Forum - Only 'Troubleshooting' posts allow 'Best Answer'

[rDesign]

The feature to vote a posted reply up / down for 'best answer' to a posted question is currently a feature that's only available to posts made in the 'Troubleshooting' board.

I think the up / down voting feature should be offered more broadly, as almost all of the posts on the forum are asking direction on how to something in Vectorworks. It would make it much easier to find the 'best' way to do something if any post were able to be nominated for 'Best Answer', and then it would get highlighted by a bold green box (or something other than white).

Edited September 10, 2016 by rDesign

[zoomer]

I would like to have that too ....

[rDesign]

@JimW- can you move this thread to the Wish list section? Thanks. 

[Benson Shaw]

I will wait to see how well this "best answer" concept works, but I am skeptical. Here's why:

 • It's possible the "best" answer option could fail because of laziness.
• When a suggested process or solution is elevated, then more readers try the solution and elevate it more without reading or testing other, possibly better alternatives in the thread.
• Or, a reply is elevated and responders with relevant experience just decline to read or contribute at all, so we miss some possible depth or solution alternatives.
• I read all the posts in a discussion and want them in order.  If the "Best" is presented at the top, we miss the continuity.

-B

[Tom Klaber]

This is tough.  Half of the posts seem to be people asking questions in General or Architect -and these do have best answers, but the other half is general chatter and banter that should be read chronologically  Ideally the poster should have the choice to make the thread as a question or as a discussion topic.  That way - both types of threads could happen in any forum topic.

[Kevin McAllister]

Often the "best" answer is spread across a few responses so it could be easily lost. I think there needs to be some degree of curation or moderator intervention for the best answer to be reliable as the proper solution....

Kevin

[zoomer]

Maybe it would be better if we could like a Post instead of the Author

I also prefer the chronological view.
But a big green "Post-it" glued to the side of a Post : Winner!
would be fine. 

Edited September 11, 2016 by zoomer

[rDesign]

I think the Apple Support communities could serve as a good example of how a 'best solution' post system can work.

Example link for reference: Apple Support Community

Right after the original question, one post has been nominated as having 'Solved' the question while other helpful posts also get promoted to the top as being 'Helpful' . There is also a button to 'See the Answer in Context'.

With the new Vw forum in the Troubleshooting section we can vote individual post responses as up / down, but as it is all so new, we have no idea how this will all work. Ideally, helpful posts could still get emphasized while still showing what is considered to be the best answer, as identified by group consensus voting. Perhaps the vote counters will tally up the votes for each post and give a sense of what are the best solutions to a question.

(Tangentially related, I also like Apple's approach of visually emphasizing the 'Solved' answer by giving it a grey background. It really helps make it stand out in a sea of whiteness. The new Vectorworks forum could stand to use a little visual hierarchy).

Edited September 11, 2016 by rDesign

[Jonathan Pickup]

When I read this I thought of the discussion about copy-paste and duplicate. I use a method that others do not like. Yet both methods are useful for different reasons. Do we want One of these to be the "best" answer?  

[rDesign]

I think with something about user preferences, of which the copy and paste / offset duplicates discussion is about, there should not be a 'Best' or 'Solved' solution, as each method has its merits- and as JimW noted, that's why it is left as a user preference. 

But there are many questions that do have a 'Best' answer, such as how to get some specific User Field to show up in a Worksheet, or how to make a site modifier work properly.

I like the Apple Support solution I outlined above where they have both 'Solved' and 'Helpful' answers.

Not all threads can benefit from a 'Best' answer, but I think the up / down votes needs to be expanded beyond just the Troubleshooting board.

Edited September 11, 2016 by rDesign

[zoomer]

42 minutes ago, Jonathan Pickup said:

When I read this I thought of the discussion about copy-paste and duplicate. I use a method that others do not like. Yet both methods are useful for different reasons. Do we want One of these to be the "best" answer?  

There was an initial question and directly following a bunch of precise answers.
I think one of these could well be "the best answer".
So people that have a question and search the forum could find the answer easier.
If these could be voted, the best answer with the most votes would get the title and
the Winner T-Shirt.

Following is a normal discussion that raised by thinking deeper into that topic itself.
People exchange their different opinions and thoughts. There is not really a good
or bad. If one could vote, maybe with up and down voting, these would level itself
to zero anyway.
Well, could be quite informative anyway.

Edited September 11, 2016 by zoomer

[PVA - Admin]

Sorry for not chiming in until now, been giving this one a lot of thought. I still haven't come to a conclusion, but a lot of the feedback here has mirrored our internal discussions on it. There are pros and cons to both, but I think with a little renaming having a "Most Helpful" that can either be selected by the original poster or by an Admin would be beneficial all over the place.

[zoomer]

I would like to have other users be able to vote some of my brilliant ideas down,

if the don't want it, without throwing me out completly in the liyer edge with a

-693 reputation