Policy: Is it okay if I bump my up my post to top of the Latest list by replying to my own post?

Currently, the homepage of community.rstudio.com sorts posts by those with the most recent activity.

Some people, who haven't received a satisfactory reply after some time -- or any reply -- there is an urge reply to one's own topic to bump it back up to the top of the Latest list.

In general, this is considered impolite.


Bumping or Fake editing is adding a reply or editing a post to push it to the top of the "Latest" page.

In general, this kind of behavior is considered impolite.

  • It feels spammy. If everyone did it the site would be a less useful place.
  • Others should flag situations that seem spammy.

If haven't gotten any help but would still like it, or your thread hasn't received the attention you feel it deserves, how should you handle this?

  • Firstly, be thoughtful as to why you received silence after your first post. If you asked a complex question, perhaps you can simplify it, pehraps break it into smaller questions, perhaps focus on the core issue you'd like to address.
  • It is okay to reply to one's own orphan post with additional progress or information. For example, with a solution. Just, please, don't come back with nothing for the sake of getting attention.
  • In some situations it might be best to just post the question in a totally new thread, taking a different approach with the question.

The other variation on this theme I see is "fake editing" one's own post without changing the content in any meaningful way (if at all).

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