Can answers in WikiAnswers be deleted if they are irrelevant to the question?

Answer 1

That depends on a few things.

Answers should not typically be removed from questions.

Answers that are candidate for removal are those that are offensive or inflammatory; does not answer the question; are debates or discussions (should be placed in that question's discussion pages instead); or are so nonsensical that they cannot be salvaged into something that makes sense with the question.

So, basically, yes, answers that are completely irrelevant to the question would generally be removed.

However, that's not to go without saying that it is perfectly fine to expand within the answer relevant topics that may be of interest to the question.

For example: The question asks, "When is the next leap year?" The answer would be "In the year 2012." That answer alone completely answers the question. However, someone may add, "Leap year occurs every four years to make up for the extra 1/4 of a day in which Earth actually completes a revolution around the sun, but is not counted each year on our calendars." This portion of the answer is also great for the question, because it gives the reader a little more information about the question (how often it happens and why), and would be considered relevant. Extraneous information is not a bad thing here, as long as the question is properly addressed and noticeable.

Now, for opinionated questions, such as those commonly found in the Religion categories, answer removal is restricted even more so. It is not okay to remove someone's answer just because you don't agree with it or find it to be wrong according to what you believe in. It is perfectly fine to provide within an answer, two sides (or 3 - a Pro/For, Con/Against, Middle) provided the answers address the question and do not stray into discussion or debates.