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M$1 December 17, 2008 01:24 AM

Should Mahalo Answers questions stay open for further replies after a 'best answer' has been selected?

Some questions are going to take more than three days to answer fully (or at all). Perhaps here could be a demarcation or label to show which answers were submitted after the 'best answer' was chosen, or perhaps whoever poses a question could select its duration (within reason).
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December 17, 2008 01:28 AM
Actually you can keep commenting on the question after all the answers have been submitted.

We made a decision--which we could change down the road--to limit the window of question being open in order to create a faster system. If the questions stay open forever there is no closure, no winner, etc.

Right now there is a sense of urgency inside of MA as you know by just looking at the response. People are getting answers well under five minutes on average (from what I can see).

If someone really wants to open a question up again they can just ask a second time and link to the last version, and people can work on those answers again.

Also, as I mentioned, comments stay open on closed questions.
Asker's Rating:
• I think I agree that there has to be closure and keeping the maximum question duration short will encourage faster responses. In fact perhaps there should be an option to make it even shorter - for example, if I need an answer inside an hour or two.


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December 17, 2008 01:32 AM
I think you made the right decision. One thing that really sets this site apart from similar projects is that "sense of urgency", and I feel it is a major strength.

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December 17, 2008 01:36 AM
Actually, I think that the sense of urgency won't last too long, which is a good thing. Right now everybody (including me) is hunting for questions even if they fall outside the field of expertise. Once there are more users, answers will be more thought and accurate (and a bit slower). Quick answers are not necessarily good answers.

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December 17, 2008 03:17 PM
I also like the option of resubmitting / relisting a completed question (perhaps with your own twist and tip). Perhaps there could be a formal / easier way of doing this. This would also help keep similar questions grouped together.

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December 17, 2008 01:24 AM
yes, that way if other people have the same question they can view the answers for themselves and decide if new answers are better or not.

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December 17, 2008 01:26 AM
I believe that they should since it allows the user to receive latest news on the question. It may allow others to comment and say if past answers were helpful or not.:)

Hope that helped!

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December 17, 2008 01:27 AM
Yes! It would also be a great way of avoiding "clones", like at Yahoo Answers, or friends picking friends' answers only.

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December 17, 2008 01:30 AM
Yes, I think so. What if someone finds the question and answer via doing a Google search, and has more recent information to share?

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December 17, 2008 01:32 AM
I would say that after a 'best answer' has been selected the question should close. Although I wonder if that would not allow for follow-up? You know, a question is answered with a solution and the solution is used, but during the use of the answer a better way to go about the answer is found. Although the 'best answer' still stands the better way to put the answer to use is there for the next person who needs the same thing. A cooking question and answer could be an example of such a follow-up, i.e. different temperature and cooking time at altitude. Poor example maybe, but I hope you follow my point...

Oops and now I see that Jason probably answered this while I was typing...
Source(s):
None


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edd edd
 
December 17, 2008 01:34 AM
Yes, at reduced point levels perhaps. The fact is, the questions asked may have results that change over time, and it would benefit askers to be able to see additional answers later on in case others have additional information to add.

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December 17, 2008 01:35 AM
Yes, I think you should have the option to select the amount of time you what your question to available (i.e. ebay). Also, should be allowed re-list the question.

And... like ebay (again), since Mahalo Answers is putting the "paid" questions on top, you should be able to pay a premium to keep your question at the top for 'X' amount of time.

Lastly, Mahalo should do a more through search of it's current questions (prior to your post), so you don't duplicate your question(s). I know having a question asked multiple different ways will allow people to get a better understanding of a topic; however, I personally think it is to redundant.

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December 17, 2008 01:36 AM
Yes, who's to say someone wont come along with a better answer than the previously selected "best answer".

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December 17, 2008 01:41 AM
Of course it should be left open. Sometimes a better answer than the best picked answer at the time could come up. Also, times change. Sometimes things change and newer better products/services are available that weren't available when the question was originally put out.

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December 17, 2008 01:45 AM
Absolutely, this will give the person who asked the question to get a more clear responses or other views on the best answer.

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xds xds
 
December 17, 2008 01:45 AM
Thumbs up for YES as well.

I also think the time being able to edit your post even if it's tagged as the BEST should be much longer, and the user should still be able to edit it to improve layout and grammar indefinitely! .

For instance i just ran into a situation with my first mahalo dollar earned that i made a grammatical error within the post.

The Asker knew what i was talking about however there was a grammar error and not everyone is "smarter than the average bear".

I hope we can come up with a solution that benefits everyone.

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xds xds
 
December 17, 2008 02:08 AM
I just had a brilliant idea on how this could be accomplished.

Everything could be sent to a Mahalo wiki! , Everything would be archived including the 'BEST' answer!


That would be great!

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December 17, 2008 01:55 AM
Yes, I think this is a good idea. I think people should be able to elaborate on the best answer.

Helpful Answer?  (0)   (0)    Tip neilbakker for this answer
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December 17, 2008 01:58 AM
Yes. It would make this even better.
As many have pointed out, it helps in getting latest information about a particular thing.

Chances are high that the questions here will get huge search engine referrals. In that case, if the one who search, reaches here after 6 months, the question needs a new answer, because things change.

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December 17, 2008 02:13 AM
Yes, even if a best answer is already chosen, at the same time, it may still be incomplete and someone may have/find additional information. Now whether another "best answer" choice and point allotment given should be made I don't think so. Especially if a payout has already be transfered. We don't want to be giving and taking back.

didn't realized comment sections were remaining open. That may be enough to keep an answer fresh and up to date.

However, I would strongly encourage all who read and use the answers given to think what would be the best answer for themselves. Don't just assume that the one chosen is the best for all situations and all people.

So yes, answering should remain open.
Source(s):
Personal opinion


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December 17, 2008 02:19 AM
yes it will create a stronger answers archive

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December 17, 2008 03:00 AM
Short answer: No.

I base this upon my following opinions:
1) The sense of urgency that other people have commented upon.
2) Questions with a single answer like "How many moons does the Earth have?" or "What was the GDP of France in 1989?" rarely change. However, if you ask how many moons hath Jupiter rather than Earth, you would have had (would hath?) differing answers over time. But, is it relevant to the questioner? I think not. I would want to know the number of moons for Jupiter at that moment in time. If there were an archive, the answer might get stale. I might propose saying that the answer is how old could limit this.
3) There is fatigue in reading answers and looking at comments. Most people do not read all the comments before posting their own thoughts. Therefore, comments tend to repeat themselves. Unless duplicate comments will be deleted, there is a problem even with comments. And the overhead for having people read comments and decide whether or not they are duplicates can be quite enormous.
4) There are questions that are time dependent and would have different answers depending on that date asked. Questions such as current opinions about people, places or things; prices or ratings of goods or services; and even this question itself will change over time (how's that for self-referential answers!)

Just some thoughts.

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xds xds
 
December 17, 2008 06:12 AM
Thats why a wiki archive would be the best bet !

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December 17, 2008 03:04 PM
In response to 3) - that's why I think you should be able to bury or hide poor responses, similar to the way they can be thumbed down or up on Digg. That way, a long list of responses will be easier to navigate and whoever posed the question will have an easier job selecting the 'best answer'

I presume the fact that there is already a place to vote yes or no on the helpfulness of the answer probably means this will be implemented down the line. At the moment, there probably aren't enough users, especially those qualified to vote yes / no to make this work properly.

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