Timeline for Why isn't there a "comment needs conversion to answer" flag option and diamond moderator option?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2, 2013 at 22:44 | vote | accept | machineghost | ||
| Dec 28, 2012 at 17:43 | comment | added | machineghost | So basically my problem is that the system is inefficient: 1) wasted answerer effort: rather than spending time answering people, answerers have to wade through "answered unanswered questions" trying to find something they can actually help on 2) busywork: to solve #1, rather than actually answering questions an SO citizen gets to waste their time copy/pasting someone else's answer comment in to an answer, helping no one, 3) because nothing stops comment answers and there's no incentive to do #2, #1 is pretty much guaranteed on a daily basis. | |
| Dec 28, 2012 at 17:36 | comment | added | machineghost | As I understand it, the goal of this site is to get questions answered. When people answer in the comments they have answered the question: the OP doesn't need any further info, later readers can learn what they need to learn, and no one needs to formally answer except to make the SO gods happy. But, it sits in the unanswered queue anyway, and people who actually want to answer unanswered questions have to open up a question, see that it's not really "unanswered", then go back to looking for a question that really is unanswered. | |
| Dec 28, 2012 at 5:01 | comment | added | d-_-b | @machineghost, is the problem that they are technically "unanswered", or s it that even if you properly submit an answer, the OP will probably never accept it since it was asked so long ago? | |
| Dec 28, 2012 at 4:58 | comment | added | d-_-b | Definite +1 to this answer. I see it all the time, someone finds a syntax error, or lists the exact (usually brief) desired answer, as a comment. It helps me greatly and sometimes suffices. But I can tell that those 30,000 rep people know that's the answer, and I get the feeling that if others agree, someone looking for the points or with time, will propose a proper, and thorough answer. | |
| Dec 27, 2012 at 22:12 | comment | added | machineghost | Ok, you caught me, I exaggerated a bit with "until the end of time"; please forgive my hyperbole. But the issue remains: those questions will sit in the queue until they've been forced on to page 500 or whatever at the end of those few months. Until that happens they'll gum up the works, and after that point they'll still show up in the site as "unanswered" even though they really aren't. | |
| Dec 27, 2012 at 22:10 | comment | added | yannis | @machineghost Unanswered negatively scored questions are automatically deleted after a month. See: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/78048/… | |
| Dec 27, 2012 at 22:06 | comment | added | machineghost | @Yannis right, and my point is: that's not happening. So maybe we just say "it's an unsolvable problem: questions with answers in their comments will just have to sit waiting for a mythical 'conversion' until the end of time in the unanswered queue." But I don't think it's unsolvable, and I do think there's something different that could be done with these questions (even if an automated conversion process isn't that something because of the rep issues). | |
| Dec 27, 2012 at 22:03 | comment | added | yannis | @machineghost In almost every related discussion it's suggested that you should convert your "stolen" answer to CW as to not earn any rep for it. And yes random was joking. | |
| Dec 27, 2012 at 22:00 | comment | added | machineghost | I think @random might have just been making a joke ... (but not being an SE regular I can't say for sure) | |
| Dec 27, 2012 at 21:58 | comment | added | random Mod | Never suggested you suggested CW, but as you'll see on many other Meta answers, the suggestion is usually suggested | |
| Dec 27, 2012 at 21:57 | comment | added | yannis | @random I never suggested CW, if you take the time to convert comments to a full answer, I don't see why you shouldn't get rep for it. | |
| Dec 27, 2012 at 21:55 | comment | added | machineghost | I hear what you're saying about "the Stack Exchange way", but the real life evidence demonstrates that that doesn't happen. I guess most people just feel like me that its wrong to "steal" another person's answer, and as a result the current system leaves a ton of "answered unanswered questions" in the queue. I'm not at all wedded to the "convert comments to answers" solution, but I feel there must be some solution other than "leave the queue filled with questions that don't belong." | |
| Dec 27, 2012 at 21:54 | comment | added | random Mod | Anyone suggesting they post those answers as community wiki is a communist | |
| Dec 27, 2012 at 21:53 | history | answered | yannis | CC BY-SA 3.0 |