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Stack Exchange directions state:

To mark an answer as accepted, click on the check mark beside the answer to toggle it from greyed out to filled in.

However, the comments to my question do not have green outlined checkmarks. I want to mark a comment as an accepted answer. How can I do that?

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    Comments can't be accepted, only answer can be accepted. Ask the user, whose comments solved your problem, to post them as an answer, then you will be able to accept it.
    – samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz
    Commented Jan 24, 2022 at 22:23

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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As you've already noted, only answers can be accepted. Comments are considered transitory and therefore doesn't have this option. You can upvote a comment, but not "accept it as an answer." If you feel that a comment answered your question, here are a number of steps you can follow (in order of preference):

  1. Add a comment pinging that specific individual (using an @-mention) and request them to write up an answer. Once an answer is written you can proceed with the usual voting behaviour.

  2. If there's no response from the commenter after some time, write up your own answer (possibly as a community wiki) referencing the original comment/er (as a form of recognition). Again, from here, you can proceed with the usual voting behaviour.

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  • I can do suggestion 1. I don't understand what makes a "comment" different from an "answer". I have no idea how to start a community wiki. It sounds like overkill for a one-paragraph answer that should be with its question on StackOverflow. I do not have a web site. I'm not a company or an organization.
    – Caslon Melior
    Commented Jan 26, 2022 at 3:31
  • @CaslonMelior: (1) Any page that shows a question is divided into 2 areas. At the top is the Question (has a title and a description/statement. Then there's an area below it where you can add a comment. Below that is the answer section. One question may have multiple answers, and each answer can have comments as well. So, adding something under a question, or under an answer doesn't mean you're adding an answer; you're just adding a comment to that post (a question or an answer). The difference between the two is mainly that posts (answers/questions) can have rich content (like images ...
    – Werner Mod
    Commented Jan 26, 2022 at 3:38
  • ...and code formatting). Comments on the other hand are limited in what they can contain. (2) Community wiki is when you post a question or answer and click the "Community Wiki" check box before posting it. This will turn the post into something that doesn't earn the original poster any reputation - yes, reputation is like the unspoken currency on SE that allows you to do certain things. The more you have, the more you're trusted and the more you can do. I'd just go with your original attempt: @-mentioning the commenter and hope they write up an answer.
    – Werner Mod
    Commented Jan 26, 2022 at 3:40
  • Thank you, Mr. Werner. I wish there was a way to give you credit for the answers in the comments you wrote.
    – Caslon Melior
    Commented Jan 26, 2022 at 3:47
  • @CaslonMelior: If this answered your question, you can click the check mark next to the answer. :)
    – Werner Mod
    Commented Jan 26, 2022 at 18:03

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