WA Suggestion: Fix the Unanswered Question System
Let me start off by saying, this is a revised version of a suggestion for Wealthy Affiliate I already made. After receiving a lot of community feedback I switched it around a little bit and approved upon it. Here is the original:
https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/ninjazrb/blog/wa-s...
I've noticed that a lot of the time when I ask a question in the community I am at first met with an answer that doesn't solve my question for me, or a reply that is not an answer. Although I appreciate people trying to help, this makes it a lot harder to get an answer because my question is marked as "answered" by the system and is removed from the unanswered category.
I think it seems kind of silly for a question to be considered answered once it receives any sort of reply. This often is not the case. A few members of the community and I have worked out a new system that eliminates this problem.
After a question receives a reply it leaves the unanswered category, but the person who asked it is prompted to decide whether their question has been answered. If they choose "yes" the prompt goes away and the question remains marked as "answered". If they choose "no" the question is put back into the pool of "unanswered" questions.
This is a problem I've encountered many times, and I know many other people have too. I don't see any problems with implementing a new system like this one.
Please, don't hesitate to share your thoughts below. Whether you think this is a great idea or a terrible one, share your thoughts so I can improve upon it. If you would like to see this system or something like it implemented, like this blog.
Recent Comments
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I actually think this is a good idea and a variation of what Carson and I were discussing the other day. We do feel that sometimes people answer questions with "this would be a good question for Carson or Kyle" or "I am not sure.".
This obviously does not constitute a quality answer and in circumstances like this your questions needs to continue to be prioritized.
Outside of this, that is where immersing yourself here within WA is highly beneficial and creating a following. When you do have a following, your questions will usually be answered by many people at once.'
Another potential issue is that if you ask a question, you likely don't know what the answer is. So who is or really should be responsible for saying the answer is correct. Maybe it has multiple answers. Maybe the question is looking for many types of feedback. Maybe there is no right or wrong answer.
These are all things we need to consider with any sort of update, as subtle or as apparent as it may be but opening this discussion up is definitely a good thing and something that we need to take into consideration with updates moving forward.
Thanks for giving your thoughts Kyle. The important thing is that you and Carson are aware of the issue and are discussing it. I wasn't sure if this was something you had even considered. I'm excited to see what you come up with.
~Zachary
I have been following your first post on this. Now you have it summarised have you sent it to the two boys.
Not yet, but I don't think I'm going to quite yet. I'd like to get a bit more community feedback and community backing for the idea first. You only get one first impression.
~Zachary
To be honest, I didn't even know how this system works....still don't.
Perhaps somebody could explain or point me in the appropriate direction for the training on it?
Thanks
Mark
If you ask a question and it receives ANY reply then it is considered "answered" and no longer appears under the "unanswered" category.
~Zachary
@Mark - if you click on the Pen Icon in the top right hand menu, you can click on the last item Ask A Question.
This stays in the Unanswered Question section which can be found in the Activity Dashboard menu. To view them, select the heading Unanswered under Activity.
Now this also keeps track of all blogs not commented on as far as I have made out.
Zachary is right, as soon as a question is answered, it is removed from this list.
Answering questions is another way of moving up in the ranking system.
I like this idea because sometimes there may be multiple different answers to a question or problem that could spark a better discussion. In my opinion it is very useful to have many points of view.
I agree - sometimes when I'm asking a question, there are a number of good answers - and I would still like further ideas and options!
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That is very helpful and truthful right now, where do you find this unanswered questions section