<p><sub>Reference: imported excerpt and wiki from the main <a href="http://meta.stackexchange.com/tags/link-only-answers/info">Meta Stack Exchange</a> site.</sub></p>

<hr>

<p>Answers that depend <em>entirely</em> on the information available on another page.</p>

<h3>Examples:</h3>

<blockquote>
  <p><a href="http://www.example.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="reference to some URL">"this will help you"</a></p>
  
  <p>"do as described <a href="http://www.example.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer" title="reference to some URL">here</a>"</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In order to be immediately helpful to readers (and avoid <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link-rot" rel="nofollow noreferrer">link-rot</a>), we prefer answers that provide at least a summary of the solution directly, with links used to offer <em>additional</em> information. </p>

<h3>See also:</h3>

<ul>
<li><p><a href="http://meta.stackexchange.com/help/deleted-questions">Stack Exchange FAQ -> Why are some questions or answers removed?</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Answers that do not fundamentally answer the question may be removed. This includes answers that are … barely more than a link to an external site</p>
</blockquote></li>
<li><p><a href="http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/how-to-answer">Stack Exchange -> How to Answer</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <h3>Provide context for links</h3>
  
  <p>A link to a potential solution is always welcome, but please add context around the link so your fellow users will have some idea what it is and why it’s there. Always quote the most relevant part of an important link, in case the target site is unreachable or goes permanently offline. </p>
</blockquote></li>
<li><p><a href="http://meta.stackexchange.com/a/8259/165773" title="canonical explanation">Are answers that just contain links elsewhere really “good answers”?</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>links... should <em>never</em> be the only piece of information in your answer. </p>
  
  <p>An analogy would be if you are standing at 100 Main St. and you ask where 98 Main St. is. A good answer would be </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>"It is the next building over". <em>points at building</em> </p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>If you instead include a link, you are saying </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>"I'll direct you to a tourism information booth, and they will be able to provide you with your answer and much more!"</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Which is great, however, you haven't answered their question at all, you've deferred the answering to somewhere else...</p>
</blockquote></li>
<li><p><a href="http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/225370/your-answer-is-in-another-castle-when-is-an-answer-not-an-answer">Your answer is in another castle: when is an answer not an answer?</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/vAUaw.png" alt="A, NAA, A, NAA, VLQ" title="A, NAA, A, NAA, VLQ"></p>
</blockquote></li>
</ul>
