How do you know if users have a history of marking answers?

In my experience, Amy, you can get a lot of points if you politely PM users asking you to give points after a question is successfully answered, if they wouldn not be inconvenienced to do so.

Beyond that, there are a large set of political strategies that it's probably not appropriate to get into here.

Amy,

As a specialist in answering posts from poor old lost souls who never find their way back to these forums, can I understand your frustration. However, most of the regulars here do not attach any importance to points, and I am quite happy with my 845 points, nothing when compared with Bill's 25,445. I value quite a lot more those "thanks" I have received from the few posters who have come back.

Amy,

I know of no way of predetermining a poster's proclivity to award points, or to even return to a thread to mark it as "Answered." Some do, but many do not. In most of the forums, that I frequent, we urge posters to drop back with an update, and if they found success, to mark the post as Answered, so that others, coming to that thread, will know that the replies helped the OP. We are far less concerned with any points, and only care about helping others.

I have seen, exactly what you describe, and a few instances have taken things to absurd level. In a post some years back, there were three "correct," or at least very helpful answers. Someone dropped by that thread and posted something to the effect of "You're too stupid to use a program like ______, so just give up and use something easier for someone like you... " The OP marked that as the "Correct Answer." Oh well, there is no explaining, or anticipating how a poster will respond, or at least not a method, that I know of.

I frequent several travel, food and wine forums, and if looking for useful reviews, will sometimes research a poster, if say they have a scathing review of a fairly popular restaurant, or if they have a glowing review, when most forum folk have been ho-hum. In one particular instance of the former, I tracked down about a dozen posts by that person. All but one were for more expensive, fine-dining restaurants, and were horribly negative. The one good review was for some chain fast-food place. In the cases of the latter, I have found several reviewers, who actually worked for, or owned those restaurants, so their post flew in the face of "general" responses, from people with no vested interests.

With the Adobe forums, I do not know a way to pre-judge a poster's propensity, especially as many are first-time posters. My feeling is to just offer the best that I can, and hope that it helps. If there is a "thank you" at the end - so much the better.

Good luck,

Hunt