Request new function Standing Bounty

Question

Currently, bounties are primarily a way to draw attention to get a good answer in a timely fashion. 'A bounty is a way to get additional attention for a question by offering some of your own reputation for great answers.". When the bounty is posted, it adds the question to the 'featured' questions lists.

For programming sites that makes sense, a solution is needed and you are willing to pay extra for the solution 'now'.

Occasionally, on some sites there are questions that require either a high degree of research and/or a level of experience and knowledge that is not available in the current daily visitors. You would like an answer, you are willing to both a 'pay' for and wait for it.

I would like to propose a new category of bounty, "Standing Bounty"

• It does not expire

• It does not put a question on the 'featured' questions lists

• It does keep the question on the unanswered list

• It can only be manually awarded

• If the OP does not visit the site for some time (1 - 3 months) the bounty falls away

I have a few questions on pets.se where the best answers are just not going to be quick answers from one of the existing regular members. I have considered posting a message that I would grant a bounty if an answer meeting <criteria> was posted, but it feels like it should be a more formal process.

The target is surfers who do not have an SE account and do have the knowledge (or the energy to do extensive research). I want to draw them into share their knowledge. They found the question, because they are interested in the top (i.e. search results). It is unreasonable to expect this person to find my question during the week the bounty is posted on the 'featured' list.

To clarify, the goal here is not to lead people to the question, this proposal does not advertise the question. The goal is to encourage someone who found the question to answer it. On Pets.SE we have 8k drive by surfers per day with only the smallest percentage participating, I assume other specialty sites see similar trends. I want to encourage that surfer who know the answer to my question to stop and answer it.

Answer 1

While I see and get your point. and can sympathize with it, I do not think it's feasible for Stack Exchange sites, big or small.

Reputation plays a big and important role in Stack Exchange, but it's not the main thing around which Stack Exchange is built. People should post answers because they want to do that (and can), not because they get a prize for this.

In the case you describe, of small site with low traffic and question that needs lots of research and efforts to answer, just keep editing it while doing your own research, keep starting bounties when you can, and at some point someone will answer, then you can award a bounty after the answer was already posted. (There is a "Reward existing answer" bounty reason)

Answer 2

Usually, if someone sees your question, they're going to either be able to have the outline* of an answer for it after at most a few minutes' thought, or unable to formulate any answer at all within any reasonable timeframe. In the former case, what you mostly want is to get them to see your question, which this proposal does next to nothing to help with; in the latter case, no bounty will be of any real value.

That, plus the confusion of "exactly like an existing feature, but different", says that this just won't work.

_{*The outline might take some significant research to fill out completely, but usually the broad strokes are present from the beginning.}

Answer 3

A number of sites currently appear to have a similar need which they've addressed with a Meta thread containing an unofficial list of bounties with no deadline.

A Google web search returns the following such threads:

• Code Golf
• French Language
• Language Learning
• Literature
• Puzzling
• Science Fiction & Fantasy

The Literature page does a decent job summarizing the intent and usage:

One of the problems on Stack Exchange sites is that questions don't always receive good answers. While unanswered questions are easy to find, this is not the case with questions that have one or more answers that don't meet the criteria of the question asker (or of other users on the site).

For this reason, I am drawing some inspiration from other sites, such as Programming Puzzles & Code Golf and Puzzling:

This is a list of unofficial, deadline-less (hence not searchable) bounties offered by users on various challenges on the main site.

The list need not be limited to questions that already have an answer. You can offer bounties both for your own questions and for other people's questions.

Disclaimer: There is no guarantee that the user will award the bounty for you in case you fulfil its requirement. Especially if the user isn't an active member anymore. The only guarantee is his/her written word.

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Guidelines for updating

• To add a bounty, create an answer that contains a link to the question that needs a (better) answer and the bounty you are willing to award.
• Answers can be commented on, allowing someone to notify the bounty's creator that the bounty may have been earned.
• If a bounty has been awarded, delete the entry or move it to another section of the answer, with a title such as "Awarded".

Given that six different sites have adopted this approach, there is a demonstrated desire for a similar feature in other Stack Exchange sites as well, enough that they have implemented a solution with the limited tools available to them.