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Request

If your answer is accepted. It would be nice if you could share your rep with people you felt contributed to you figuring out an answer on this question.

I don't mean you can simply award rep to comments!

This would obviously have the unwanted side effect that witty/funny/entertaining comments that don't help towards the question would gain rep. I am not referring to this. Only that the person who has their answer accepted can choose to share it with selected participants they feel helped.

Explanation & Example

So a question was a little vague. After reading the question and the comments I had a more specific idea of what was going wrong. One of the comments had pretty much hit on the answer before the code was shown (although without direct references to what was wrong of course). I basically summed it all up in a nice way after waiting a minute or so for an answer.

There was a nice exchange by the asker, asking the previous commenter to write an answer so that they could accept it and a further nice exchange by the commenter just giving me the credit.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could award a little of the rep gained on any question answered and accepted to any participator(s) in the discussion? i.e. I could award half my rep points (and future rep points) on this question to those in the comments that contributed.

Improve this question
33
  • 7
    Isn't this what voting on answers is for?
    – Andrew Barber Mod
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:36
  • 3
    hehe... "My rep! MINE!" That said, it's an interesting proposal with good intentions, so I'm up voting. But I don't think I like it.
    – Andrew Barber Mod
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:39
  • 5
    The way I see it, the possibility of gaining rep through comments would only lead to more comment-answers(and less actual answers).
    – Geobits
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:40
  • 1
    It's not that they don't like it, it's that they disagree that your feature request should be implemented. There are already plenty of existing ways you can show appreciation to a commenter. Usually I try to suss things out in comments because asking clarifying questions doesn't work well as an answer. If that leads to someone providing a great answer, fantastic. I don't need any more reward than that.
    – Aaron Bertrand Staff
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:40
  • 1
    @RossDrew actually, it was already proposed before and rejected without official response.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:41
  • 2
    @RossDrew that situation is actually pretty common, because newer users are terrible at asking solvable questions. They need a lot of prodding and teeth-pulling to provide enough information to actually address the question (or even discover what the question is).
    – Aaron Bertrand Staff
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:41
  • 1
    @RossDrew You might consider clarifying that in your question here. I don't think that would increase the agreement with the idea, but I like clarity, and stuff :)
    – Andrew Barber Mod
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:42
  • 2
    @RossDrew and you can already do that, by up-voting (as in the answer below) or, more directly, by offering a bounty.
    – Aaron Bertrand Staff
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:43
  • 1
    What about discussions moved to chat? What about comments cleared as obsolete after successful improvements of a question or answer? too complicated to do properly, I'm afraid, and doing it wrong would be more unjust than not doing it at all. And why only for accepted answers?
    – Mołot
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:48
  • 1
    @Mołot reputation can be taken back when comment is deleted same way like it's taken back when post is deleted, that's not the issue here IMO.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:50
  • 2
    @ShaWizDowArd but if comment is deleted as obsolete, it means it was useful, right? And it's content got implemented into main post. So that's exactly the situation where comment's author should get reputation, and should keep getting his share even if comment is no longer there. The very issue is that rep probably would be taken back the same way... Same for ones moved to chat.
    – Mołot
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:51
  • 2
    @Mołot still doable, reputation gained for post that had +3 score and existed 60 days when it was deleted will be preserved. Same can be applied to comment having certain threshold of upvotes and deleted as obsolete.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:55
  • 2
    I don't understand the down votes here, the man asked a legitimate question.
    – Dauh Fhauc
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:05
  • 4
    @RossDrew that's how Meta works. Honestly +9/-11 is quite good, much more than I expected at first. :)
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:13
  • 2
    @Ross now that your actual request is clear I have to also disagree: this is way too complex to be really useful. :(
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 16:00

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
12

This is why you shouldn't be posting answers as comments, or otherwise leaving very valuable information solely in comments.

If you have found the answer to a question you should be posting it as an answer, not as a comment. We want to encourage people to be posting answers as answers, and we don't want them posting answers as comments.

Improve this answer
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  • 5
    Problem in this specific case is the user who posted the comment just guessed, answer would be wrong in such situation as it would begin with something like "I guess" or "Assuming [this and that]...".
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:59
  • 1
    @ShaWizDowArd They should be moving the comment to an answer once it is confirmed to be correct. Also the person that did post it as an answer did so before the OP confirmed the suspicion, so the person posting the answer and the person posting the comment were both guessing, one person just decided to take the risk and post it as an answer.
    – Servy
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:00
  • On StackOverflow the majority of my answers are better suited as comments, well. Mostly because I don't have enough reputation to leave comments. I tend to edit them after into full answers once I know the full details.
    – Dauh Fhauc
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:03
  • Ideally yes, but if other user posted the same answer in the meantime (not based on the comment but rather his own doing) there's a dilemma.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:04
  • 1
    Yep, and if someone guessed right in a comment, you can reference them in the answer. Then they still get some kind of honorable mention even if the comment is removed and even if they can't be bothered to post an answer themselves.
    – Aaron Bertrand Staff
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:04
  • 1
    @DauhFhauc Then you're mis-using the site and your answers should be deleted and you should stop knowingly breaking the rules. If you're going to post an answer you should be posting a full answer, rather than posting a non-answer first.
    – Servy
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:04
  • Actually no, I was the person posting the answer. I took the commenters guess, and confirmed it by looking at the code. As the commenter hadn't posted an answer in the next minute or so, I used his comment and the code to build a concise answer.
    – Ross Drew
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:05
  • 3
    @ShaWizDowArd (1st comment) and Servy: when I guess, I don't expect any rep from it. And anyone who tested my guess and found it to be right should post it as an answer - I'll gladly upvote and give him rep for doing actual work :P
    – Mołot
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:05
  • 2
    Well, as for both guessing, I don't know that that's true. I've often been in a situation where I ask clarifying questions in a comment, the OP confirms or clarifies, and suddenly 5 answers appear based on the confirmation. Sometimes this may be coincidence, but sometimes the answers have info that could only have been obtained from the OP's comment.
    – Aaron Bertrand Staff
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:05
  • @AaronBertrand Yes, but looking at the timestaps of the posted content, in this specific case, the OP's confirmation came after the answer was posted.
    – Servy
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:06
  • 1
    I'm talking about in general. Surely you don't think the OP in this case has also planned to have timeline auditing enforced to help decide whether to give rep or not?
    – Aaron Bertrand Staff
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:07
  • @Servy I answer the questions to my best ability? Sometimes the question isn't clear and I ask for more information in my answer. Why did you feel the need to spread that abuse to me?
    – Dauh Fhauc
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:09
  • 2
    @DauhFhauc Because that's not proper use of the site, and your first comment implies that you even know that. Unintentionally taking the wrong action is one thing, but knowingly mis-using the site is something that I have virtually no tolerance for. If you want to request further clarification you should be posting a comment, not an answer. If you don't have enough rep to comment, then wait until you do have enough, don't post comments as answers instead. Answers should strictly be for answering questions, not requesting clarification.
    – Servy
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:11
  • 2
    @DauhFhauc If you don't have enough information to post an answer, and you can't comment, then either wait for someone else to comment requesting clarification (which happens often enough) or move along to a question that you do have enough information to answer. You aren't going to be able to answer every question, that is just fact; even if you have all the rep in the world, some questions will never be in good enough shape to answer. Just move along until you find one you can answer to answer. Posting incomplete, low quality, non-answers as answers reduces the site's quality.
    – Servy
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:15
  • 1
    @DauhFhauc Take a look at Should people answering questions with another question get up-votes?
    – Some Helpful Commenter
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 19:49
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To make anonymous donation:

  1. Go to the other user profile.
  2. Go over his questions and answers.
  3. Find question or answer that is good and correct.
  4. Upvote.
  5. Reputation shared.

To make public sharing of reputation:

  1. Find good answer of the other user.
  2. Start bounty on the question containing that answer.
  3. Select how much reputation you want to share.
  4. Choose "Reward existing answer" and start the bounty.
  5. Wait 24 hours and grant his answer the bounty.
    (don't forget to come back after 24 hours otherwise your rep will be lost or go to bounty hunter)

:)

Improve this answer
14
  • 1
    Just be sure to do it very judiciously ;)
    – Andrew Barber Mod
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:38
  • @AndrewBarber judiciously is my middle name! ;-)
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:38
  • 11
    Sha Wiz Judiciously Dow Ard? Or Shadow Judiciously Wizard? Or, Sha Judi Wiz Dow Ciously Ard?
    – Andrew Barber Mod
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:40
  • 6
    @AndrewBarber Sha Jud Wiz Ici Dow Ous Ardly is perfect. :D
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:43
  • 1
    That would fall under the heading of anonymous credit, I want credit for my credit :P
    – Ross Drew
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:43
  • 1
    @RossDrew then find good answer he posted and give it a +50 bounty. Will add this option to my post. :-)
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:44
  • @RossDrew: In which case, bounty him (albeit at the cost of at least 50 rep... you'd have to be feeling generous!).
    – Matt
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:45
  • 3
    #6 is getting complicated, can we get a flowchart?
    – jonsca
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:47
  • @Matt And that would certainly meet the "share" requirement!
    – Andrew Barber Mod
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:48
  • 1
    @jonsca you were right, five is max(simple_flowchart) - simplified!
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:52
  • 2
    @ShaWizDowArd I would like some of the reputation from your answer, then.
    – jonsca
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:54
  • 1
    @jonsca you got 10. ;)
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 14:57
  • 1
    @ShaWizDowArd I think you might want to point out not to up-vote to many of the other users answers (that is going through their profile and up-voting answers) or it will probably be reversed as voting fraud.
    – Jack
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:03
  • @Jack well, I did write "Find question or answer" - singular, just choosing randomly and upvoting everything isn't a good idea indeed.
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 15:05

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