[Status Update]Tis the season to close your open questions
This time of of year seems like a good occasion to review your open questions and close them. Please see this blog if anyone needs more information on how / why to do this.
Happy Holidays, y'all!
27 Comments
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Dec 20, 2017 at 05:47 PM
NOW I know what I want for Christmas.
Besides a goat, I mean.
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Dec 20, 2017 at 11:17 PM
One more idea - find 10 valuable answers in the Q&A and upvote them :-)
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Dec 21, 2017 at 09:03 PM
Good idea. See something you like - "like" (or upvote) it!
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Dec 21, 2017 at 11:49 AM
Yeah, did so and found 3 to *accept*.
(I don't like the term 'close' for this, as there also is a "close" function here (hidden behinde 'Actions', see screenshot), but that is not what we want - we want to *accpet* an answer, so there is a 'best answer' to the question an the question the is listed/marked as 'answered' ).
...as if things yould not be complicated enough allready! :-|
best
Joachim-
Dec 21, 2017 at 12:15 PM
Closing a question indicates that you do not expect additional input from members, it is still useful (although you cannot filter out these on our site).
For what is worth, this is manageable by settings:
So who knows, maybe what we see in unanswered lists will change at some point... :)
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Dec 21, 2017 at 08:07 PM
Hello Joachim,
Hope you are well. I wasn't sure by reading your response so I wanted to clarify. Can you kindly check if you see this "Accept" option for all answers you get on your questions? I just checked your latest question and can see them:
Of course, only question authors and moderators can see this option.
Best regards,
Sajid
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Dec 22, 2017 at 09:00 AM
Hey Sajid,
all good!I do see the *accept* link in my questions just fine.
My point (or: critique), was that there are 2 ways to "settle" a question: 'close it' and/or 'accept an answer to it' .best
Joachim-
Dec 22, 2017 at 09:38 AM
Actually not 2 ways :)
"Close" step is always required (with or without answer "Accept")
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Dec 22, 2017 at 10:26 AM
> "Close" step is always required (with or without answer "Accept")
Honestly, I never close! (I don't see a benefit in this extra step)
I only *accept* to have the question marked as "answered".
And I think we wouldn’t lose a lot if we got rid of the "close"-function altogether or made in mod-only!-
Dec 22, 2017 at 11:57 AM
I agree :)
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Dec 22, 2017 at 12:54 PM
There is some logic for closing question without accepted answer. It means that question author is not waiting for any answers anymore (no correct answer possible). But in this case the question author can provide an answer like "it's impossible" and accept it :)
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Jan 15 at 08:58 AM
I just had such a case where 'closing' with "answer no longer expected' would have fitted. (Problem seems to have been solved by itself).
Still I chose to give myself a dummy answer, in order to have something to *accept* (and get that nice checkmark on the question).
https://answers.sap.com/questions/402299/bug-blog-comment-wrong-success-message.html
Das anyone see any drawback in doing so?
best
Joachim-
Jan 15 at 10:24 AM
There is a closing reason: Problem is not reproducible or outdated, which I would use in your case.
To me it makes sense to have in lists the option to filter out closed questions when you search for unanswered ones (e.g. as check-box) and an indicator in the profile to see that the question is closed.
A dummy answer set as best does not add much value. Take a look at how Jelena Perfiljeva closed an old question (Process / document flow for an odd scenario in sales + manufacturing) - she used a closing reason and a short explanation in a comment explaining why the question is not relevant anymore.
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Jan 15 at 07:47 PM
In that particular case either way ("dummy" answer or close as no longer relevant) is acceptable IMHO. Considering that currently closed questions are not filtered out as answered the "dummy" answer option would be preferable, if possible. But ideally both should work.
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Dec 21, 2017 at 09:09 PM
In this case I used the term "close" loosely, more as in "getting closure" than referring specifically to the closing action on SCN. Unfortunately, it's hard to define the action exactly in this case. You are "accepting" an answer but what are you doing to the question? "Please accept your questions" sounds odd and is also incorrect. "Please identify the best answer for your question and accept it or close the question if you no longer expect it to be answered" is way too long.
On Twitter I just said "do the needful". :) As much as I hate that phrase, in this case it seems perfectly appropriate.
Cheers!
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Dec 22, 2017 at 10:23 AM
I used the term "close" loosely
You mean, as loosely as using "reply" in these days of comments and answers?
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Dec 29, 2017 at 09:45 AM
It's probably been discussed before (and probably loads of times), but why is it that it's possible to close a question with the "answer accepted" reason, when no answer has been accepted?
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Dec 29, 2017 at 12:06 PM
Because there is no validation behind that option and the creators probably thought, the OP would just use it if he/she actually did what they say they did. ^^
A lot here works on the base that the user knows what he/she is doing. And put a bit of thought into it. Buuut that's not always the case, so...
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Dec 29, 2017 at 12:51 PM
To my mind it’s an over complicated logic design.
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Dec 29, 2017 at 07:36 PM
This question did come up before, shortly after go-live. In addition to what Steffi said (no validation), it seems that the "reasons for closure" just came with AnswerHub platform and no one really bothered to adjust them. The verbiage of some other reasons doesn't make much sense either. E.g. why would anyone declare their own question as "off topic" or "too subjective"? This looks like something the moderators would use on some chit-chat forum.
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