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The other day I asked a question that I have been struggling with for some time.

when the question was answered, before I accepted the answer I tried it.

After that I wanted to show the world, and keep a reference to myself that it really worked. I wanted to show how now my indexes were being used and the difference it made on the execution plan.

When I added this info to my question, after the word Conclusion one person that I really admire and love, told me that I should not be answering my questions within the question, which is not what I wanted at all!

My intention is not answering my question, be it within my question or as a new answer. My intention is to add as documentation for my own self first and for the benefit of all DBAs as a conclusion.

My question is:

How can I add the conclusion to my question?

I don't want anyone to edit my question and getting rid of the information. Should I write a new answer?

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The question author adding a "conclusion" is a bit of an odd thing that does not naturally fit in Q & A format.

Nevertheless, on the odd occasion the question author strongly feels this sort of addition is necessary, and obviously benefits the site, the conclusion must go in an answer not in the question.

In the same way that people edit answers out of questions, they might also flag your answer as not being an answer at all. Moderators will review these if and when they happen on a case-by-case basis.

My feeling has always been to allow question authors a little extra latitude when answering their own question, but there are limits. To make it more of an actual answer, try to include e.g. some brief remarks about why you accepted the answer you did, with whatever small tweaks you might have made.

As I wrote in answer to Edit helpful answer or create new answer?

Adding a self-answer to elaborate on the specific solution you applied to a more general answer supplied by someone else is not uncommon here.

This issue has also come up occasionally on main meta e.g. Conclusions are not part of a question.

Finally, note that the edit you made to your question is not lost, it is available in the edit history.

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    +1 for the much needed clarification and for introducing me to the edit history
    – Marcello Miorelli
    Commented Sep 3, 2018 at 10:04
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    I know @marcellomiorelli knows and understands this, but for others who see this and may be newer: a) please accept the answer that let you solve your problem; b) I'd add at least a short comment pointing to your answer as detailing how the accepted answer got you to your solution; and c) link back to the accepted answer in your answer, noting that it's the "real" answer. And, of course, if an answer got your going in the right direction, but didn't provide the solution, it may be more appropriate to accept your answer.
    – RDFozz
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 18:22

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