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FORUM ANSWERS QUALITY

former_member184154
Active Contributor
0 Kudos

Guys,

I already know I'm gonna get unpopular for what I'm about to say, but I must, as my conscience doesn't allow me to keep on being quite.

What are these forums about? Collecting points???

I don't think so. It's about helping people. And I believe in <b>quality of answers</b>.

I'm the first who believes it's stupid and useless to <i>invent hot water</i>, but <i>really too often</i> I see guys ONLY crawling SDN with someone else's problem, collecting links and pasting them as reply, or replying with somebody else's answer (changing words here and there).

And directly asking for points...

That makes me sad.

I hope this won't (but will) outcome in a sterile controversy, but rather in a useful reflection for everybody.

Alex

Accepted Solutions (0)

Answers (5)

Answers (5)

manish_bhalla2
Contributor
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Hi ,

I am firm believer in the principle of RTFM (Read The F**ing Manual!!) .. and so I think links are sometimes the best way to guide someone to the right solution but not hold his/her hand (or spoonfeed) the whole way. But I agree that asking for points is cheap.

I have another whinge/gripe/comment.

If you provide a solution that works, the least you expect is for the other person to leave a reply post saying it worked, or didnt work, or worked but differently. Feedback!! But often people do not respond at all. And you miss out on knowing whether your idea really worked.

Regards

Manish

former_member200748
Contributor
0 Kudos

Hello Alessandro

This is my first ever post in the XI forum. I chanced upon this thread and well, this being SDN and all, I was sure a person who is from another forum too could have his/her say.

>><i>collecting links and pasting them as reply</i>

Well I think I can, to an extent, defend that statement. You see, sometimes people come up with well known issues which have the solutions right here on the forums.

It is to such questions that links to other forum replies are posted as answers. After all who would want to go about explaining the process again?

As for links to documentation and weblogs, sometimes people ask for entire configuration and development methods. I think it would be in the best interests of both parties (one who asks and one who answers)to look up those links rather than someone having to type whole pages giving a step by step account.

IMHO what really can be done here to avoid this is, making the person posting a query understand the need to search for answers before posting it.

Best Regards

Priya

former_member184154
Active Contributor
0 Kudos

Guys, thanks everybody for your contributions! Even ironical ones

Priya,

I perfectly agree with everything you say.

> It is to such questions that links to other forum

> replies are posted as answers. After all who would

> want to go about explaining the process again?

Nobody. I said that. (<i>inventing hot water</i>)

> IMHO what really can be done here to avoid this is,

> making the person posting a query understand the need

> to search for answers before posting it.

Right. Google and the Net should teach.

Cheers,

Alex

stefan_grube
Active Contributor
0 Kudos

Hi Priya,

there is nothing to say against links (I use links often). But the links should have something to do with the question. And that is not always the case.

Regards

Stefan

stefan_grube
Active Contributor
0 Kudos

> Guys, thanks everybody for your contributions! Even

> ironical ones

No points?

Regards

Stefan

Former Member
0 Kudos

Well, he "accidently" forgot to mark this topic as a question, I believe.

I concur to the rest of you, I like my points, but point-hunting is no good. Just turn them off or hide them at least from the users.

Jörg

Former Member
0 Kudos

I agree,

I'm not a frequent user, but in my last posting about how to organize SWCVs for independent integration scenarios and the assembling stage for a SWCV in CMS - I got links pointing to CMS documentation, and no words about my issue. Sad.

And this issue is placed on the top again...

best regards

Torstein -

Former Member
0 Kudos

Hi Alessandro,

take a look at http://help.sap.com

Regards,

Robin

stefan_grube
Active Contributor
0 Kudos

You are right. Sometimes the answers have nothing to do with the question. It seems like a key word search.

I think the only way to improve the quality is trying to give a good example

MichalKrawczyk
Active Contributor
0 Kudos

Hi Alessandro,

I also believe in the quality of answers

but what can we do?

- we can update XI FAQ - this way the easiest problems will be in one place - no need to paste the links to someones else post

(I also paste links to previous posts somethimes but when I do it 2 times I add this question to the XI FAQ)

- there are no moderators on the XI forum... someone who could say - hey your answer does not have the best quality - please try to improve or I will block your answer?

>>>And directly asking for points...

also I hate when people do that but in a way I understand

(many threads on sdn suggestion forums about not giving points)

- the best thing in my opinion would be to cancel those forum points and give SDN contributor awards based on the quality of your answers <b>ONLY</b> (just like Microsoft MVP reward) but that's the future I believe...

Regards,

michal