. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    May 22, 2012 at 21:58
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    $\begingroup$ Also, questions (and answers) for such questions must be made community wiki. $\endgroup$
    – user17762
    May 23, 2012 at 2:17
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    $\begingroup$ @Marvis What do you think so? Part of SE's idea was that the question/answer gets rated by community and one gets to keep the upvotes for great answers/questions. I think it would work best for math.SE if the answer was posted by OP few days after posting the question. At least I will adhere to such a policy. $\endgroup$
    – Sasha
    May 23, 2012 at 2:23
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    $\begingroup$ @Sasha As you know, the fun part is in finding answers. If you were to pose the question and ask for answers and post your answer after a couple of days then there is no need to make it into a community wiki, since it gives everyone an opportunity to think and give their answers. $\endgroup$
    – user17762
    May 23, 2012 at 5:21
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    $\begingroup$ @Marvis I've turned my answer into CW. The site does not let me turn the question itself into CW though. $\endgroup$
    – Sasha
    May 23, 2012 at 5:30
  • $\begingroup$ @Sasha: if you wish a question turned into CW, please flag it for moderator attention with the request "please turn this question into CW". $\endgroup$
    – Willie Wong
    May 23, 2012 at 8:55
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    $\begingroup$ Ok, so by your logic, we should never answer any new questions on this site until a few days have passed? $\endgroup$
    – TROLLHUNTER
    May 23, 2012 at 10:36
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    $\begingroup$ @Xnyyrznaa You misunderstood. I was saying that if I have a question that I have an answer to, I should first post the question, and after the few days post the answer, rather than use encyclopedia feature and post question/answer at the same time. $\endgroup$
    – Sasha
    May 23, 2012 at 11:06

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I don't think there is any need for a site-wide policy (or even a convention) like this.

Some people may find it disappointing that an interesting question is posted simultaneously with its answer. But if such a person really wants to answer the question for the fun of getting to the answer themselves (as opposed to other reasons, e.g. for reputation points or to be helpful) then they are totally free to not read the answer, and attempt to work it out themselves.

Additionally, I don't see any need for such questions/answers to be made CW. What would be the point of this? If someone thinks of an interesting question with a good answer, that would improve the site, and they take the time to type them both up with nice formatting, then they should get the full credit for their contribution.

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