If a question contains two questions, is it OK to leave an answer that only responds to one?

Question

Example:

I'm searching for a good monitor for my PC. I currently own a 21,5" ASUS monitor, which is fine; I'm planning on using the one I currently own as a second monitor and get a new one as my main monitor. I'm willing to pay up to 200 €. I want something that's a little bigger than my current one, maybe 23 - 27" tops. It will be used for gaming and all kinds of office applications as well as graphic design (I'm a heavy user). Because of the latter, it should offer adjustable color modes (or at least some reasonable presets) and be energy-efficient. Full HD resolution (1920x1080), not more and not less. 16/9 aspect ratio is a requirement, I don't want 16/10. Must be available to buy in Germany, no imports. Needs to accept HDMI input, DVI is optional. Edit: I don't need internal speakers!

Two questions:

• Which monitors that fit these parameters can you recommend?
• To everyone who has worked with multiple monitors before: Do you think it is important that both monitors are the same size? Is it confusing if one is bigger than the other one (or bad for the eyes or something like that)?

Feel free to point out if I missed some important parameter. Thanks!

This question contains two questions. If I only have the answer for one of them, shall I still leave an answer? Or would such an answer be deleted?

Answer 1

This meta question is an XY problem.

The real answer to the problem is: edit the question to focus on one meaningful question, not containing multiple questions. There can be multiple sub questions, but if you can answer one subquestion without answering the others then either:

• your answer isn't comprehensive enough
• the question should be split

Answer 2

I'd definitely answer that first question. It's a recommendation and completely on topic here.

That second one is going to be very opinion based. I may or may not mention it in my answer for that reason.

If you are going to answer the question that is a recommendation, then yes, provide an answer. If you are going to answer the opinion question, I'd say no, don't answer it.

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In either case, the question itself should be edited to remove the non-recommendation question and keep the post completely on topic here. You (generic you) may be conscious of our scope. A new user may not be and may focus on that second question to get a quick upvote.

Answer 3

I assume you're talking about your answer here (2k).

If a question asks two (tightly related) questions, then you don't necessarily need to answer both to qualify for an answer. You do need to answer the primary question, though.

On Hardware Recommendations, I'm going to say that the primary question - unless it's very obviously not - is the one that asks for a recommendation. Hence, in your specific case, the first question asking for a monitor recommendation should have been answered.

That's not to say that other input isn't welcome; your points on the other question were useful, which is why the answer wasn't just deleted. It's been converted to a comment on the question.

Answer 4

As others have said, the base of the problem is the question having multiple sub-questions which can cause some confusion when answering.

This being Hardware Recommendations, the main question (if there are sub-questions) is the one asking for a recommendation. This question should always be the one addressed in answers. As for answering other sub-questions, they can be tacked onto the answer, but I personally wouldn't leave them as standalone answers.

So this isn't so much of an answer problem as it is a multi-question problem, which should be revised and split or condensed if possible.