Looking for guidance on using "No Action Needed" in the first posts review queue

Question

Following the post from Yannis Rizos about the use of "No Action Needed" for posts that are not all that good (Reviewing first posts from new users), I am struggling to understand when to use "No Action Needed" in a review of a first post and when to use "Skip".

Up to now, I used the heuristic that if the post wasn't bad enough to close vote/down vote/flag and wasn't good enough to upvote, then I would select "No Action Needed". This means that I would use the "No Action Needed" option mostly for posts that had a bit of a 'meh' feeling.

From the post by Yannis, I gather that I should Skip the review for those posts and leave it for someone else to take action on the post (either positive or negative), but that leaves me with the question:

If good posts should be upvoted, bad posts downvoted (or otherwise dealt with) and meh posts skipped, on which posts should I use the "No Action Needed" option, or should that option not exist at all?

Answer 1

Let's look at a block of "No Action Needed" reviews:

What constitutes a 'reviewed' review?

• Leaving a comment
• Up voting a comment
• Up voting the post
• Down voting the post
• Flagging (or close voting)
• Editing the post

If something is likely to be closed, even if one doesn't agree with the closing philosophy leaving a comment suggesting for how to refocus the question in a way that isn't likely to get closed. Alternatively, editing it to try to make it something that won't get closed.

For a no action needed it means that none of the above reasons are applicable or needed:

• Not bad enough to down vote
• Not good enough to up vote
• No existing comments to up vote to help suggest a better question or improve the existing answer
• No additional guidance needed to help improve the post (note: likely in conflict with 'not good enough to up vote' - it is unlikely that both of these are true, but may be the case)
• Grammar, spelling, and formatting of the post are acceptable and don't need any work (note: it's a good thing to click 'edit' to see the actual markdown and make sure there isn't formatting that has been lost that needs to be brought back out like a numbered list or line breaks)
  • There is no unnecessary preamble or bit at the end that is appropriate to remove ('hello', 'thanks', 'hope this helps', etc... consider also linking to Should 'Hi', 'thanks,' taglines, and salutations be removed from posts?)
  • Double check the title. Tags in the title are unnecessary (MSE guidance). Make sure the title of the question matches the question.
• On topic without any need to migrate or suggest a way to make it narrower, less opinion, or need to refocus it from an existing off topic reason.
• Not a duplicate of another post (do a search - especially the case with questions, many new users don't know of existing questions)
• Not posted elsewhere on Stack Exchange (example: "This was posted on Stack Overflow as well, where it was closed and has now been deleted." from https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/241598/cms-desktop-app-control could have either been up voted or researched and written themselves)

If you don't want to check these things, either hit skip or don't do the First Posts review.

Selecting 'no action needed' means that someone else can't do the review to check these things, completing it and giving guidance to the new P.SE user that may help them have a more positive experience on P.SE and Stack Exchange as a whole.

This is in part an issue with the system. The First Post review queue, by its nature, has binding votes for every review. This isn't something that people are always aware of, but the First Post review (and late answer) are both review queues that one should approach with all the seriousness of a diamond mod because there's no redo or community safety net for these reviews.

Answer 2

"No action needed" means that you feel that way, AND you feel strongly enough about your opinion that you are willing to make it BINDING on the site.

"Skip," means that you don't feel strongly one way or another, and you want someone else with greater knowledge or conviction to decide for the site.