Comments on: Could the check mark in AskMeFi link directly to comment?

Could the check mark in AskMeFi link directly to comment?

erebora — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 20:37:08 -0800

Could the little check mark in AskMeFi be coded to link directly to the pertaining comment?

By: ontic

ontic — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 20:51:23 -0800

Great idea. I'm always clicking the little bugger anyway.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 20:55:07 -0800

There can be more than one. Which one would it jump to?

By: erebora

erebora — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 20:58:06 -0800

The first one? Or there could be multiple checks. I don't think I've ever seen more than three highlighted answers...

By: erebora

erebora — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 20:59:55 -0800

Or how about a parsing mechanism to show AskMeFi in its entirety but with only the highlighted answers visible.

By: greasy_skillet

greasy_skillet — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 21:06:27 -0800

more.. than one... best answer??>>>!!?

*head explodes*

By: DrJohnEvans

DrJohnEvans — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 21:19:30 -0800

I've seen threads with five or six best answers, and given that it's to the user's discretion, I don't think having the same number of checkmarks as best answers is a good idea. I'm usually fine scrolling through the thread, looking for the bright green patch.

By: cortex

cortex — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 21:26:29 -0800

Yeah, the best answers jump right out at you on a quick skim anyway. Follow the link, scroll down. If Matt made the checkmark jump to the first best answer, it could lead the unsavvy to believe that to be the ONLY best answer, in some cases missing the a better best answer on that and future threads.

By: Witty

Witty — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 21:29:51 -0800

It would also skip over a lot of GREAT answers not deemed "the best". What's best for the person asking the question may not be the best for everyone else.

It's a good thought though.

By: erebora

erebora — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 21:31:11 -0800

Clicking the check could spawn a parsed page with only the tagged answers.

By: ontic

ontic — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 21:34:16 -0800

The unsavvy probably wouldn't go clicking on the checkmarks, though...

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 21:39:29 -0800

Perhaps we could just stop asking for unnecessary code-based solutions to 'problems' that aren't really problems at all, pull the mental feeding tube out, and just use our brains instead! [/snark]

Seriously, this seems incredibly unnecessary, and unworkable given that many many questions have multiple 'best answers', as jacquilynne mentions, and the best ones are highlighted inthread already. The front page is getting weighed down with enough cruft as it is.

By: erebora

erebora — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 21:49:03 -0800

Stavros, you're right. Having that little tan checkmark go somewhere when clicked would probably tip AskMeFi over the edge into unusable cruft-osity. /rebound snark

I didn't feel I was asking for a solution to a 'problem', I was merely considering a functional extension to something that already existed.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 22:49:10 -0800

I don't think I've ever seen more than three highlighted answers...

I have. There are threads out there where the number of answers marked as best could be counted in the dozens.

By: scarabic

scarabic — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 00:51:03 -0800

It's not a bad idea to make the check mark do something, but this isn't the best-thought-out feature request I've ever seen.

By: Plutor

Plutor — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 04:27:41 -0800

If the check mark remains non-functional (which I think is probably the Right Thing, since "best answer(s)" is so nebulous), its color should be changed. Right now, it's the same color as links, which is probably the source of confusion. I know I try to click on it a couple times a day myself.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 08:37:05 -0800

I agree with Plutor that I click the thing more often than you might imagine. It seems funny to me that report this post, which doesn't look like a link, is one, while best answer, which does, is not. I could see linking it to an answer page that just includes the best answers for that particular question.

By: xammerboy

xammerboy — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 11:16:38 -0800

I like this idea and the parser idea.

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 11:54:54 -0800

Consider: The unsavvy probably wouldn't go clicking on the checkmarks, though...

Against: Right now, it's the same color as links, which is probably the source of confusion. I know I try to click on it a couple times a day myself.

Barring the possibility that Plutor is wildly unsavvy, I think he's dead right on all counts -- it looks like something that should be clicked on (or on a more basic level, people like shiny things), it really oughtn't (or at the least very much needn't) be imbued with powers, and it should probably have its color changed. The current mouseover text on the image does about all that needs to be done.

If you reeeeally had to link it to something, you could just have every checkmark link to the same page with a brief explanation of the whole Best Answers concept, but even that seems a bit much.

By: NickDouglas

NickDouglas — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 19:32:52 -0800

a parsed page with only the tagged answers

would be fantastic. I've clicked the check too. And sometimes you just want to skim through, you know? AskMeFi is a busy place, busier than the grey or blue.