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Having given this some thought, I think the best approach is to both downvote and flag such answers for moderator attention. Downvoting alone has no noticeable effect when the people upvoting the image outnumber the people downvoting the code.

In this case I did flag and the moderator response was to convert to community wiki, as that was what was suggested by others at the time. Having taken time to think about this I believe this is an inconsistent approach and is unfair on the other answers.

##There was an answer that was deleted It was a picture of a cat with code that clearly did not produce it. Another answer with an image more impressive than most but only because it was produced with code not even close to following the rules has instead been converted to community wiki and massively upvoted. I think this inconsistency sets a precedent that needs to be dealt with now. It doesn't matter that the rep does not go to the poster of the answer. The answers should all contain images relevant to the question so that they can be compared on an equal footing. Otherwise this site is just a image repository.

In any question (particularly but not only popularity contests) there is the possibility of answers being eye catching but unrelated to the question, and getting net upvotes regardless of how many people downvote. The reason we need moderators is because sometimes downvoting doesn't work. The picture of a cat had net upvotes when it was deleted by a moderator. I think the same should apply equally to all questions that do not attempt to stay within the rules.

Answers that beg to get around the rules because "I don't want to waste all that effort" should be deleted to set a clear precedent. They should be undeleted only if they can later be modified to work within the rules. For this reason I believe the answer linked to should be deleted.

If you disagree, please post an answer stating and explaining your objection so there can be a consensus to give clear guidance for future cases.

Having given this some thought, I think the best approach is to both downvote and flag such answers for moderator attention. Downvoting alone has no noticeable effect when the people upvoting the image outnumber the people downvoting the code.

In this case I did flag and the moderator response was to convert to community wiki, as that was what was suggested by others at the time. Having taken time to think about this I believe this is an inconsistent approach and is unfair on the other answers.

There was an answer that was deleted

It was a picture of a cat with code that clearly did not produce it. Another answer with an image more impressive than most but only because it was produced with code not even close to following the rules has instead been converted to community wiki and massively upvoted. I think this inconsistency sets a precedent that needs to be dealt with now. It doesn't matter that the rep does not go to the poster of the answer. The answers should all contain images relevant to the question so that they can be compared on an equal footing. Otherwise this site is just a image repository.

In any question (particularly but not only popularity contests) there is the possibility of answers being eye catching but unrelated to the question, and getting net upvotes regardless of how many people downvote. The reason we need moderators is because sometimes downvoting doesn't work. The picture of a cat had net upvotes when it was deleted by a moderator. I think the same should apply equally to all questions that do not attempt to stay within the rules.

Answers that beg to get around the rules because "I don't want to waste all that effort" should be deleted to set a clear precedent. They should be undeleted only if they can later be modified to work within the rules. For this reason I believe the answer linked to should be deleted.

If you disagree, please post an answer stating and explaining your objection so there can be a consensus to give clear guidance for future cases.

Having given this some thought, I think the best approach is to both downvote and flag such answers for moderator attention. Downvoting alone has no noticeable effect when the people upvoting the image outnumber the people downvoting the code.

In this case I did flag and the moderator response was to convert to community wiki, as that was what was suggested by others at the time. Having taken time to think about this I believe this is an inconsistent approach and is unfair on the other answers.

##There was an answer that was deleted It was a picture of a cat with code that clearly did not produce it. Another answer with an image more impressive than most but only because it was produced with code not even close to following the rules has instead been converted to community wiki and massively upvoted. I think this inconsistency sets a precedent that needs to be dealt with now. It doesn't matter that the rep does not go to the poster of the answer. The answers should all contain images relevant to the question so that they can be compared on an equal footing. Otherwise this site is just a image repository.

In any question (particularly but not only popularity contests) there is the possibility of answers being eye catching but unrelated to the question, and getting net upvotes regardless of how many people downvote. The reason we need moderators is because sometimes downvoting doesn't work. The picture of a cat had net upvotes when it was deleted by a moderator. I think the same should apply equally to all questions that do not attempt to stay within the rules.

Answers that beg to get around the rules because "I don't want to waste all that effort" should be deleted to set a clear precedent. They should be undeleted only if they can later be modified to work within the rules. For this reason I believe the answer linked to should be deleted.

If you disagree, please post an answer stating and explaining your objection so there can be a consensus to give clear guidance for future cases.

Having given this some thought, I think the best approach is to both downvote and flag such answers for moderator attention. Downvoting alone has no noticeable effect when the people upvoting the image outnumber the people downvoting the code.

In this case I did flag and the moderator response was to convert to community wiki, as that was what was suggested by others at the time. Having taken time to think about this I believe this is an inconsistent approach and is unfair on the other answers.

##There was an answer that was deleted It was a picture of a cat with code that clearly did not produce it. Another answer with an image more impressive than most but only because it was produced with code not even close to following the rules has instead been converted to community wiki and massively upvoted. I think this inconsistency sets a precedent that needs to be dealt with now. It doesn't matter that the rep does not go to the poster of the answer. The answers should all contain images relevant to the question so that they can be compared on an equal footing. Otherwise this site is just a image repository.

In any question (particularly but not only popularity contests) there is the possibility of answers being eye catching but unrelated to the question, and getting net upvotes regardless of how many people downvote. The reason we need moderators is because sometimes downvoting doesn't work. The picture of a cat had net upvotes when it was deleted by a moderator. I think the same should apply equally to all questions that do not attempt to stay within the rules.

Answers that beg to get around the rules because "I don't want to waste all that effort" should be deleted to set a clear precedent. They should be undeleted only if they can later be modified to work within the rules. For this reason I believe the answer linked to should be deleted.

If you disagree, please post an answer stating and explaining your objection so there can be a consensus to give clear guidance for future cases.

Having given this some thought, I think the best approach is to both downvote and flag such answers for moderator attention. Downvoting alone has no noticeable effect when the people upvoting the image outnumber the people downvoting the code.

In this case I did flag and the moderator response was to convert to community wiki, as that was what was suggested by others at the time. Having taken time to think about this I believe this is an inconsistent approach and is unfair on the other answers.

##There was an answer that was deleted It was a picture of a cat with code that clearly did not produce it. Another answer with an image more impressive than most but only because it was produced with code not even close to following the rules has instead been converted to community wiki and massively upvoted. I think this inconsistency sets a precedent that needs to be dealt with now. It doesn't matter that the rep does not go to the poster of the answer. The answers should all contain images relevant to the question so that they can be compared on an equal footing. Otherwise this site is just a image repository.

In any question (particularly but not only popularity contests) there is the possibility of answers being eye catching but unrelated to the question, and getting net upvotes regardless of how many people downvote. The reason we need moderators is because sometimes downvoting doesn't work. The picture of a cat had net upvotes when it was closed by a moderator. I think the same should apply equally to all questions that do not attempt to stay within the rules.

Answers that beg to get around the rules because "I don't want to waste all that effort" should be closed to set a clear precedent. They should be reopened only if they can later be modified to work within the rules. For this reason I believe the answer linked to should be closed.

If you disagree, please post an answer stating and explaining your objection so there can be a consensus to give clear guidance for future cases.

Having given this some thought, I think the best approach is to both downvote and flag such answers for moderator attention. Downvoting alone has no noticeable effect when the people upvoting the image outnumber the people downvoting the code.

In this case I did flag and the moderator response was to convert to community wiki, as that was what was suggested by others at the time. Having taken time to think about this I believe this is an inconsistent approach and is unfair on the other answers.

##There was an answer that was deleted It was a picture of a cat with code that clearly did not produce it. Another answer with an image more impressive than most but only because it was produced with code not even close to following the rules has instead been converted to community wiki and massively upvoted. I think this inconsistency sets a precedent that needs to be dealt with now. It doesn't matter that the rep does not go to the poster of the answer. The answers should all contain images relevant to the question so that they can be compared on an equal footing. Otherwise this site is just a image repository.

In any question (particularly but not only popularity contests) there is the possibility of answers being eye catching but unrelated to the question, and getting net upvotes regardless of how many people downvote. The reason we need moderators is because sometimes downvoting doesn't work. The picture of a cat had net upvotes when it was deleted by a moderator. I think the same should apply equally to all questions that do not attempt to stay within the rules.

Answers that beg to get around the rules because "I don't want to waste all that effort" should be deleted to set a clear precedent. They should be undeleted only if they can later be modified to work within the rules. For this reason I believe the answer linked to should be deleted.

If you disagree, please post an answer stating and explaining your objection so there can be a consensus to give clear guidance for future cases.