Tech issues solved added in tech forums

[Eric Veteran]

This topic is now 25 pages long and the OP has just 10 likes despite being posted by an admin...

 

Now 90%-95%++ of the site's userbase has a "0" in a key member box line?

 

That is web design failure 101. (Wasted space.)

 

So replacing a unique number with a 0 is a pretty dumb move imo.

 

(N) (N)

 

What about "Tech Issues Solved"?

How does this help us/make Neowin a better site?

 

Well, it doesn't....

 

(N) (N)

And this did?

[Raa]

This topic is now 25 pages long and the OP has just 10 likes despite being posted by an admin...

 

It would seem the decision is (and was) made, and final.

[madd-hatter]

And this did?

I should ignore problems versus bringing them to light?

[Eric Veteran]

I should ignore problems versus bringing them to light?

How is it a problem, and what did you suggest to improve it?

The number is only zero if nobody has ever marked one of your posts as the best answer for a tech problem and we are a tech news/discussion site.

There is no wasted space, there's even more information displayed than there was before in the same amount of space. The only difference is that the to-the-number post count is in the tooltip now.

[madd-hatter]

The number is only zero if nobody has ever marked one of your posts as the best answer for a tech problem

90-95% of the user base.

 

what did you suggest to improve it?

It is quite obvious that the suggestion is to return to the previous established and approved system.

 

How is it a problem

How is it an improvement?

 

we are a tech news/discussion site.

Forum.

 

(I.E. post count...)

[Eric Veteran]

Ok. Thanks for your input!

[xendrome]

Oh another suggestion.

 

The OP of the topic should be able to mark their answer as solved if they solve it themselves and post the details. But a poster should not be able to mark their own post as the solution.

 

Make sense?

 

I posted a topic, there was a short discussion, found the fix myself, posted it. Can't mark it as solved. Someone else would have to, even though I am the OP of the topic.

[Grinch]

Oh another suggestion.

 

The OP of the topic should be able to mark their answer as solved if they solve it themselves and post the details. But a poster should not be able to mark their own post as the solution.

 

Make sense?

 

I posted a topic, there was a short discussion, found the fix myself, posted it. Can't mark it as solved. Someone else would have to, even though I am the OP of the topic.

Marking it as solved should be fine, just don't count it towards the OP's "Tech Issues Solved" count.

[xendrome]

Marking it as solved should be fine, just don't count it towards the OP's "Tech Issues Solved" count.

 

I would agree with that. At least it would show as solved and the solved preview at the top in green. Get people to the fix/answer faster.

[Steven P. Administrators]

Marking it as solved should be fine, just don't count it towards the OP's "Tech Issues Solved" count.

The feature has been here for about a year, and has only been used around 322 times.. That's why we need more emphasis on its importance.

[Daedroth]

This is certainly a feature that will take some getting used to! Personally, I like seeing a users' post count as it gives an indication as to how active that user is in the community, not just in technical related threads.

 

Is there a way to see what tech issues a user has solved? As apparently I have resolved one, but I don't know which!

[Arachno 1D]

Just a query from the sidelines.What sort of percentage of posts require a technical answer as I see more news stories and items that would be best described as "General Discussion" so my perception is these are a smaller minority that the rest of the posts?

[Steven P. Administrators]

We've taken some of the feedback not yet implemented in this topic and will be making a few updates soon to address them, watch this space :)

[riahc3]

Hello,

 

What is the benefit of having the post count visible when we want to focus on quality over quantity?

This is true that seeing a member with a high "Best Answers" (BA) will be better than quantity.

 

the number of stars you have gives you a general idea of someone's activity.

I completely disagree that it shows someone's activity. It just shows when someone has reached a certain mark.

 

As for making it configurable, we're not going to do that. This is something that we want to be seen by every member, the same way MVCs have a different badge than regular members. The point is to reward those that help other members.

It makes no sense that you do not want to make it configurable. I understand completely that you (talking on behalf of Neowin) want to see the site this way BUT it should be a member's choice to either view the BAs (default), post count, or hell, none.

Why is it configurable to view sigs or not?

 

It's limited to tech sections, so some members like me wouldn't get very much. :/ Also, it would make sense to have an option to remove it as some members are not likely to post in those sections very often anyways, making it's visibility completely pointless.

I believe you gave me a idea:

How about in the tech sections, we see "Tech Issues Solved" while in areas where you cannot Mark Solved, the post count is displayed?

 

 

you dont see the other 299,999+ members moaning

Right now, there are 9662 members online. At most, this peaks at 15000-20000. You perfectly know that a lot of those 299,999 are dead/inactive/dups/bans/etc.

I must check it out one day but I doubt hits 150000 at a time.....at most 100000.

 

 

A few updates

• Mark Solved removed for the topic starter
• Label changed and linked to explain what it is

Additionally, for the tenth time, post counts are easily accessed by hovering over the posters name.

1: Good update. It was a clear way to abuse it

2: Not really relevent.

You guys should really rethink how to implement this all across the board, not only the tech section. I think that the main problem. This "Best Answers" is simply limited to 5 sections when Neowin has a lot more.

My idea is this: In the tech sections (where "Mark Solved" is avaliable), we see "Tech Issues Solved" while in areas where you cannot "Mark Solved", the post count is displayed.

Also the "This topic has not been Marked Solved yet, or doesn't require an answer." is VERY cheesy and cheap. Ive seen forums where there is a "Unsolved" grey badge and then when solved it turns into a "Solved" green badge. I dont like it much but its a idea too.

[theyarecomingforyou]

Just a query from the sidelines.What sort of percentage of posts require a technical answer as I see more news stories and items that would be best described as "General Discussion" so my perception is these are a smaller minority that the rest of the posts?

There are significantly more posts outside of the support section than there are inside it. Further, when you look at the support section a lot of topics are general discussions and/or don't require a technical answer. The intention is obviously to increase the number of users providing technical support and to improve the perception of the forum, though given that most users (including mods) have no tech issues solved I find this particular implementation rather questionable. I just don't see this feature being used by the majority of users and fear that it will end up being a symbol of elitism, with a small number of dedicated people racking up a score by being the first to post.

 

I've been here over 10 years and have helped countless people (including since the implementation of the system) but my score remains at zero. The score doesn't bother me as that's not why I help people but my concern is that this system doesn't reflect how useful members and doesn't allow multiple members to contribute to a solution. This is highlighted by the fact that there are numerous mods here who I have seen give out very helpful advice and contribute to the forum yet their score remains zero.

[Arachno 1D]

Yes it does sound limiting,Im more inclined to suggest a REP button [similar to Face books LIKE] on posts so that members can give positive feedback on how helpful other posters are which over time would incrementally increase a members status.

[AsherGZ]

^this. What about the rest of the people contributing on a thread? In a thread like this, currently 27 pages long and going, with 15 posts per page, only one person gets Best Answer. The 400 or so other people that posted were trolling all this time right? With such odds, what makes you think next time they'd even bother helping someone out?

[Steven P. Administrators]

^this. What about the rest of the people contributing on a thread? In a thread like this, currently 27 pages long and going, with 15 posts per page, only one person gets Best Answer. The 400 or so other people that posted were trolling all this time right? With such odds, what makes you think next time they'd even bother helping someone out?

erm, this isn't a support thread with a Mark Solved option. and for those tech areas "Best Answer" is exactly what it means, the OP votes for the best answer.

 

Also people are ignoring that we've taken the feedback and will be implementing some updates that will probably appease everyone.

[riahc3]

Hello,

Also people are ignoring that we've taken the feedback and will be implementing some updates that will probably appease everyone.

That sounds great and I think it important :)

People didnt like Neowin 8.0, so they will problably like Neowin 8.1 (of course, there will be those that complain about that too, you know)

[Steven P. Administrators]

Update: (due to member feedback in this topic)

• Tech issues solved only visible in tech forums
• Now on hovercard and profile as well
• 0 Tech issues solved count disabled from view
• Post count visible on all other forums (non tech areas)

Thanks to Redmak for providing these updates.

[riahc3]

Hello,

Update:

• Tech issues solved only visible in tech forums
• Now on hovercard and profile as well
• 0 Tech issues solved count disabled from view
• Post count visible on all other forums (non tech areas)

Thanks to Redmak for providing these updates.

Damn, I give good suggestions :p Thank you Redmak and I think this will make everyone very happy :)

[McKay]

Update:

• Tech issues solved only visible in tech forums
• Now on hovercard and profile as well
• 0 Tech issues solved count disabled from view
• Post count visible on all other forums (non tech areas)

Thanks to Redmak for providing these updates.

 

[riahc3]

Hello,

I think something broke:

https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1185907-replacement-for-a-cisco-1803/

Obviously a tech question in a tech section with no solved answer and I dont see the Mark Solved button anymore...

[Redmak Administrators]

Did you see them before? You are not allowed to mark a post as solved if you're not the OP or staff

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

Two things that remain to be done now:

 

1. fix this thread's title to "Tech issues solved added in tech forums"
2. give MVCs a modest 100 tech issues solved points jump start :rofl: j/k