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I asked a question, and received a few answers, but after researching and experimenting, I realized that the solution I needed was something other than what was offered by fellow SAers. I'm sure this is something that happens from time to time, but I'm not sure how to deal with this situation.

I really am grateful for the advice that was offered, and want to reward that. On the other hand, I think SE in general works on the idea that people are accepting answers that solve the problem, so I don't want to give the wrong impression to somebody wandering by. I did explain my solution in a comment to my question. My understanding is also that it is expected that an answer be accepted for each question.

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If none of the existing answers that are provided solve your problem, then you should probably provide your own solution not as a comment, but as its own answer. That allows you to accept the solution that you did use, and also promote this to future readers. This leaves the integrity of the existing answers without misconstruing what actually worked by a faux acceptance.

You can reward the other users who gave helpful advice by upvoting them, if you have not yet done so. Even if they didn't completely solve your question, they remained useful to you.

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    Completely agreed - @Ray, see Aaronut's response to this meta question: meta.cooking.stackexchange.com/q/321
    – stephennmcdonald
    Feb 22, 2011 at 18:27
  • That's very clear, and Aaronut's discussion clears up my confusion regarding etiquette.
    – Ray
    Feb 22, 2011 at 20:14

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