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by cactus pete

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Has anyone heard of anything to do with question expiration? About one quarter of my questions [ones I've answered] are unrated.

I propose that questions, that have not been touched by the person asking, be expired after [one year].

I don't terribly mind if the time span changes, that's up for discussion.

Also, I don't really care if the points are dispersed, but that I leave for discussion.

I know I'm not the only one with that many unrated answers. The Top 5 all have rates in the teens and twenties, too. Given that they have been around at least as long as I have, and that their percentage represents many more answers than mine, this seems like it might really add up.

Anyone?

15 replies

by maxwell edison

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The older questions used to be automatically closed if two things happened. One, there was no activity for 90 days. Two, someone posted an answer after that 90 day period. That new answer would trigger the automatic closure of the question, and the points would be evenly dispersed between all who answered, including that last answer.

But leave it to us IT people to figure out a way to use (or abuse) the system. People would find these questions, post some answer, perhaps even a nonsense answer, just to trigger the auto-close feature. Needless to say, this upset a lot of other members who noticed what was going on. Complaints were filed with TR, and I think some members' accounts were even cancelled because they abused the system. (I'm not sure how many, as I know of some "abusers" who are still around".)

So I think TR stopped that auto-close feature, and what to do now is still on the drawing board.

Personally, I think they should close all such questions, convert the points to cash, and sponsor a golf tournament for the top 72 Q&A point scorers.

by cactus pete

Where I rank...

I thought of that, though. Here's some more:

This can be done, unannounced [sorta] in batches every so often. So people would pretty much just waste time trying to get in on it...

Still, I realize people would try to get their share of a few points no and then, but randomizing the times could help here.

As it is, people are abusing the way it's supposed to work - they don't finish up and rate answers. We might as well give the people who tried to help something...

AND, they shouldn't get their 1000 points back if the batch process closes them.

Also, people would have a harder time finding the messages that have had a year of inactivity - not just age, but inactivity. And don't let a new questions trigger it... I'm sure they can run a nightly/weekly/yearly process against the data. They should be doing something anyway, even jsut backups.

Hey guys, your DB would be smaller, too! Easier to manage, faster to backup/restore... Faster in searches.

You could use the extra resources freed up to add all those enhancements you've been talking about....

Get the TR contributors to talk about document management and disaster recovery... Practice what you preach...

by joseph moore

Would that be real golf, with clubs and carts and the bar, or Golden Tee, which often times also involves being at the bar???

by thechas

I have 1578 answers that have not been rated.

Of course, it would be very time consuming to even attempt to go back and look at them.

Perhaps my biggest complaint about the site right now is that I lost most of my subscribed questions and discussions when they upgraded the site.

Even more frustrating than the no answers are the peers who reject an answer, leave the question open, and don't provide any more information about their problem.

I may be able to do a decent job of reading between the lines much of the time, but I'm NOT clairvoyant!

Of course, this and other issues are part of what we have to accept being part of an open, self-moderated forum.

Chas

by oldefar

I have to agree with you, but I suspect it is inherent to the way the Q&A section is structured. A poster probably sees two options besides ignoring the answers - Rejection or Acceptance.

Now since an initial answer might not resolve the issue, it seems to me that this area would be improved with a running dialog format. A format that encouraged the interaction between poster and answerer.

I would also like to see a change in the terms. Instead of "Rejection", the response should be "Did not resolve". A minor thing perhaps, but human nature rather than points drives the section and a less negative rating should result in a better continuation towards a successful conclusion.

by maxwell edison

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I love your "did not resolve" option instead of the current reject, but how about a required field stating why it did not resolve. If the field is blank, the entry is not submitted. TechRepublic has similar pages in their signup process. You have to enter an email address, or it's back to where you began. True, some could just say "because" or even ".", but if someone takes the time to type a possible solution, the person asking the question should at least have to type something. (Personally, I always try to say something to each and every reply. Even if it's a cut and paste of the same one. I'm sure they all appreciate a basic thanks.)

by thechas

Once again Max you are able to suggest an appropriate solution to a problem.

It doesn't bother me when my response is rejected and another answer is accepted.

I think part of the problem is that many users don't understand that rejecting an answer with comments and leaving the question open will give them a chance to get another answer.

I wonder if this isn't part of the open question issue. Perhaps users are waiting for a good answer to mysteriously appear.

While a bit of work would be required, perhaps TR could set up a system to e-mail peers who have questions that have been open without activity for say 15 days.

Chas

by oz_media

I actually agree and it ticks me off to see what I think is a logical resolution be erjected. In my infinite search of wisdom I find it very helpful to hear what worked or WHY something didn't work. It should be mandatory to at least say, "sorry it didn't work, but thank you for trying" or SOMETHING other than REJECTED.

by cactus pete

Thanks, guys. This is good. I hope to get someone to view this thread for the next round up upgrades.

Anyone else?

by guruofdos

I still can't find Questions I've Asked without browsing!!!

Good thought, DP.

I still eagerly wait for the email from a 'surefire' answer I posted in 1987 to say my answer has been rated. And yes, that poster, I do still have that Intel 387-33 co-processor you were after, the one I paid $900 for but I said you could have for a can of Coke and a Twinkie.

We moan about 'weeners' and newbies asking daft questions like 'How can I download a replica of Pamela Anderson using Kazaa' or 'My cat ate my Windows CD...where can I get a new one?' (A new CD or a new cat....I always pondered that one), and yet nothing irks more than a weener except perhaps that a@&$hole who asks a question, and we then scratch our heads, pool our collective resources, answer the pleas of a fellow in distress and at his wits end....

and the bastard never checks back to applaud all out hard work! Never mind the Tech Points...a 'thank you for making the effort' would suffice.

by cactus pete

Perhaps we should charge them double if the question expires...

But you're right... Most of the unrated, unclosed items are for few points, anyway. It's my humanity that takes a hit for not having any feedback on my efforts.

by oz_media

Well apparently, the NEW and IMPROVED TR site is supposed to be structured completely different than it is now.

I assume that these are all issues that will be resolved, however we were recently asked to submit any ideas we had, so you MAY want to try sending email to Jay with your thoughts http://tinyurl.com/2y22t .

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