Unanswered Threads: Improve Reachout to OP

[Suraj M]

Dear staff,
Every time a thread goes unanswered for a while, the OP gets an automated post on his thread telling him to add some information, but what that does is that, it puts the thread out of the unanswered threads category making it even more unlikely to be answered. Could you find a better way to reach out to the OP and tell him that his question should be more descriptive.
Thank you
sorry if this suggestion was already given!

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

That is true! We have considered sending a PM instead. However, moral of the story is to make sure we respond to the thread before the auto bump :)

 

[jedishrfu]

Posters will still see it though. I've seen several instances where I responded to an unanswered post not with the answer but a reference and later other posters started contributing too.

Some posters look at specific forums and not at the unanswered queue and by adding more info to clarify the question puts the thread back up on top for a spell.

 

[mfb]

I find it quite useful to have this automatic answer. I often see threads where I have some rough idea but where I am not sure to know the answer. Usually someone comes and gives the correct answer, so I do not reply but put it on the watched thread list to learn from other answers. If no answer comes at all, that thread would vanish - with the automatic bump, it appears in the watchlist once again and I can try to give a careful answer (if it is better than no answer).

Threads that are unanswered for three days are always problematic in some way - the question is unclear, too special, needs too much effort for a proper answer, poorly written or something else. If no one catches it via the unanswered thread list for three days, it is unlikely to get answered via this feature later on.

 

[Raghav Gupta]

Well this trophies being awarded to those who are first responder to an unanswered thread is good idea but it is a double-edged sword. I have only one evidence to show that but by the way that thread is solved.
Hope the software could understand like us and then give trophy points.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Well this trophies being awarded to those who are first responder to an unanswered thread is good idea but it is a double-edged sword. I have only one evidence to show that but by the way that thread is solved.
Hope the software could understand like us and then give trophy points.

What you don't see is that he did have a reply but edited it out. Not sure why, maybe a mistake he made. I have removed it now. Nothing malicious there.

 

[Raghav Gupta]

Why a . there? He should have deleted instead of edited as both options have same time for a non-gold member.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Why a . there? He should have deleted instead of edited as both options have same time for a non-gold member.

Trust me, member actions question my faith in humanity every day :D

 

[Pythagorean]

Even the unanswered category will scroll off to oblivion before people get to them, won't it?

"Unanswered threads" is the only reason I ever leave "other sciences". If a thread gets bumped by an autopost, the "locals" (that hang out almost exclusively in one or two subforums) will see it, the vagrants I guess won't, but as long as the thread is in the right place, the locals are the most likely to have the appropriate answer.