New forum feature: post voting and best answer!

[Jon]

Following the recent site upgrade, I have implemented one of the new features in the VBA forum section. It lets you vote up or down posts and select the best answer. I am hoping this will be super-useful to many, so lets give it a trial run!

To allow the voting feature, you need to select Question as shown here:

This might be overlooked by newer members, but only time will tell.

Let me know how you get on with it. Please note that there are all sorts of sorting features, so you can sort posts by date or votes, see stats on which members provide the most solutions and so on. All good stuff.

Let's make AWF great again.

 

[isladogs]

I can't see any of the new items from either screenshot. I've cleared my browser cache.
Is this feature available yet?

 

[Jon]

It is only available in the VBA forum at the moment. Have you tried posting a new thread there?

 

[isladogs]

No. I looked in the VBA forum but assumed you meant to select the Question icon to vote on a post.
You presumably meant the person creating a thread can choose to do that... sorry if I was being dense.

Anyway, the new menu items haven't appeared under Members. Perhaps they won't until some votes are added?

 

[Jon]

I know what the issue is. You have to have a reply to see the voting options. I've replied. Maybe you can mark it as the solution to see that feature too.

 

[Jon]

It might take awhile for the cron jobs to run to get the Members section stats to appear. Perhaps wait an hour or so.

 

[Jon]

It's always fun having new toys to play with.

 

[Jon]

I am now leading the Most solutions stats. I know it won't last long! At least the Members stats area is showing that data now.

 

[Jon]

Note this nifty new feature:

It's shown at the top right of the first thread reply. A nice quick way to get the best answers, which might be particularly helpful on long threads that span multiple pages.

 

[Jon]

Notice that the new best solution and voting format threads will always show the best solution and first thread post at the top of each page. So if the thread spans multiple pages, you still get to see the original message on that page.

 

[Isaac]

I am starting to see how 'little' this feature may end up factoring in at all. Remembering (as I know you originally said Jon) that people have to specifically select 'question', in order for this to be turned on. That's kind of too bad, as apparently it will be pretty routine for people not to select that. Too bad it is not just a feature on all threads. You would think they are all 'questions', unless it is in a code repository type of forum. I'm kind of surprised the xenforo people designed it like this. In other places where it is in use, it's just there...without any requirement for the OP to do something special. Which makes sense, because the OP is the last person who is probably going to care that much about setting up the structure for that academic peer review aspect to the whole thing.

 

[Jon]

I believe there is an option to force all threads in a forum section to be Questions. It is more complex because it means running a special task to change all previous thread types in that forum. I think they want to give people the choice, as some people might not want voting on their discussion thread.

But to me, it is not clear someone clicks Question if they want to get something answered. Perhaps there is a way to set the default option to Question, and then they have to change it to Discussion if they want just Discussion.

 

[isladogs]

Apart from me testing the new system in a recent thread https://www.access-programmers.co.u...-new-voting-system.314137/page-2#post-1723765, are others making much use of it so far?

 

[Isaac]

Perhaps there is a way to set the default option to Question, and then they have to change it to Discussion if they want just Discussion.

That's be cool

 

[Jon]

Ok, the developers said you cannot set a default option. So, the only option we have is to make all future and past threads in the VBA section as Questions.

What do you guys think?

 

[Isaac]

Is the following true? Code contributions, containing no questions, are generally posted in another forum section - or should be
If so, then I'd say "Yes, go for it--everything else is a Question by definition, or is supposed to be, and only probably isn't some tiny % of the time"

That would be my line of thinking, but will defer to forum veterans on the actual answers.

 

[pbaldy]

the only option we have is to make all future and past threads in the VBA section as Questions

Is this just for testing? If not, why limit to the VBA section? I'd say everything in the "Microsoft Access Discussion" section at least.

 

[isladogs]

Paul
FYI - Using black text is almost illegible if viewing in a dark theme

 

[Jon]

@pbaldy Yes, just for testing.