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...the current format of Tech Q&A would go away, which would force the newbie questions and homework assignments into the Discussion Forums. Here they could either be ignored--with no TechPoint complications--or you could post a link to a (your) related Tech Q&A solution, so that the author could benefit from the question, and so that anybody who stumbled upon the same post later would be guided to a complete solution.

This doesn't necessarily solve the "same question over and over" problem, but it does make answering them easier and possibly more profitable.

The crazy brainstew bubbles further...

--Jay

"Thats shum pretty whacky shtuff!"

OKay Jay, still getting my head around it but it has SOME potential although I was originally shocked at the thought.

Pro's- you have listed.

Con's- Everyone knows a lot of the same information, it would initially be a simple posting/submission race to see who could offer the best advice on Adaware,AVG antivirus and how to stop XP from Auto restarting on error. I think SOME people would be offering some lengthy papers on security, Active Directory etc. but for the most part, I don't see those questions asked too often.

Now, here's where I see the two mixing like a Reeses peanut butter cup. :) yummy!

Leave the points system as is, BUT...offer bonus points based on submitted solutions as well. Q&A posters could then be prompted to search THAT library BEFORE seeking help from peers.

SO I could write out how to fix IE hangs and slow downs, be awarded a fixed amount of points and then people could search a library for such documents for the answer. IF they decide to post a question after that, they MUST award the points as we have discussed previously.

Too add an even greater incentive for peers to write useful and accurate solutions, people visiting the lbrary can rate the paper if it helped them, the original author is rewarded a small number of points, a residual points system.

Getting too deep now?? Sorry.

Like you said "Again, this is just me spouting off, but I'd love some feedback on this>"

Jay,

Most of our answers could be readily found from previous questions, or a little pit of patient searching.

I think it is also laziness that causes a lot of peers to not close questions.

My point is that if people don't search what you have now, is it reasonable to expect them to search a help database?

I might be wrong, but I think you would end up with a significant reduction in overall site traffic without the TQ&A section.

Of course, part of the issue is that many people just don't know what to look for.

Chas

An excellent proposal!

I can see a couple of problems as well. The first was raised by Chas and I think that he is quite right here as it would only be the lazy ones who wouldn't take the time to have a look through the archived material much the same as they can not bother to properly research the MS Knowledge Base. What I've seen in the Q &A section is some of the people want an immediate fix with no "Brain Power" used on their part.

The second issue is more related to the Assignment type questions that seem to be a common thing now and maybe it's just me but when I was at Uni I had to study and find a lot of material myself that was not clearly listed or easy to find {True is was when the Internet was in its infancy and there wasn't much raw data listed} but I tend to think that a properly archived thing like this while a bonus to the working IT people could be used as a "Cheat Sheet" by those in the education system.

I know sorry but I do hate cheating in any form as the people involved are only hurting themselves and our industry in general when they pass with no idea of what they are supposed to know.

The problem here would be that instead of the MS answers which are from a developers stand point we would have actual commercial fixes for real life problems that are not covered in the text books and they just might give a few a far better grade than they deserve. Of course it the site was made known to all the education institutions that would be a different story as the teachers would be aware of the possible listings and would be able to search out original answers as apposed to answers provided by others where the student takes the credit.

I think there may also be a few potential problems as well with people getting and answer and not rating it or if they where doing just a broad search opening a lot of what would effectively be "White Papers" and not actually finding what they where looking for so they have to search a lot of different listings to get what they need. A balance would have to be struck where the number of times a page is opened doesn't directly give that particular listing a higher listing/rating or whatever you want to call it than one that isn't opened all that often but still has some very good information on a specific area of the industry.

Also the type of thing on the MS KB where a survey is listed on the bottom of each page while in theory a good idea quite often doesn't get filled out as the info is just grabbed and then forgotten about or even printed off and looked at latter.

I do not know the answer here but I like the idea provided that it isn't abused by students to get better grades than they deserve.

Col

Regardless of what other changes we make to Tech Q&A, how does everyone feel about an "enforced" search feature?

As discussed before, a newly submitted question would be used as the basis for a search query against previously asked questions (probably favoring closed/rated/accepted questions), and those results would be served up before the new question is actually posted. The user would be given a chance to browse these answers before confirming the post of a new question.

This would be an extra step, which some users don't like, but it would help with the instant gratification factor, as a complete solution could be instantly served (especially for repeatedly asked questions). If the new interface is designed correctly, this should cut down on common newbie repetition, but it also might lead to more people posting questions in the Discussion forums.

Does this idea have any standalone merit, or will it just turn people off?

--Jay