The Problem
Unity Answers is Trashed. There are so many users who don’t know what they’re doing. If they have questions, that is perfectly understandable. But I’ve seen so many questions on how to use Answers when there is a FAQ 100 pixels to the right. I don’t have too much Karma (about 1500 at the moment), but I take pride in it. It frustrates me that I have a 24% Acceptance Rate when at least a third of my answers are detailed, including code and explanations. I also try to mention to users they can always leave comments if they still have questions. I try my best to get back to them.
The Solution
I posted a suggestion under Feedback. Please read it. There’s more I want to add below, but it’s the foundation for it.
Allow me to explain:
- A user asks a question
- If no answer is accepted after 1 week, the Asker gets a banner notification (similar to this) such as:
- If no answer is accepted after 3 weeks, the question is closed under a new reason such as:
- If there are no answers after 3 weeks, the question is closed under a new reason ^
- Throughout this 3 week period, the user has every option to close the answer themselves, delete the question, or select an answer.
In the end:
- If the question was closed automatically (after 3 weeks) and no answer was selected, the user loses 10-15 Karma.
- If the question was closed automatically (after 3 weeks) but there was no answer, they do not lose Karma (This would simply get the question out of the way).
- If the question is Wikified, the question can remain open past 3 weeks, but other users can make changes (which is implied; that’s what Wikify does). This can provide a better use for the Wikify option (considering it’s practically non-existent today) as questions that are Wikified are most likely reasonable/decent questions that await a correct answer. If the question is Wikified in an attempt to simply leave the question opened (despite choices in #2 directly above) and a moderator closes/reports this question, the user still loses their 10-15 Karma.
Keep in mind a few of these ideas (such as #3 directly above) are more of ‘suggestions’. Please post other ideas below, as well as changes that could/should be done to the idea.
In Practice
If this is put to use, this is what can happen:
- After 1 week, all new questions that match the criteria (as in being warned for unsolved questions) will be marked, and users will begin seeing notification banners in red at the top of their screen.
- Users who log into the Unity Answers will have 2 weeks to make changes. This gives them 2 weeks to log in, depending on their activity frequency.
- I would predict that at least 50% of the questions matching the criteria would be corrected based off of #5 above.
- After 3 weeks, approximately 100 superfluous could be freed from Answers
- A large majority of users have between 1-200 Karma. If they keep asking questions that take Karma away, they will get below the minimum of 15 Karma and be put in the Moderation Queue. This can work as a helpful reminder that they need to be active when using the forums.
Why This Can Help
- Redundant, useless or old questions will be closed, not deleted, letting users ask again if they must
- One of the key “issues” you may see with this is that users who don’t get an answer after the 3 week deadline and are forced to close, delete or Wikify their question may not ever get an answer, ever. I believe the opposite. If more of the redundant, useless or old questions are taken off of the Answers page, then Moderators and “Answerers” will be much more available and willing to answer questions. Therefore, this problem would be nearly nonexistent.
- By solving (closing, deleting, selecting answer, Wikifying) questions between Weeks 1-3, users are being more active. New users (between 1-200 Karma) will learn to get a feel for the activity they must contribute if they want help.
I spend time answering questions. I look up answers for questions people already ask, and I even learn stuff some of the time. However, some of the time, I spend probably 10-20 minutes on a single question, trying to give examples and to explain. It’s a shame when it’s wasted when the Asker doesn’t do anything! I don’t even know if they read my answer! It makes me frustrated. I take pride in my small 1500 Karma. But to be fair, I could have 4,000+ Karma Alone, just from users accepting my answers. I think it’s time this is done. If not, at least I spent about 30 minutes thinking this forum post through and typing it out.
Let me know if I’m sounding like a communist; taking Karma away from users for being irresponsible. Again, please leave comments on what you think, and what kind of revisions/additions could be made if you like the idea. You don’t even have to like the whole logistics I made: just the idea of punishing users when they Ask and Forget!
Thank you.
Update
I’m pretty shocked I actually got some people to like the idea. It’s rare that anyone actually supports anything I say in life.
Here’s some key things I thought would be nice to add:
The Answers seems too much like the Forums. Questions are asked, and they are there forever. Don’t get me wrong, there’s hundreds of questions that are terrific, but if they apply to a specific version of Unity (like 80% or so of them do), then in 2 years, it doesn’t matter to someone who Google searches for a solution to a similar problem. If the issue was patched/fixed, or is deprecated and doesn’t apply to a feature that isn’t available anymore, then it’s just wasted time. Here’s my even crazier idea: This whole fiasco I ranted about above may be that solution: Split Answers from Forums. As questions are answered, they aren’t as relevant. You can still google search for them, but the beauty could be that I could ask the same question that has already been answered, and it might just not be annoying. It can give me “1 on 1” time with a user for a minute to teach them. Sure, I don’t necessarily have to write a book, but it could be a great opportunity to answer more specific questions without writing code for them. If they want answers to common questions, then the forum should be their place. I think Answers should be more Current. If I’m mostly answering questions, I should see unanswered questions within the past 3 weeks. If I’m looking for answers, I can see answered questions. If I don’t find an answer, I can go back to the forums, or even the Wiki.
I’m liking a lot of the replies you guys are putting! The forums would be a great place for me to migrate to. However, I like answering questions for users. I’m not an expert at coding, but I have a great feel for how things work, and putting it in simpler terms and giving real world examples for these users can help them.
