Q&A forums - Best Answer determined by votes after "x" votes

[chilihead]

I suggest a function that marks the highest voted post the best answer instead if it having to be marked manually. So the (optional) acp forum setting would be something like:
Answer with most votes is marked Best Answer - This only applies after there are 5 answers with votes.
or
An answer with 20+ votes is marked Best Answer
(Numbers determined by admin)

You may ask why, since you can see the highest voted at the top. But that is not marked best, and you may have manual marking off for the user and staff. And then you just have a dead looking forum because you still see all the Best Answer language and filters but no best answers. If you hover the question mark it says "Awaiting best answer" and the "Questions with no best answer" tab is empty. So you can prevent marking of BA, you just can't turn it off as a function.

Some sites may have reasons for not allowing best answer to be selected, or users and staff may just be lazy about marking, and this creates more activity. Since it would not mark until __ votes, you still have questions without best answers, so it still utilizes all of the same functionality, it is just calculated not manual.

The setting could work independently of or in conjunction with manual marking, as in, once an answer is marked BA manually, there is no more auto-marking, unless it is unmarked manually. Or it could work as a separate system. But it would be good if you could identify how it was marked (that's a great feature anyway, as, right now, we don't know if the user or staff marked it). So somewhere, under the checkmark for example, it could let you know if the best answer was determined by the asker of the question, a staff member, or votes.

The Q&A forum is basically a giant poll, and some may want to use it that way without manual selection of BA and have the members voting determine it.

Thanks!

(How do you break ties? If tied, answer with most recent vote wins?)

[esquire]

And on most of these addons you're able to assign vote weight by user group. For example, you may value your experienced users much more than the newbies and also give incentive not to fake accounts for the sake of upvoting. Hence experienced members have 5 points and those who are at a certain level have 3 points and new members 1 point in voting until the total number of points/votes reaches the threshhold to consider a question properly answered.

[chilihead]

I'm fine with the one point per vote, or moving up and down might get messy or not make sense to users. It's basically a poll vote. Using the votes to determine the BA would be a great addition imo. The function is called "Best" answer not "Right" answer, and it can be voted best, instead of a human marking it best, which can still be done if they feel another is better.

This auto-pilot mode would be great for activity. Admins don't always have time to mark, or know the answer. Question askers may feel one is best but others may disagree, or they may never mark. So you may want that off, as you want it to be more of a general knowledge forum, than one user's question. This adds another level, and one I would use. Let the votes determine.

[esquire]

Honestly I'd have been glad if this was done right the first time exactly as you propose, no more no less. I have no idea how any of this could have escaped that special group who were supposedly providing feedback during design.

[Marcher Technologies]

Having been on the wrong end of a question not actually answered being marked as answered.... I get the feeling such an automated system would produce a lot of FUD. No amount of code can truly determine the correct answer to a given question, and I'm not enthused to see an attempt thereof as a result. Popular opinion does not always, or even often, equate to correct. StackOverflow rather proves this, often with upvoted code answers that are horrendous, with the actual correct answer further below and with fewer upvotes.

My 2 cents.

[esquire]

I'm with you on not preferring the auto although if it was an option that could be turned off, no harm no foul. I'd have been just happy with the basic design that you see working successfully on virtually all sites that run these types of forums and use up-down - BA and perhaps top voted below the question (copies), threaded posts or separate answer vs. discussion about answer, rewards and levels for votes.

Another large issue for me here is that there doesn't seem to be any coherence as to how these QA forums and reputation all work together. Same goes for "content count." Not sure what Likes are vs reputation and there is no activity in status updates for either myself or anyone else on this thread. I wrote something about this which feels like years ago but I haven't seen any discussion on whether there is a desire to tie up all these systems together into one cohesive unit. Then again, I've taken a long hiatus waiting for things to mature a bit.

[chilihead]

If it was called "Most Popular" and marked with a different color I could go for that. If calling it BA by votes doesn't make sense to you (though optional). To me it does because Best is not Correct. Even a human can mark best and it be wrong. (But trying to prevent that is a good thing, so get your point.)

But a new marking color and Most Popular Answer designation would work. Yes, it is at the top, but marking it is "activity" and makes is stand apart form Best.

On 4/1/2016 at 2:04 PM, esquire said:

Another large issue for me here is that there doesn't seem to be any coherence as to how these QA forums and reputation all work together. Same goes for "content count." Not sure what Likes are vs reputation and there is no activity in status updates for either myself or anyone else on this thread. I wrote something about this which feels like years ago but I haven't seen any discussion on whether there is a desire to tie up all these systems together into one cohesive unit. Then again, I've taken a long hiatus waiting for things to mature a bit.

Yeah it makes no sense that votes are not counted toward rep. An answer, if anything, has more weigh than a Like.

[esquire]

3 hours ago, chilihead said:

If it was called "Most Popular" and marked with a different color I could go for that. If calling it BA by votes doesn't make sense to you (though optional). To me it does because Best is not Correct. Even a human can mark best and it be wrong. (But trying to prevent that is a good thing, so get your point.)

For most purposes having the best answer selected works. Would be nice to have the option of having more than one for solutions but your community (if they have half a brain) should get the job done.

5 hours ago, chilihead said:

Yeah it makes no sense that votes are not counted toward rep. An answer, if anything, has more weigh than a Like.

Unfortunately this is what has me held back from using it all this time. None of it is coherent and there is no perceived reward for any members of the community with "credit" sprawled all over the place and also not amounting to any easy way for it to be rewarded, e.g. if you gain enough aggregate points from these actions you go up a level, get permissions or other added benefit including a title, etc. But these are all basics and unfortunately large omissions. This room needs the rug that ties it all together.

[chilihead]

37 minutes ago, esquire said:

This room needs the rug that ties it all together.

Let's hope:

Lindy says "The next major version will see a significant overhaul of the reputation system."

Here: