Reluctant to help with Q&A's

It could of been just the right answer - but it is up to the poster to accept or reject all posts. Maybe Tech republic should set a standard that anyone that posts to a Q/A gets 10 points just for adding a post.

But then - you can post BS to allQ/a's and get thousand points for nothing.. Hum maybe the Q/A author has to award the points offered... Then again what happens if none of the answers fix their problme...

I guess its just a matter of risk - some people are like that = others will award the points..

Got to roll with the punches..

It used to bother me, and I must admit that is still does at times, but it's just part of the gig.

I went on a rampage answering questions some time ago, but I've slowed down to a trickle. In most cases, the answers I posted resulted in a win-win, as I learned something and helped myself at the same time. Half the questions I answered were on subjects that I was very familiar with and thought I could lend a hand. But the other half were on subjects and issues that I was unsure of myself, but was researching for consideration. For example, before I upgraded to Windows 2000 Professional on my workstations and Windows 2000 Server, I would, even though I didn't initially know the answer, research the issue and post an answer (many times the correct one) so I was better positioned to deal with the issues when I was confronted with them myself. Exchange Server is another example, and I got pretty knowledgeable on common problems, even though I eventually decided against using it.

To be sure, there are those who reject perfectly good answers (at times all of the good answers) just to avoid passing out a few lousy points. But these are the same folks who will flip you the bird after THEY cut you off in traffic. All you can do is not let it ruin your day - or your moment.

I agree with all that has been posted in this discussion.

Please don't go "over the brink" by no longer posting. (Uh oh, I hope I haven't got the Eveready Bunny running here!) Even if people are cheap and take your help without giving the points they promised, know that you are helping lots of people, including yourself. Don't let these turkeys spoil a great website - TechRepublic.

As far as my screening methods, if I have any doubts, I might ask for some more information about the problem. Depending on their response to that, I will either answer some more, or move to another discussion.

For example, someone said that he wanted to learn how to program. I couldn't figure out if he wanted a suggested solution to a specific programming problem, or if he wanted a full-blown programming course. I asked him for some more information, but he came back with exactly the same original question -- no specifics, simply "I want to learn to program" (or something like that). I moved on, and I haven't been back to that discussion.

When the question seems REALLY DUMB, I try to remember how it was with me, when I knew hardly anything and I was asking dumb questions. I was glad when someone tried to help me, so I try to help this person.

You have to be willing to help without regard to how your answer is accepted.

Some other questions that I often answer that get rejected because I cannot tell the peer what they want to hear:

How can I send a FAX using my DSL or Cable connection?

How do I convert PDF files to Word files?

How do I use a USB device when my PC does not have a USB port?
I'm running Windows NT or 95A!

Give me the name of a free ISP with NO time restrictions.

Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

As time goes on, I become a bit more selective as to what questions I attempt to answer.

A poorly worded question from User Deleted may not be answered.

I basically rely on 'gut' feel. If I think I can help the peer, I do.

Chas

This has been happening since I first started with TR a few years ago.

It seems that there are people out there who insist on getting something for nothing (even though the points don't cost the poster anything, and really aren't worth anythingto the person answering). All that apparently matters is that the "person" asking the question has "beat the system."

Sometimes, it's really difficult to ascertain ahead of time which posters will try to skip on awarding points for a correct answer.

Personally, I stay away from questions that are obviously either homework or test questions. I also stay away from questions that run against moral or legal boundaries. Questions that could be easily answered with a simple search on , I will partially answer by running a search and giving them key words to use in their own search. Usually, you just never know who will or won't award points.

Besides the obvious freeloaders, there are those who just don't understand how to award points or close a question properly. There are those (who you apparently found) who won't award points unless they get the exact answer they want. There are even those who will reject all answers but still comment something along the lines of "Thanks, that really helped!" (that takes some of the sting out of it).

What really makes up for all the freeloaders, et. al. is the few posters who actually take the time to send a personal email thanking you for helping them out of a really tough situation.

What bothers me more than peers who reject answers that are not what they want to hear, is peers who post technical questions in the discussion forum.

Unless I am in a particularly generous mood, or see a bad suggestion posted, I usually let questions in the discussion forum sit for a day before I answer them.

Chas

Myself, I find that my interest level is beginning to wane somewhat. I've been posting here for almost 2 years now, and I can say the novelty has gone.
I know, it is a sad thing, but it is, I admit, true.
And it is only over the past couple of months that I feel this way. For a long time, I could not wait to check the board to see what questions had been posted. I looked forward to slow times at the office, so I could browse the list and answer questions. It was a mixture of helping folks out, learning stuff myself, and being able to solve this problem. Solving the problem is what is most important to me. I LOVE fixing things, which is why I was so obsessive about this board!
I couldn't get enough of it, acutally. I would dial up at 3AM on a Sunday, answer questions, when I could not sleep. Hell, sometimes I could not sleep because of a question I had read that I could not find an answer for!
Yes, I needed help.
Now, after 2299 questions, the fire is, I admit, no longer a ragingflame.
So I find that I am very selective in what I try to answer. I have given up on the "how to network Win9x and NT/2K/XP" questions. I still post for the "lost admin password", but I just post a link to the Pnordahl web page.
It really comesdown to, is the question unintelligible? Can I make sense of what is being asked? If not, then I don't bother.
It is not that I don't care anymore, it is just that I have posted the same answers to the same questions for too long. Apathy, I guess.

My most recent aggravation was similar. Although I answered the question completely, the next day the poster increased the point value WITHOUT rating my answer. The last time I checked, it was still open.
I don't answer stupid questions. Sometimes I chide people for being lazy and not doing ANY simple research themselves. Oh well...

Ralph

This is not an OEM support line and I don't feel compelled to ask if drive has power to it. If the poster doesn't know as much, nothing I can say will help and he should find professional help. If its dumb or off topic I ignor it.

Hi all,

I think its wise to have a positive attitude preloaded when i read the questions.
I dont really care for the points as long as i have +5k to show off ;)
If someone "beats the system" and get an answer for nothin, well, all i hope is that the answer was useful.
This is still a part of the Internet where (in my world)information is freely sought and found.
And i like that freedom.
How about the rest of you?
Would you like like Internet to become a "pay-per-view" thingy?

BR /Tom

I agree. I use this site to search for answers. It drives me nuts when I find the question I am looking for and the answer was either autoclosed, not rated or rejected with no feedback. On two occasions I even tried answers that were rejected and they worked.

You can see from http://tinyurl.com/en56 that it just happened to me, as well. It often does.

In this case, the answer should have been enough, given the question. Had the asker then clarified what he wanted, I could have demonstrated the concept of concatonation. Did Josh ever get this working? We'll never know why he closed the question... He never said if he managed to figure it out.

If more question posters knew to add comments, rather than flat out rejecting answers, many close suggestions would get fleshed out a bit and both sides would benefit. Oh well. Human nature, I suppose, causes so many to search for the fastest solution in spite of itself.