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rosshann rosshann
 
M$1 January 22, 2009 05:41 PM

Why do answers that are posted for questions disappear?

There have been a couple of time I have posted an answer to a question and it is on the site, then a few hours later, gone without a trace.  Any explanation
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shakespear... shakespear...
 
 January 22, 2009 06:06 PM
I've had that happen a few times, and I always attributed it to my own personal error. At times I've forgotten that the answering process is two fold - first you submit your answer, then on the next page you provide your sources and submit it again. I'm sure at one point or two I've forgotten to submit that second page and just refreshed or walked away from the computer and forgotten all about it.
Source(s):
See? I'm putting something in sources, which means I'm on the second page and have to remember to submit my answer :)

Asker's Rating:
• it is all in the details, and you brought that to my attention, thanks.


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nyssa nyssa
 
January 23, 2009 06:19 AM
Yep, I have done this as well. Several times before I realized what was happening.

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rosshann rosshann
 
January 23, 2009 05:34 PM
I just discovered something with one of the answers I had thought disappeared. As it turns out the same person posted the same question but with different descriptions on the same day. The one I answered and the other I did not, also one was offering a tip and the other was not. I started clicking around to see if I could find something and that is what I found. So for the one answer it is an error on my part. Detail, detail detail! One other thing though, as you click around the link on your profile page you find that the data can be different, for instance it will say in your profile that you have answered 50 questions, then you can click on for instance your questions link and once the page loads it will show you have answered only 48 questions. Again it is beta so we need to be patient and what the details.

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divyamistr... divyamistr...
 
January 22, 2009 06:11 PM
You should firstcheck in your profile page, and see if those answers are still showing up. If your profile page shows the answers, but the questions' pages are missing them, that is definitely an issue in Mahalo's "question page" code.

Another thing to note is that now answers get rearranged based on their userfulness and whether they've been picked as best answers. So, just scroll through the whole page to make sure the answer hasn't been pushed down.

If you're certain that you submitted the answer and it has disappeared from the question's page AND from your profile page, I guess one of Mahalo's QAs or Developers would have to get back to you on this one.

Hope this helped


Source(s):
Similar experience at other Web sites


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fjpoblam fjpoblam
 
This answer has been voted unhelpful by users. Please click to view
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ssharon ssharon
 
January 22, 2009 06:29 PM
Aside from glitches in the system which are continually being worked out there are two ways for an answer to vanish.

  • It is marked unhelpful too many times.
  • It is reported (as illegal, spam, etc.).

I noticed in your profile that you have 8% unhelpful answers (I'm not judging, just pointing it out) and so there is a chance that has something to do with your disappearing answers.  If you posted an answer that others might have seen as spam and it was reported too many times it would have automatically been removed.

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rosshann rosshann
 
January 22, 2009 06:43 PM
hmmm,, so how many unhelpful clicks does an answer receive to be eligible to be removed? Yes I do not deny some bad answers, sometimes what you say does not still well with everyone,, I think maybe with everything in beta it could part of the course. I don't think my 8% is to far out of line, but that is my opinion, I also have 10% best answers as well.

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ssharon ssharon
 
January 23, 2009 05:08 AM
I don't work for Mahalo so I don't know how many clicks it takes, but I suspect the number is evolving as more users join and more members participate.

I agree that the 8% can be misleading as all it takes is one or two questions where someone disagrees with your political view for you to be marked unhelpful.

Personally I wouldn't worry about the unhelpful answers too much as I have yet to find a user with a lot of best answers that is also 100% helpful. It would theoretically explain why an answer was removed though and so I brought it up.

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drivel drivel
 
January 23, 2009 08:31 AM - Fact Refuted
I have seen answers removed which have not been marked as unhelpful and were not illegal, spam, etc.

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rosshann rosshann
 
January 23, 2009 05:36 PM - Fact Refuted
ya I don't think there is anything that removes comments good or bad. Other than a site admin removing negligent posts.

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drivel drivel
 
January 23, 2009 08:29 AM
The administrators are removing answers and questions which they do not like, and they are leaving no records that these answers ever existed.



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connectedg... connectedg...
 
January 23, 2009 02:07 PM
At least they could do is say your question was removed. Only in your profile. That way you can see that your question was actually posted and then pulled. Also, they should give a canned reason why they pulled it.

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jeffhoard jeffhoard
 
January 23, 2009 06:47 PM - Fact Refuted
Moderators remove answers and questions that go against the Mahalo Terms of Serve, not because they don't like them.

/I'm a moderator

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connectedg... connectedg...
 
January 26, 2009 05:09 PM
Jeff, I was not saying that his question(s) was is violation of TOS (since I did not see it). What I was trying to say is... a message or an entry should be placed in the "violators" profile stating that the question(s) was in violation of TOS.

Also, I have noticed that moderators have been editing questions and not leaving any record of said change (i.e. This question was edited by jeffhoard on today's date at this time). I know the changes are small (i.e. spelling, grammar and linking); however, it would be nice to know something was done to the question after the fact. I know you guys have a logging system for the SeRP's. Why can't you do the same for questions?

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