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I'm new to reviewing and in relation to that I have a question regarding how to handle an answer to an old question with an already accepted answer like this one:

It's an answer to a question from 2012. The answer is technically not wrong but it doesn't really add any value. Since it's a new user she might just not entire grasp the StackExchange system yet.

Do I:

  • Helpfully comment that it might be inappropriate?
  • Ignore it?
  • Down-vote?
  • Flag it?
  • Something else?

Tried browsing meta to see if I could find an answer but with no luck.

Any guidance would be greatly appriciated!

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Reset to default
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New answers to old questions can be anything from spam to gem, so it's kind of difficult to give a simple answer on that. But in general the same rules apply both for current and for old topics

  • if it is inappropriate or out of line -> flag
  • if it is just wrong, incomplete or confusing -> downvote
  • if you think the OP can/should improve it, add a comment with some followup questions

In the case you mentioned it seems to have been meant as a comment to the accepted answer, something which is actually helpful because Mavericks brought some very welcome changes regarding iCloud document syncing. So flagging it for moderator attention would be a good way to handle that.

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  • Got it. Thanks for the guidelines!
    – Lasse
    Feb 26, 2014 at 13:36
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    I do tend to comment as well as down vote to give the user an idea - even if iy is just pointing them to a FAQ
    – mmmmmm
    Feb 26, 2014 at 17:00
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    Age should not be a major factor when reviewing content, primary consideration should be the same as if it was a new answer to a new question.
    – stuffe
    Mar 3, 2014 at 11:37

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