Little things annoy me

[Sandee Cohen]

b Points

I don't like is this concept of "points". I really don't like the competitive energy of those points. I've been to non-business forums where people award each other "karma." It's stupid and can be petty when someone has more karma than others.

I have no idea who gives points to others, but I don't like them.

I wouldn't mind a record of when joined or how many posts, but I think that belongs in a profile, not next to the responses.

b Answering posts

Who marks a message as answered? As mentioned before, the OP could state the post is answered, but others could find a problem.

Will there be a way for the Forum Moderator to amend an answered post as "With Note"?

b Sorting the messages

Will there be a way to sort according to the OP? If not, it seems a waste of a column.

I'm sure I will have other issues that I'll add later.

[_Phos_four_dots_]

This is also why I was kind of chuffed about the tabbed "Documents" feature that you can see in Clearspace's own home forum.

It would be a good way/place to gather and retain Q/A threads and tutorials that generate a lot of in-depth discussion and refinement. An expanded FAQ, if you will.

But, useful stuff like that seems unworthy, while gee-gaws and page-space-waste rule the day.

[Guest]

>=I hate to say this, but sometimes, the host isn't the best-qualified person to make that determination

you misunderstand me phos. in many (most?) cases i anticipate that the one marked "answer" will be cool. it wouldn't be the host to make that decision, but the community coming to a consensus, then we might ask the host to mark another answer as correct. i see a host modifying that answered status as a rare exception, not the rule. but i think it's an important power if we're going to have an "answered" system at all.

we've all seen cases where some really bad advice got posted. i've heard someone say in here that the hosts will NOT have the ability to change that "answered" mark. if that's the case, i think it's better not to have that feature at all.

[_Phos_four_dots_]

No, Dave I GET what you're saying.

MY point is that it shouldn't be the Host's job to chase through and keep up with every thread, thn make the determination about whether a question that has been marked "Answered" is well-and-truly answered, and to UN-mark it if necessary. That just seems like too much for an unpaid volunteer to have to be saddled with.

And your last paragraph points to why the proposed system should be run off into the ditchweeds.

[Guest]

>MY point is that it shouldn't be the Host's job to chase through and keep up with every thread\

it's not. that's what the community is for. how often do we ask a host to move something to the FAQ? not very. same thing.

[Guest]

In a lot of my responses I use a link that has previously discussed the problem. I then do not have to parrot information, and the user can sort out what is useful to them. There can be several posts within that link that deals with the problem, and frequently the problem is solved incrementally. If you only read post # 7 you might not get the full answer.

I don't see how the community will sort through this mess to decide which post of a link will be the best answer. Or even which post of a thread is the best answer as most build on each other.

Perhaps we would need a box labeled "half ass best answer"?

This is not a clean solution like the public, or Adobe, wants, just reality on how life happens.

[_Phos_four_dots_]

And THAT, Curt, is why the "Documents" feature would be so useful. A few people could help maintain it, rather than just relying on Hosts.

[Guest]

Apart from multiple answers which dave mentioned, glaring examples of answers that "work", but in a seriously flawed way, are some of the dabblers' answers to questions on colour management.

The given answer may appear to fix a mismatch, but may be totally wrong. And other beginners will see it marked as answered and adopt the solution.

What's all the talk about who marks it as answered? Nobody needs to mark it as anything. Certainly not the OP!

[Guest]

>are some of the dabblers' answers to questions on colour management. <br /><br /><cough> hi, how ya doin'? 🙂 <cough><cough>

[Ann_Shelbourne1]

I totally agree with everyone who has said that having that "Right Answer" box is a thoroughly BAD idea.

What would be wrong with the OP merely adding a message to his post to thank the person who he feels was helpful to him?

Just as it is now.

Anyone who needs an answer to a similar problem has the ability to run a Search; and can then make the effort to read through the thread and see all of the proffered suggestions.

[PJonesCET]

Well to mollify 5 or 10 people out of 500,00 Lets just not have Question answered feature. Its really not that important. In the scheme of things its nit-piking. What happening a Few people That don't want any change is hoping That the folks at Adobe will be so fed up the with all the whining and crying. Forget it and kill all forums period.

I've tried to explain why I think an answered feature is no big deal and who it would or should work. And all I've heard is attacks on my mental state and computer knowledge. I'm not the most experienced After all I am 60 years old (March 28) and only been dealing with computers since 1984. So I'm not exactly a newbie either.

Take my contacts for what its worth.

[_Phos_four_dots_]

I've been riding a bicycle for 46 years.

But I'm not entering any races anytime soon.

[Kath-H]

>Well to mollify 5 or 10 people out of 500,00

You counted them, did you? And is that supposed to be fifty thousand or five hundred thousand?

One more try. The person asking very often doesn't know enough to judge whether the question is satisfactorily answered. Therefore it should be left open for further contributions and suggestions. An 'answered' label may discourage that.

This would be a bad thing.

[Guest]

>I've tried to explain why I think an answered feature is no big deal and who it would or should work.

and i've tried to explain why it's not, but don't worry. you'll win. it's part of the package. so sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

[Guest]

heh! this explains the situation perfectly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh33bGAxl58

[Ann_Shelbourne1]

Perfect!

:)

[Bob_Peters]

Dave, you have really outdone yourself.

[Guest]

reminds me of my never wrong ex.......

[_Ian_Burton_]

Say instead "I am an expert and you who ask questions have no right to express your opinion about the replies to your questions". Would any of us actually want to agree with this alternative description of what some of the frequent contributors appear to be saying.

Well a little modesty would help us all here. Even experts ask questions. I regularly ask questions, but not here. How else does one become expert? Some contributors seem to believe that people asking questions could be stupid and thus not entitled to express opinions about responses. Historically there have been many groups of people who thought only their opinions were valid and that others should not be allowed the freedom to express any views.

The argument about the validity of people asking questions having the right to identify an answer they found useful is as valid as the argument about women, or any other previously excluded group, having a vote. The right to stop anyone expressing their opinion about a topic they raised is a right that should be treated very, very carefully.

Some segment experts have been passionate in the defence of the status quo. But that passion, praiseworthy though it may be, has sometimes descended into condescension and even insult. We read such contributions and form opinions about the validty of them. And then may be extend those thoughts to the validity of their other contributions. Who of us wants to be remembered for teenage temper tantrums or petty insults about typos?

I say let the unwashed, uncultered question posters have their say in points or best answer identification. Without them what would we "experts" do. Insult each other? Tell contributors they have no understanding of design when a simple back button would seriously improve our index of snapshots web site? Post clever replies about the hidden significance of typos? Post two line replies like some headline writer? We could even amuse ourselves writing long, verbose comments that nobody cares to read.

Just saw the YouTube thing. Let's ask ourselves if we're sure our perception of our own roles in that situation matches what others think of our contributions. I can't get away from the amusing thought that some contributors think of themselves as the reasonable family person and the 500,00 others as donkeys
Cheers and goodnight
Ian

[Guest]

>Dave, you have really outdone yourself.

i'm sorry. i'm ashamed. i couldn't help it. :(

>Say instead "I am an expert and you who ask questions have no right to express your opinion about the replies to your questions". Would any of us actually want to agree with this alternative description of what some of the frequent contributors appear to be saying.

well i'm not an expert. i help where i can and learn more than i help.

there are real experts here and those are the people i learn from. oddly (depending on your perspective), some of them are also posting in these threads forum comment threads because they care what happens to this forum.

the silly youtube link was just a reflection of my feelings that when i do post, and take the time to explain my position, it's common courtesy for the other person to actually read and absorb the information i'm trying to impart before posting back, rather than just saying "no it's not. no it's not. no it's not."

[Guest]

> I can't get away from the amusing thought that some contributors think of themselves as the reasonable family person and the 500,00 others as donkeys

half a million? nah. just one or three...

[Guest]

;)

[Dirck]

Kevin Bacon, Adobe Certified Expert with a badge and a gun.

[Guest]

but can he dance?

[Guest]

"Tut, tut.", said Christopher Robin, "It looks like rain!"

[PJonesCET]

Should have been 500,000