Live QnA: Tips and Tricks

About QnA points...

Fri, 30 May 2008 02:45:47 GMT

As noted in our blog entry last week, when we launched the new-and-improved Live Search QnA site, we also changed the way points were awarded.

I know that points in general can get pretty controversial, and I've definitely heard the suggestion that we eliminate points altogether from QnA. I hope you understand that this blog post is not to revisit that specific topic, but rather to clarify what the recent changes were.

With that said, here's a summary of the current system - which you can also find referenced the help topic QnA point values and levels:

Activity	QnA Points Awarded
Asking a question	0
Answering a question	5
Signing into QnA (once per day)	1
Voting for an answer (including "No best answer" )	0
Voting for an answer that is chosen as best (including "No best answer")	4
Providing the answer that is chosen as best	20
Leaving a comment	0
Rating a QnA pair	1
Submitting an abuse report that's accepted	1
Submitting an abuse report that's not accepted	-1
Having content removed from the site for violating the Code of Conduct	-50

The items in bold maroon are the ones we changed in this last release.

Although we've spent countless hours debating and discussing the topic of points, by no means do we claim this current scheme to be perfect. It is what it is right now, and reflects our current thinking of how community members should be rewarded for their activities. It's about finding a balance. Personally, I happen to like the idea of rewarding extra points for voting for the answer that wins best answer, and none for voting in general. But I know that not everyone shares this sentiment. It's something we'll continue to study.

I was trying to think of an analogy in sports where the way points are awarded can be changed - so far I've seen some interesting answers. Without a doubt, points on QnA will continue to be controversial and with that in mind, the points system is subject to change in future releases. My hope is that every change we make moves us closer to having the perfect QnA.

Do you have any novel thoughts on how we should tweak points? Share your thoughts on this thread in the boards.

-Dennis, QnA Program Manager

What is a Top Contributor?

Tue, 06 May 2008 02:40:39 GMT

One of the new features we've introduced in this latest release of QnA is the designation of Top Contributor. And many QnA members have been asking what it's all about. For example, Karin Bartsch asked:

What would make me a "Top Contributor?" Are there any fixed criteria to reach?
I would construct questions to be a crowd pleaser, but is that right? When we have Windows Search engine in mind, we should stick to concrete questions, right?

It's certainly interesting and enlightening to see how QnA members, such as Karin Bartsch, are interpreting the new features. Misunderstandings are certainly the fault of the QnA team -- and we do realize that we need to do a better job with communicating the meaning behind all of the features. I'll explain the Top Contributor feature in this blog post.

First of all, you should know that Top Contributor is really a short way of saying Top Contributor in a Tag. So when you see a member's avatar with the Top Contributor banner across the top, please remember that that's short-hand for Top Contributor in a Tag. Also, Top Contributor is all about answering questions on QnA and has nothing to do with the questions you ask.

Before I continue, let me point out that you can learn about the Top Contributor feature in this help topic: View your key statistics and improve your ranking. Here's an excerpt of what you'll see there:

Top Contributor: Top Contributors are people who've provided a high proportion of Best Answers for questions associated with one of the most popular tags. Top contributors have the Top Contributor banner over their avatar (A display picture that you can personalize and change to express your personality.). To become a Top Contributor, search for questions with a particular tag, and then provide the most detailed and useful answers that you can. For more information, see Find questions. Before you can become a Top Contributor, your Reputation must be above a certain level.

By the way, you can learn about all (or at least most) of the new features in the QnA help topics. The Help link is at the bottom of every QnA page.

There are also lots of contextual help links throughout the site. For example, when you see the module "Meet a Top Contributor in This Tag" you can click on the link that says What is a Top Contributor?

And when you see the "Key statistics" module on "Your QnA" or another member's public profile page, you can click on the link that says Learn more.

So, back to my own personal explanation of Top Contributor...

Top Contributors are not selected by anybody on the QnA team; they are selected automatically by an algorithm (formula) that makes a calculation behind the scenes. The calculation takes place at certain time intervals, so you may notice that a certain member is a Top Contributor in a given tag on one day but not on another day. This is because that person no longer met the criteria.

I can't reveal the actual formula -- however, the key to becoming a Top Contributor in a Tag is to provide lots of quality answers to questions associated with that tag. It also has to do with the quality of the answers you provide in general across QnA.

Remember, Top Contributor in a Tag does not have anything to do with the questions you ask, the comments you leave, or the votes you make. It's all about your answers -- both to questions associated with a particular tag and to all questions across the site.

Any particular QnA member is eligible to be designated a Top Contributor in up to five tags. For example, we have a member with the nickname Message who was selected by the algorithm as a Top Contributor in three tags: msn, messenger, and windows live messenger. This means, for example, that this member provided answers to a certain number of questions tagged windows live messenger. A certain percentage of those answers may have been selected as best answers. It also means that this member provided a certain quantity and quality of answers in general across all of QnA (not necessarily associated with the tag windows live messenger). Because the Top Contributor calculation is made repeatedly over time, it's possible that one day Message will see that she or he is no longer a Top Contributor in windows live messenger.

Top Contributors are designated for the most popular tags on the QnA site (approximately 200 of them at the time of this writing). Most popular means that members used these tags the most when asking their questions. For each of these tags, there can be one, two, or three Top Contributors. When you visit the tag page, you'll see just one "Meet a Top Contributor in This Tag" module on the page. This does not mean that this is the only Top Contributor in this tag. When you visit the same tag page at another time, you may see another member highlighted as a Top Contributor in that tag. There is a random and periodic rotation of this module on any given tag page.

We do not have a page at this time where you can view all of the Top Contributors in one place. And we do know that that would be a good idea for us to create such a page!

I'm sure you understand why I can't be more specific about the formula -- that would make it super easy for people to cheat and game the system. And, of course, we don't want that. We want the Top Contributor designation to mean something real -- to be an accurate representation of a member's answer contributions in a certain tag.

In the end, it's all about providing a clue as to the trustworthiness and accuracy of an answer. For example, if I ask a question about cars, and I get an answer from Literally Speaking, and I see that this member is a Top Contributor in the tag cars -- well, I'm more likely to trust his answer. It's just another way to make QnA more helpful to those asking questions. And, on the flip side, it's a way to reward members for providing quality answers in their area of expertise.

I would like to point out that -- as of this writing -- Literally Speaking is indeed a Top Contributor in the tag cars. I'm going to share a little trick, which you might find useful. Here are the search results for all of the questions tagged cars that were answered by Literally Speaking:

http://qna.live.com/Search.aspx?q=Meta%3Asearch.aauthor%286F6E9BD36AB340929D8DCA8C20B064E6%29+AND+tag%3Acars&go=&form=QB

The way I got those results was by typing in the following meta search in the QnA search box:

Meta:search.aauthor(6F6E9BD36AB340929D8DCA8C20B064E6) AND tag:beauty

The long number inside the parentheses is the User ID of Literally Speaking, which you can see in the URL of Literally Speaking's public profile page:

http://qna.live.com/ShowUser.aspx?uid=6F6E9BD36AB340929D8DCA8C20B064E6

Now that you know this advanced search technique, you can make your own queries by substituting any user's ID and include any tag. By the way, you can search for questions associated with a given tag by doing the following searches:

Type tag:gardening in the search box -- this will give you all questions tagged gardening
Type tag:"internet explorer" in the search box -- this will give you all questions tagged internet explorer
If you type tag:internet explorer in the search box (meaning you forgot to include the quotation marks) -- this will give you all questions tagged internet that also have the word explorer somewhere on the question page

I should probably point out here that the Top Contributor designation is not directly tied to being a Superstar. You're likely to see Superstars who are Top Contributors in certain tags. And you're also likely to see Superstars who are not Top Contributors in any tags.

Well, hopefully this answers your questions about Top Contributor and what it's all about.

As you know, QnA is a beta site, which means that it's still a work in progress. A feature like Top Contributor is one of those features that will need to be adjusted and fine-tuned over time. So please be patient if you notice that a Top Contributor designation doesn't seem to make sense. By all means, tell us about it. But please do understand that this isn't going to be perfect out of the gate.

Please funnel any other questions or feedback about the QnA site to the following message board thread:

Your feedback and questions about the new-and-improved QnA

Thanks for your continued interest in QnA. Now go out there and explore questions by tag or do those tag searches to find questions in your areas of expertise, and become Top Contributors in Tags!

-DavidB, QnA Program Manager

A Difficult Topic: Suicide Threats on QnA

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:28:47 GMT

It’s an unfortunate fact of life on the Web today – especially these days with the proliferation of sites that allow people to post content online. Every now and then somebody will submit a post in which he or she is considering suicide. This does happen on QnA. We want to take this opportunity to talk a bit about this difficult topic and the policies surrounding it.

What is the policy regarding suicide threats on QnA?

When the QnA team is alerted to a suicide threat on QnA, the policy is for the team to escalate the issue to another team at Microsoft who will attempt to notify local law enforcement. The QnA team will then remove the post. This policy is designed to protect Microsoft, protect our users, and keep the intended use of QnA intact.

Why is the policy to remove the post?

At times of crisis, QnA members attempting to be helpful can inadvertently uncover and reveal personal information about the person who posted the original threat, and this can lead to identification of that person. We’ve dealt with this in the past – multiple user names/aliases were discussed and this lead to personally identifiable information being posted such as the person’s real name, physical location, and telephone number. Soliciting this type of personal information is an invasion of privacy and is against the QnA Code of Conduct.

Attempts of suicide are serious matters (illegal in some areas) best handled by professionals who are trained to deal with such situations.

How does removing a suicide threat maintain the integrity of the QnA service?

QnA is a place for people to ask and answer questions. Suicide threats are neither questions (even if they’re phrased as questions) nor answers. Plus they can be considered illegal behavior. QnA is not a suicide hotline; it is not a law enforcement agency; and QnA cannot be dispensing or condoning advice on such matters. It’s not uncommon for questions of this type to become disruptive, confusing, and potentially harmful despite the best intentions of some members who just want to help. While the majority of QnA members respond appropriately to suicide posts, there are almost always the few who jump in with inappropriate answers and comments. And since all such inappropriate responses cannot effectively be removed, it's best for the question itself to be removed.

The QnA Code of Conduct, which all members agree to follow when signing up for QnA, doesn’t allow this type of content/behavior and it’s important that any violations are properly dealt with. If the QnA team asks users to not engage in such activity but never takes down the content then it’s counterproductive to the QnA site. We strive to have consistent internal practices for dealing with inappropriate content and removal in this fashion is one such consistency.

How do suicide threats violate the QnA Code of Conduct?

Suicide threats can be considered a violation of the QnA Code of Conduct for a number of reasons:

1. They usually are not questions

2. A suicide threat is a specific call to violent acts (incite violence)

3. It can be considered illegal behavior (in violation of local/national laws)

Please note that we are talking about specific threats of suicide and not questions in which a member is asking a question about feelings of depression.

It’s also Microsoft’s policy to remove not only specific threats of suicide but also other violent calls to action such as acts of terrorism, physical abuse, threats to someone’s life, and bomb threats. Before the post is removed, local law enforcement is notified. This policy exists to help protect the privacy of the person making the threat and also to maintain the integrity of the service.

What kind of suicide questions are allowed on QnA?

As mentioned above, suicide threats are not allowed on QnA. But it is okay to ask philiosphical questions about suicide. Here are a few examples of what’s allowed:

What should you do when you see a suicide threat on QnA?

When you see a question on QnA that contains a suicide threat, the best thing you can do is report that question as a violation of the QnA Code of Conduct. Just click “Report abuse” and fill out the form telling us that the question is a suicide threat. The QnA team will then follow the procedure outlined above (escalate the issue to the authorities and then remove the question).

-QnA Team

How to use Windows Live Spaces to connect with other QnA members

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:52:58 GMT

Did you know that all QnA members also have their very own personal website on Windows Live Spaces? Well, it’s true. Your Windows Live space is a great place for sharing jokes, stories, photos, videos, family news, and more. It's the place to go to stay connected with your fellow QnA members.

As you know, QnA is the place to go for questions and answers. It's not a place for chats, discussions, or the sharing of personal news. Please see the QnA Code of Conduct for the details on what's allowed and what's not allowed on QnA. The good news is that Windows Live Spaces is a great vehicle for these other types of communication. To help clarify, here are some examples of what belongs where:

If you want to post...	It belongs on...
"I had a bad day today. Everyone was mean to me at school..."	Windows Live Spaces
"What should I do about bullies at school?"	Live QnA
"Check out these great song lyrics..."	Windows Live Spaces
"What are good songs to play at my wedding reception?"	Live QnA
"Here's an update about my sister..."	Windows Live Spaces
"What are good home remedies to treat psoriasis?"	Live QnA
"What's up, all my friends?"	Windows Live Spaces
"How can I make sure everyone is entertained at my dinner party?"	Live QnA

We realize that the connection between QnA and Windows Live Spaces isn’t as apparent as it could be. This is something we hope to improve upon down the road. In the meantime, here's a quick tutorial on how to access and set up your own space as well as how to access the space of another QnA member.

Accessing your Windows Live space from QnA

Go to “Your QnA” (if you're not already signed in, please sign in)
Hover your mouse pointer over your avatar area and you will see a little downward-pointing black arrow. For this tutorial, I have set up a new QnA account with the nickname "QnA is fun!"

Click the downward-pointing black arrow and then move your mouse pointer down to highlight “View space,” and then click.

A new browser window will open taking you to your own personal Windows Live space.

Setting up your Windows Live space

As you can see, there are many things you can do to set up your space. A good way to start is by viewing the following videos (each opens a new browser window).

Adding a blog entry

For purposes of this tutorial, let's go ahead and add a blog entry. For those of you who don't know, blog is short for "web log" and is essentially an online journal. Click "Add blog entry" on your spaces homepage.

On the next page, you'll see a blank blog-entry form. It's just like a standard word processor, so all you have to do is add a Title then write and format your entry. When you're finished, click "Publish entry" (it's at the top left next to the green checkmark).

And then you'll be taken back to the homepage of your space, and you'll see your blog entry right there!

Inviting QnA members as friends

Next you can invite QnA members as friends. After they accept your invitation, they'll be able to easily see any updates you make to your space. For this example, I'm going to invite Ron Chamberlin. For those of you who don't know, Ron is QnA's MVP (Most Valuable Professional), a volunteer who spends lots of time helping to make QnA a safe and fun place for all. I navigate to Ron's profile page on QnA, hover over his avatar, click the downward-pointing black arrow, move my mouse pointer down to "View space," and then click. This takes me to Ron's space.

On Ron's space, I click "Invite as friend."

On the next screen I type in some notes about Ron (optional) and then click "Save." Ron will get an e-mail invitation from me, as you'll see in a moment.

When I go back to my own space, I can see that Ron has been added to the Friends module on my homepage. It says "Invited" under his avatar because he has not yet accepted my invitation.

Meanwhile, Ron receives an e-mail saying "QnA is fun! would like to add you as a friend on Windows Live Spaces." Ron has the choice of accepting my invitation or not.

Back to my space... once Ron has accepted my invitation, I'll see that Ron's avatar no longer says "Invited" under it -- because he's now a full-fledged Spaces Friend. To visit Ron's space, all I have to do now is click his avatar.

Keeping up with your friends through the "What's new" feature of Windows Live Spaces

There's one last thing I want to mention in this tutorial, and that's the "What's new" feature in Windows Live Spaces. This is the part that makes it really easy to keep up with your friends. To see the "What's new" feature, click "Spaces home" in the top navigation area of your space.

On the Spaces homepage, you'll see the "What's new" area front and center. With "What's new," you can stay up-to-date on what your friends and contacts are doing on Windows Live. This is the place where you'll find out that Ron, for example, added more friends to his space.

So there you go. That's how to access your Windows Live space, set it up, add a blog entry, invite a friend, and keep up with what your friends are doing on Windows Live.

As you know, QnA is the place to go when you want to ask and answer questions. And Windows Live Spaces is the place to go for your personal expression. It's the perfect vehicle for sharing your thoughts, photos, and interests with others. And now you know how QnA and Windows Live Spaces are connected!

Enjoy!

-DavidB, QnA Program Manager

Questions must be questions – improving QnA

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:28:39 GMT

You speak, we listen, we act. We are committed to continuously making the community a better place to be, and so far all indications are that the "behind the scenes” changes we made have been successful in stopping some of the bad activities that spoiled QnA. We strive to make QnA a place that is safe, useful, and friendly – and like any other community, real or virtual, we are not going to be perfect overnight. Step by step, and with your help, we will get there.

Last week, some regular users may have noticed changes. To be clear, the rules have not changed – the Code of Conduct has, and always will be, the guide which we follow to ensure that the site stays safe, useful, and friendly.

To reduce some confusion about the QnA format, we are going to ensure that the Code of Conduct guideline of "Questions should be questions" will be followed very closely.

Writing good questions is the key to getting great answers from others in the community. It’s also the basis for QnA. As we’ve been saying, if you see something that doesn't follow the Code of Conduct, please report it. We will then review it and take action as necessary. Your help is critical to making this community a better place.

So please, before you ask a question, please ask yourself first: Is this really a question? Is it formatted as a question? Can it be answered? Great questions are posted all the time, so it is something we know the community can do. Links in questions are allowed, even encouraged to provide reference, but there must be information explaining why the URL is there. Questions that are not questions and are reported by the community will be removed. You may want to read DavidB’s guide to writing a good question.

Windows Live Spaces is a great place for those who want to share jokes, stories, videos, family news – we highly encourage you to check it out. When you have something to share that’s not a question, this might be better for your needs. We know sometimes there’s some confusion between these two sites – do let us know in the comments below if you think it would be helpful for us to write more about Spaces.

At this time, we would like to re-introduce the our QnA team account named, appropriately enough, QnA Team. QnA Team speaks for all of those of us who work on QnA, and will be stopping by from time to time to provide clarifications and information on the site as needed.

Until next time,

The entire QNA Team

Tuning QnA to tackle some recent issues

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 02:59:53 GMT

This is Heather-QnA

I've heard a lot of community feedback about unwelcome visitors spoiling our fine world of QnA, especially over this past week, and I wanted to let you know that we’re actively reading your feedback, learning and listening. We’ve now updated and tuned the site to address the content disappearing issues you've experienced this past week. You will not notice these changes as they were "behind the scenes."

Moderating a community site such as QnA, and all of the diverse content we see, is a tough problem and not always a straightforward one. Many of you have offered different ideas as to how we can solve these problems, and while I cannot comment about specific changes or technologies that go into our moderation tools, I can say that we are constantly learning from you, our community, and my ask is for you to be patient as we continue to evolve the site.

I’d also like to say "THANK YOU" to our amazingly supportive community – you’ve done an AWESOME job at flagging bad content and in the past few days, I’ve noticed an even higher quality in the "report abuse" reports than usual (meaning a lot of you are taking the time to really justify and explain why a piece of content should be removed).

So... if you see it, and it's bad, report it!

We've heard rumors that many users do not report abuse on QnA due to a fear of retribution or others singling them out. But as part of the changes made this week, you should fear this no more - please continue your great content moderation practices and report abuse on content that has inappropriate, vulgar, completely offensive, worthless spam, or basically anything that violates the spirit of our Code of Conduct. Once reported, someone will review it and decide whether or not it violates the COC and determine if the content should appear on the site.

And as usual, I hate to be a broken record here, but please do not feed the trolls… they love to know that they’re getting under your skin – so the more you talk about them in questions, answers, comments, or by responding to their behaviors, the more they will nag all of us.

In conclusion... if you see it, and it's bad, report it!

Ask the QnA Lady

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 21:10:06 GMT

Grace, the QnA Lady, is someone we made up when we wanted to channel the spirits of Abigail van Buren, Miss Manners, Margaret Cho and Tina Turner. She is here to answer your questions on how to maneuver through QnA with style, wit, charm, good etiquette and of course, grace.

I notice some people are not putting actual questions in the question field, just topic areas or incomplete thoughts. Is this against the rules?

If they put something like “Computer crash” in the 100-character question field, and then go on to explain it in the details text box, that’s fine. If they sound like those spam emails you get in your inbox “stock prices muttering darkly with banana” – then report via the report button that this is a garbage question.

Someone has asked something I consider to be tacky. What do I do?

The QnA Lady does not approve of tackiness. However, one person’s tacky is another person’s homespun treasure. Your options as she sees it are:

- Ignore the question, there are others to answer

- Comment on the tackiness of the question, but politely – do not stoop to their level

- Give a slightly tacky answer and hope that jars them into good taste. This is not likely but is presented as a dark horse option.

I see some people are putting nonsensical answers in the answer fields. Some of them aren’t even in English, as far as I can tell. What do I do?

Garbage or nonsense in the answer field warrants an abuse report. Also, because QnA is English-only at this time, (yes, it is hard to moderate a site if you don’t speak the language) we need to delete non-English content in order to be fair to everyone. Exceptions to this might be “What does “la playa” mean when translated from Spanish to English?” (Answer: The beach).

The idea is that our conversations occur in English on this site. Speaking Martian or typing garbage into an answer field should be reported so the moderators can get it out of there.

When is it ok to make fun of someone’s answer in QnA via comments?

The QnA Lady personally favors wiseguy remarks (that part is her inner Margaret Cho). However, the Code of Conduct explains you cannot threaten, harass, be verbally violent, etc. toward fellow community members. Gentle, fun, kindly jibing, culturally sensitive humor – great. Spiteful, mean aggressive nastiness – no. See the Code of Conduct for more details. When in doubt, don't make the joke.

I see one user all the time who gives dumb answers. To spite them, I vote consistently for another best answer. I have even gone to the trouble of looking up questions that they answer via their profile in order to vote against their answer. Am I a good citizen or an obsessive compulsive who needs to lie down?

The QnA Lady commends you for being on the side of Quality Answers, but worried that you have a neurosis. It is a fine line between what you are doing and harassment. Please read the Code of Conduct to ensure you are respectful of this other person’s right to enjoy QnA – but hold firmly to your standards of quality. The QnA Lady is sure there may be others whose answers you also want to vote against by selecting a better one…spread the quality voting around the site.

It looks to me that there are two people who always answer each other’s questions and frankly both the questions and answers aren’t very coherent. It might be that they are colluding for points. What do I do?

The QnA Lady advises that you bring this up on the Message Boards, blog, or better still, file an abuse report. Only the QnA team will have the means to try and check out whether it is harmful collusion (same person pretending to be two different people for points) or just two pals who like to answer each other’s questions.

I see that some people are cutting and pasting material from Web sites to give answers on QnA. Is this ok?

The QnA team does not ensure the quality of answers on the site, see disclaimer. We do not give legal advice on when something is appropriate or not.

However, in a respectful community people give credit where credit is due and also give people tools to research further. Respectful community members include the Web site URL where they got the information or just simply link to that page where the questioner may find the answer.

If you think someone has violated your copyright, see the Code of Conduct.

I am a small business owner and answering questions related to my business area. Is it ok to put a link to my business Web site if people are looking for my services in the question?

It’s okay to put a link to your business web site if and only if it’s relevant to the question. The Code of Conduct prohibits using QnA for selling, so if you include the link when it does not directly relate to the question, it may be removed from the system. As a courtesy to other users, you should explicitly state that you are recommending your own business.

You can also have your profile link to your Windows Live Space, where you can post information about your business or links to your business web site.

I see people putting in nonsensical tags - dfh99 and kkkk23 for their questions. Should I report this as abuse?

Sometimes people will tag things so that their friends can see them. Dfh99 might be folks who graduated from Dartmouth Free High School in 1999. However, if that is the ONLY tag, and you don’t see a topic tag applied to help others find the question, then it does make one wonder what their motives are. If the question seems intentionally mistagged, go ahead and report it for abuse and we’ll take a look.