Check for Ticks: Direct linking to best answers

October 27, 2008 1:02 PM

When an AskMe question has a comment marked as a best answer, a little tick/check appears next to the post on the front page. What do people think about making that tick a link to the first best answer comment?
posted by zamboni to Feature Requests at 1:02 PM (40 comments total)

The first best answer isn't necessarily the best best answer.
posted by box at 1:05 PM on October 27, 2008

It would be easy to infer from that that the first best answer is the best best answer, which may not necessarily be true.

And then, to get to the next best answer, you'd have to scroll past all the other not-best answers. You'd still be exposed to them, though, whereas you'd never see the not-best answers that came before the first best best answer.

So I don't like it.
posted by mudpuppie at 1:07 PM on October 27, 2008

Don't be lazy.
posted by amro at 1:08 PM on October 27, 2008

I thought you meant this sort of tick check. I think the idea here is good in theory but won't work in practice for the reasons box and mudpuppie mention.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:09 PM on October 27, 2008 [1 favorite]

An improvement might be to have it linked to all the best answers, llisted sequentially. But that might miss out on the context leading up to a particular answer.
posted by SpacemanStix at 1:13 PM on October 27, 2008

Let's just allow one best answer, like on Yahoo! Answers.

what?
posted by davejay at 1:16 PM on October 27, 2008

Clearly we just need a way for the OP to tick the Best Best Answer to solve this pony's problem.

Then, we need some back-tickers to tick historical best-bests.
posted by Pants! at 1:19 PM on October 27, 2008

No thank you.
posted by desjardins at 1:25 PM on October 27, 2008

Just say no to bestiality.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:26 PM on October 27, 2008 [1 favorite]

Remember that episode of American Idol where Simon told that one contestant "you tick all the boxes, but you don't have star quality"? And then Paula was all like "LOLWTF 'tickle the boxes' what does that even MEAN hahahaha!" That was pretty great.

Anyway, what answers get marked "best answer" - or whether any of them get marked best - are only one person's opinion. If I'm not the original asker, I may find a non-best answer more helpful than a best answer.

So I'm not too into the idea, but I do love your username because it reminds me of the time my cousin's four-year-old kid dislocated his little sister's shoulder in an attempt to save her from an imaginary zamboni. The doctor looked at the little guy and said, "Do you know anything about this?" and he burst into tears and confessed, "BUT... BUT THE ZAMBONI WAS GONNA GET HER!"
posted by Metroid Baby at 1:31 PM on October 27, 2008 [2 favorites]

The technical problem is that a question can have multiple "best answers", each of varying quality. The first "best answer" may not necessarily be the best of the best.

Other than that, if we had a one-best-answer mark, it would be a decent idea.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:39 PM on October 27, 2008

I hear if you stare in a mirror and say "zamboni" three times, you get iced.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:42 PM on October 27, 2008 [1 favorite]

I thought you meant this sort of tick check. I think the idea here is good in theory but won't work in practice for the reasons box and mudpuppie mention.
posted by jessamyn at 3:09 PM on October 27 [+] [!]

So, within seven minutes of this being posted jessamyn pops up with a sexual "tick check" reference from like 5 months ago. Is this some kind of librarian super power? Or something much darker?
posted by nanojath at 1:43 PM on October 27, 2008

Just trying to keep it interesting. Also, the superpower thing.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:56 PM on October 27, 2008

They think the same things they thought the last n times this was brought up.
posted by Eideteker at 1:56 PM on October 27, 2008

I'm always clicking that check mark. It should go somewhere!
posted by and hosted from Uranus at 2:01 PM on October 27, 2008

Superman:Kryptonite::SuperLibrarian:Self-Reshelvers?
posted by CKmtl at 2:08 PM on October 27, 2008

Obviously the link should be to a special version of the question where ONLY the best answers are displayed.
posted by blue_beetle at 2:38 PM on October 27, 2008

As I say every time this comes up (which is what, monthly?) linking to the first best answer is silly, but linking to a view of the thread showing only the answer(s) marked as best might make sense. That way you get to see the [more inside] and all the best answer(s), and can get a fuller picture. But nobody ever listens to me. I'm increasingly convinced I've been hellbanned.
posted by nowonmai at 2:39 PM on October 27, 2008

Damn you, b_b.
posted by nowonmai at 2:40 PM on October 27, 2008

What do people think about making that tick a link to the first best answer comment?

We should discuss this over pie.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:40 PM on October 27, 2008

Don't click that checkbox, it turns off System Restore!
posted by turgid dahlia at 2:46 PM on October 27, 2008

I think they already have this feature. It is called Yahoo! Answers.
posted by clearly at 2:47 PM on October 27, 2008

Uranus : I'm always clicking that check mark. It should go somewhere!

"Sweet Jesus, where am I? Is this the jungle? How did I get here? Ok, I need to calm down... let's just take stock... it's dark, and it feels tropical. Man, is that a volcano?! Where the hell am I? I... I... I was reading ask.metafilter, and then there was this flash of light...

What's that? Is someone there?! Hello? Hmm, I thought I heard something. God, my head is killing me... I was reading ask, and I clicked on the best answer...

I can hear you! I know that you are there! I can hear you breathing!... God damn, is that a horse or something? So I clicked on the best answer... No, wait, that's not right... I clicked on the check mark... and now I'm here!

Something is coming through the jungle, and it's coming fast.

Oh no! Velociraptors!"

Long story short: Be careful what you wish for.
posted by quin at 3:02 PM on October 27, 2008

I totally wish for Velociraptor roulette!

*clicks randomly*

Your turn!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:11 PM on October 27, 2008

How 'bout if we right click on "anonymous user" ten times fast it tells us who asked it.
posted by longsleeves at 3:14 PM on October 27, 2008

I could have sworn this had been discussed a dozen times before, mostly with the same thoughts box and mudpuppie gave. But I could only find one other MeTa thread about it and exactly zero admins gave their own opinion there.

Also, I'm fighting the urge to create a Greasemonkey script that claims it makes the checkmarks go to the right place but really just pops up an alert that calls you stupid RickRolls you makes a steak show up does something else.
posted by Plutor at 3:56 PM on October 27, 2008

pssst!!! Plutor! Velociraptor roulette! PLEEEEEZ?!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:59 PM on October 27, 2008

"I thought you meant this sort of tick check. I think the idea here is good in theory but won't work in practice for the reasons box and mudpuppie mention."

NO!

Look, the check mark looks like it SHOULD go somewhere. It looks like a link. But it's not a link. Which means that the assumption is that something is broken, because who would put something that looks like a link there without wanting you to click on the damn link? HITLER, that's who!

And the objections? "OH NOES SOMEONE COULD THINK THIS ANSWER IS BETTER THAN THE OTHER BEST ANSWERS" are dee-you-em-dumb. Y'all lost the war when Best Answers were added to begin with (since they're just as fallible). If someone clicks on the link to go to the Best Answer, it's not a tragedy that they didn't read the sub-best answers, because they wanted the Best Answer. So, OK, what if there are other Best Answers? Well, since Matt's removed the function that used to send a blinding pulse of light, permanently searing the retinas of users as they came across one Best Answer, we've been able to scroll down and read more!

So, sure, it feels good to say that people should read all of the things marked Best Answer, even though if an answer is truly best you won't need to read more answers, but we've already given up on the Rudolph Steiner everything is both equal and special bullshit. Have some faith in your users to both be able to competently mark things as best and to read the responses if they feel that it's necessary to find more answers.
posted by klangklangston at 5:38 PM on October 27, 2008

What if the check mark went to a random best answer in the thread? Ooh -- no, a random best answer period. It could give some much needed Magic 8-Ball elements to AskMeFi.
posted by macadamiaranch at 5:45 PM on October 27, 2008

Wouldn't the median answer reflect the wisdom of this crowd?
posted by lukemeister at 6:49 PM on October 27, 2008

I'm confused. Which response in this thread was "best" answer?
posted by cjorgensen at 7:52 PM on October 27, 2008

I'm with klangklangston. This is a UI problem. The checkmark should be clickable; otherwise, make it the same color as "posted by" and "at 9:16 pm".
posted by event at 8:46 PM on October 27, 2008

You can solve the "more than one best answer" problem by having a corresponding number of checkmarks. For example, a thread with three best answers gets three checkmarks, each of which link to an answer within the thread. This has the added advantage of making relative quality visible on the main Ask page. Right now a thread with one best answer and one with 45 best answers both look the same.

Doesn't necessarily mean that this is a good idea, but the UI mechanics aren't what's standing in the way of it being done.
posted by Jeff Howard at 11:36 PM on October 27, 2008

Double.
posted by flabdablet at 11:54 PM on October 27, 2008

And I still say you should do it but don't announce it. Those of us who want it will be grateful, and the whiners will never notice it.
posted by flabdablet at 12:10 AM on October 28, 2008

Isn't the whole idea of having multiple best answers some kind of contradiction anyway? How has a community with the highest pedant:shrugger ration in the known universe let this stand for so long?
posted by dg at 3:41 AM on October 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

yeah, ratio, not ration. Don't start.
posted by dg at 3:42 AM on October 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

* cackles gleefully *
posted by blue_beetle at 9:42 AM on October 28, 2008

Agin' it.
posted by paisley henosis at 5:14 PM on October 28, 2008