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October 18, 2006 at 3:37 am #2249891
Tech Q&A… We want it back!
Lockedby wordmaster1 · about 17 years, 5 months ago
Anyone listening????? Your site has been helpful in several ways, but the Tech Q&A and the points system was what made it worthwhile and different from other sites.
I guess I will check on it occaisionally to see if the Tech Q&A has been returned, but until that happens, this site might as well be any other forum site.
The Tech Q&A was helpful, stimulating, and gave recognition to those who helped. The current incarnation is just blahhhhhhh….
Wordmaster
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October 18, 2006 at 6:32 am #3222151
Me too!!!
by shelli_2005 · about 17 years, 5 months ago
In reply to Tech Q&A… We want it back!
The Q&A may not have always answered my question exactly but it gave me a starting place or jogged my memory enough so I could find a solution for every “weird” problem I researched here.I miss it!
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October 18, 2006 at 6:59 am #3222144
My sentiments EXACTLY
by fungus-among-us · about 17 years, 5 months ago
In reply to Tech Q&A… We want it back!
“I guess I will check on it occaisionally to see if the Tech Q&A has been returned, ”
I’m planning on doing the same… until then.
Adios!!!!-
October 18, 2006 at 7:13 am #3222136
Questions, recognition are still here
by smorty71 · about 17 years, 5 months ago
In reply to My sentiments EXACTLY
Questions haven’t gone anywhere. They are just intermingled with the list of discussions.
We are working on splitting the lists out so that you can see only discussions or only questions. That should help visibility a lot.
As for recognition, we’re not bringing the points back. Sure, they are a great way for people who answer questions to get recognition; however, they really didn’t show an accurate picture of anything since the points varied from questions to question.
For example, I could answer 100 questions and get 1 point per answer and some else could answer 1 question and get 5,000 points.
In the new site, people who ask questions can mark an answer helpful (there is a link at the top right of each answer they receive). Helpful answers get a thumbs up icon next to them in the thread tree. We *are* counting the number of helpful answers and will eventually be displaying that on member profiles.
To us, that seems like a much more even playing field for those answering. Plus, people who need help right away don’t have to hassle with points.
Hopefully, you’ll stick around and give the new system a chance.
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October 18, 2006 at 4:50 pm #3220923
Tech Q&A vs. forums
by wordmaster1 · about 17 years, 5 months ago
In reply to Questions, recognition are still here
Discussion forums are all over the web and usenet. The one thing Techrepublic had that was different was the Tech Q&A.
Despite its problems, when I had a question that I could not answer and could find no answer for by googling, etc., there was almost always someone on the Tech Q&A that could help.
That is what made being a member of this site worthwhile, different and better than other sites and groups.
Wordmaster
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October 18, 2006 at 7:12 am #3222138
Honestly
by w2ktechman · about 17 years, 5 months ago
In reply to Tech Q&A… We want it back!
My Opinion — The tech Q&A should be seperate from the discussions. But, in the past many things have been interchangeable.
I have seen more and more often that people have been using the discussions for questions, and have received far greater troubleshooting tips in some cases, and often many more responses in general. But also often appeared a message to use the Q&A as well. And some have even used both to try to get the urgent answers.
The points system was kind of cool, but they really didnt mean anything either. Some people had a lot of points and when they answered questions it was a joke, while others were very good. However, even with that in mind, I think that the points was a recognition point that should not have gone away.-
October 18, 2006 at 9:10 am #3222109
Tech Q&A
by cg it · about 17 years, 5 months ago
In reply to Honestly
When I first came to Techrepublic’s Q&A there were many highly knowledgable people providing suggestions and answers. often the Q&A section ended up with a LOT of discussion on topics rather than suggestions or answers, especially when XP was rolled out and XP SP2. So creating a discussion section was a good idea.
BUT, the discussion section had more threads by members on everything but tech stuff [well the techrepublic crew would post tech related threads ] but the majority of members discussions seemed to me to be on anything but computer industry stuff.
Q&A seemed to dwindle down to posters making up senarios, making up questions based on what advertisers put up on the site, taking problem solutions from MS Help and Support or Technet and posting it as a question. There are others who post questions that are so fundamental that virtually anyone ought to know. There’s one right now about whether they should get AV on a server that doesn’t have an Internet connection. Of course they should have AV. Many threats come from inside but its questions like that from someone who has been a techrepublic member for 5 years or so ought to know. It’s been discussed often enough.
to add insult to injury posters who posed the question often would reject any and all suggestions that didn’t follow the KB solution or whatever solution they were looking for if they were actually looking for a solution. Got almost seemed to be a game.
I’m one of those posters who answered questions with a joke when I recognized the question from MS KB articles, certification test questions, Technet or questions of “lets see how much an answerer knows”. Quilty as charged. However having someone purposely post questions from known KB answers or certification questions seems to me to defeat the purpose of Tech Q&A which is someone with a legitimate question can seek real world working solutions from those of us who have hands on experience.
All forums are fraught with posers and people with to much time on their hands and get glee from jerking peoples chains, but Tech Q&A degenerated into nothing more that what ifs rather than they got a actual problem.
Sorry to see the Tech Q&A from back in 2002 go down the tubes, but not sorry it’s gone with the way it is now in 2007.
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October 18, 2006 at 11:02 am #3222065
not putting down discussions
by w2ktechman · about 17 years, 5 months ago
In reply to Tech Q&A
I used to only do the tech Q&A trying to help out. I liked it just fine the way it was, with the worthless points and all. Sorry if I came off wrong, I never did get to my coffee today, and just now got to Dilbert — lol
Basically I was just stating that they have been interchangeable for some time, and lumping them together was not all bad. However, as a preference I would like to go back to the Q&A being seperate — with useless points — even if it means zeroing the counter.
I know what you mean by posers and stupid questions. I even got annoyed when the same question was posted as new by a different user, with an identical one still in the current listings. I always thought “Geez, people get a (bad word) Clue.
I have also found that many questions were easily solved by a google or simple MS search. When this was most common I started jumping over to discussions and reading threads instead. This is probably about whan many others started leaving the Q&A alone more often as well. However, I did like that they were seperate, and how they were setup. -
October 18, 2006 at 11:22 am #3222059
I can see seperate questions from discussions
by cg it · about 17 years, 5 months ago
In reply to not putting down discussions
I agree on the seperation. In my mind, discussions are just that, discussing “something” be it global warming, political parties, or Grandma Whosits chocolate chip cookies. What I saw happen on Tech Q&A and Discussions forums was that the posers would often move over to discussions and try their hand at “discussing” senarios rather than posting questions because that’s where everyone who was posting in Tech Q&A went to get away from the posers.
Bringing back Tech Q&A isn’t going to solve the problems it had with posers. If they left off the ability to accept or reject an answer or even thumbs up thumbs down, then the Q&A might have meaning because the posers wouldn’t have a mechanism to jerk peoples chains and get whatever they get out of doing it. Least in discussions they can argue and jerk someones chain.
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November 15, 2006 at 3:23 pm #3139391
Missed it by that much
by konza · about 17 years, 4 months ago
In reply to Tech Q&A… We want it back!
I came here today to finally close a tech question I posted six months ago. No one ever was able to answer it.
I wanted to thank DKlippert for being the only one to ATTEMPT to answer it and to tell him I that while I rejected his answer, I wanted to post another question in which I WOULD accept his answer and thus award him consolation points for coming close to what I needed and taking the time to share his knowledge. Now I see that not only is the reward system gone, but I am out the 4000 points I offered but never awarded for the question. And that just plain sucks.
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September 16, 2010 at 5:28 pm #2875068
Hear! Hear!
by pesk, mbcs, mcse, mcitp, sts · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Tech Q&A… We want it back!
I thought I was the only one. I thought it was me. I couldn’t see the link, but now I find like minded individuals in search of mental freedom who have the same views.
We want Tech Q&A! When do we want it? NOW!We want Tech Q&A! When do we want it? NOW!We want Tech Q&A! When do we want it? NOW!We want Tech Q&A! When do we want it? NOW!
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September 16, 2010 at 5:40 pm #2875067
Only a 4 year old post
by michael jay · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Hear! Hear!
changes are coming I hear, so stand by.
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September 16, 2010 at 5:51 pm #2875062
Ah, wha-?
by nexs · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Only a 4 year old post
What are they on about… this Q&A seems to be the questions forum, with thumbs…
I’ve found a humble state of confusion…
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September 16, 2010 at 5:58 pm #2875060
It was different back some years
by michael jay · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Ah, wha-?
there was a point system, not thumbs, perhaps thumbs are better/worse but it is what it is.
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September 16, 2010 at 6:12 pm #2875056
Points..?
by nexs · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to It was different back some years
Was it similar to the thumbs? I’m intrigued…
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September 16, 2010 at 6:21 pm #2875055
Not too sure
by michael jay · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Points..?
how the points worked, as the points went out about the time that I became active on the site.
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September 16, 2010 at 6:25 pm #2875053
Oh, fair enough
by nexs · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Not too sure
Looks like I’ll be enjoying a sleepless night then!
Ha! -
September 16, 2010 at 9:34 pm #2875041
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September 16, 2010 at 9:57 pm #2875038
it’s to bad though
by jaqui · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Wasn’t a 1 to 1 thing.
if I had gotten a Thumb for every point I would have over 300k thumbs. 😀
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September 16, 2010 at 10:38 pm #2875036
Yes – I remember people losing loads of points.
by seanferd · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Wasn’t a 1 to 1 thing.
I hung around here, on and off, a long time before I registered. Actually, I had been registered previously, then went a while without internet. So I do recall a bit of the Old Ways.
300k! Holy smokes.
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September 16, 2010 at 11:00 pm #2875035
Guess I’d be on 45 then!
by nexs · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Wasn’t a 1 to 1 thing.
Ha!
That DOES sound pretty cool, but I suppose that there’s less of an error margin now though, if people gave false questions for false answers…
Like that bastard who asks questions like “What do you change ‘My Computer’ to?”, What an idiot!
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September 16, 2010 at 11:26 pm #2875034
naw Nexs
by jaqui · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Wasn’t a 1 to 1 thing.
to post a question it cost points.
to answer, if the question helped, then ONE person got the points.
[ if I remember right, the points couldn’t be split between people answering easily if at all ]I myself spent about 250k points on questions, and still had around 300k points in my account from answers given when they evaporated for thumbs. 😀
I posted one question for 200k points.
The more points you spent on the question, the faster people got real answers posted. 😉There were rumoured plans to have a shop on TR to buy swag using points earned, the motivator to collect lots of them.
edit to add:
and members like TheChas, BFilmFan and Maxwell Edison all had me beat for points, by a very large margin. TheChas and BFilmFan by well over a million points more, Max by around a million more.
The thumbs just don’t carry the same weight as millions of points when thinking about how well the answerer knows their stuff. 😀
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September 17, 2010 at 5:24 am #2875018
Especially if you compare to me…
by ansugisalas · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Wasn’t a 1 to 1 thing.
Two or three of my thumbs are for informing people how to give thumbs! 😀
That’s 22-33% of the total, man. -
September 19, 2010 at 3:39 pm #2875783
I see
by nexs · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Wasn’t a 1 to 1 thing.
Sounds interesting. But the flaw i can see is that it may not be only one answer that solves the problem.
So, let me get this – You sport up some of your points to bump the prize for having your problem solved?
What if you’re a ‘N00b’ and have no points? -
September 17, 2010 at 1:30 am #2875031
OK I’ll tell
by hal 9000 · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Points..?
Back in th Bad Old Days TR used to have Tech Points. The person asking the question was given 1000 Tech Points for asking the question and they could award what they liked as Points that they handed out to people who answered the question.
Back then it was quite common for someone to ask a question and award 100 Tech Points so they increased their Own Tech Points by 900 every time that they asked a question.
Also as most didn’t bother awarding the Points many questions answers went unrated so the person asking the question got to keep them all.
There where people like The Chas and Maxwell Edison who had lots of Tech Points hundreds of Thousands/millions in both cases if I remember correctly. Anyway the Tech Points where originally conceived so that you could cash them in for things which never eventuated so the only use of them was to award 100,000 Tech Points when you asked a question so you got a quick answer. I’m not sure if it even helped but because most people where abusing the system the concept was done away with and the Thumbs where awarded for helpful answers. It did away with the people asking questions featuring their own nests at the expense of others who where trying to help them.
Then of course there where the people who abused the system with with either a different account or a friend would post a question like ABC and award points for an answer of XYZ.
So we now have Thumbs which are still as useless as Tech Points but now I have lots of peoples thumbs in my freezer to stop them going off and smelling bad. It’s costing me so much more than the Tech Points ever did. 😀
Anyway hopefully this will clear things up Tech Points where stopped and Thumbs awarded in an attempt to get the people asking questions to rate the answers. You can see how well that worked can’t you. But that was the idea and those that consisted of the TR Insiders back then seemed to think that it may improve things as Tech Points just where not working and many people where refusing to answer questions. :^0
Col
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September 17, 2010 at 5:08 am #2875022
Thumbs in the freezer?
by charliespencer · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to OK I’ll tell
You grill them, like chicken wings.
Hey, PESK, there’s another overhaul coming later this fall. Mark your calendar for late 2014 so you can comment on it.
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September 17, 2010 at 5:20 am #2875021
So what was it that was supposed to be buyable with points but never was?
by ansugisalas · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to OK I’ll tell
Post-order wives?
What? Really?!? Say it wern’t (to be) so!
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September 17, 2010 at 5:47 am #2875011
But Pally as I’m a Vegan
by hal 9000 · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to OK I’ll tell
I can’t eat the flesh of animals. OK so they come from Humans but they are still from animals sort of. 😉
Regarding the supposed TR Redesign for this year Pally it appears to be underway right now. There have been several minor changes to the Site that appear and the E-Mail Notifications are totally messed up. I’m currently getting notifications for up to 3 days for each post that I make. Makes the E-Mails from TR very long and I get confused. 😀
And AnsuGisalas supposedly TR had plans to setup a Shop which sold things useful to us IT types that we could buy. Or so I believe. Anyway it never happened and as I have enough problems with [b]SWMBO[/b] why in Gods name would I want more Wives?
OK I know I’m part way crazy but not even I’m that bad to want more than 1 wife. At times I don’t even want that many but I’ve been reliably informed killing the Misses isn’t an Acceptable Practice by the Law Enforcement Agencies. Even if I’ve suffered many more years of Marriage than I would have got for murder. I suppose any murder [i]deletion of the wife[/i] starts from when she gets deleted and the Sentence would start from then. Hardly worth the trouble after way too many years of marriage. 🙁
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September 17, 2010 at 6:24 am #2875004
So HAL, you’re saying,
by seanferd · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to OK I’ll tell
that this would be the only way to start and finish a Sentence with SWMBO?
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September 17, 2010 at 10:18 am #2874961
Get lost Hal…
by ansugisalas · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to OK I’ll tell
No, I don’t mean that as an insult… but if you bring enough kit with you, you’ll be pretty comfortable. And you’ll be lost, until found… and that’s only if they can catch you. A reprieve, at the very least 🙂
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September 23, 2010 at 5:21 am #2875460
@Palmetto…
by pesk, mbcs, mcse, mcitp, sts · about 13 years, 6 months ago
In reply to OK I’ll tell
…So, so cruel…
I have no words. Deletion of another human being is something that is to be frowned upon and should be reqarded with a very severe finger-wagging! You should be ashamed to even harbour such thoughts of malice against your…. Oh, heck! What am I saying? Delete the b1tch!
NII – No insult intended.
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