Yahoo! Philippines Answers blog

We receive a lot of feedback each day through the blog, Suggestion Board, and other channels of communication. One of the community’s most heatedly discussed topics centers around the quality of questions or answers.

As you probably know, our Community Guidelines exist to explain our daily moderation on the site, and also to help you form better questions and answers on Yahoo! Answers. Let’s look at some golden rules that will help improve your experience by increasing your chances of getting even better results:

1. Start your question with “who,” “why,” “how,” etc.: Formulate your question in a clear, straightforward way. This will help your question stand out to visitors who can share their knowledge and answer some questions. Make it easier for them to find yours!  Example: How can I solve a Rubik’s cube?
2. Use correct spelling (avoid text lingo) in your questions: Correct spelling and grammar help people understand your questions. You’ll get better answers when others can clearly make out what you’re asking.  Example: “Who da actress dat plays Monica’s BFF…” should be “Who is the actress that plays Monica’s best friend…”
3. Open the debate (politely!): Remember, we’re a diverse community of people with differing opinions. Feel free to introduce your point of view with constructive thoughts or examples, or compare your vision with another’s personal experiences. And by citing sources, using quotation marks, and including hyperlinks, you make the community stronger and better informed.
4. Categorize your question in the proper place: Placing your question in the right category helps make it more visible to the people who can give you the best information and most accurate answers.
5. Respect other members and the opinions they post—do not target specific users: With a community this large, expect to find opinions that are different from yours. Everyone wants to be treated with dignity. Showing respect to others makes the community better for all of us. Don’t ask or answer questions about another member—let’s not engage in gossip. We’re here to share knowledge!

And remember, it’s always a good idea to search first to check if the question that’s on your mind has already been asked.

For more information, check our Community Guidelines or Help pages. Feel free to share other helpful hints with the community by leaving a comment below.

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Flickr photo by Globovisión

On Tuesday, January 12, Haiti was struck by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, centered 10 miles west of Port-au-Prince. The quake has caused widespread damage and casualties and structural damage. At this point, authorities are unsure as to just how much damage the quake has caused but know that its impact was vast and intense.

In times like these, it is important for communities to band together to provide support.

On Answers, we form a community of collective knowledge- but in the real world, together, we create a collective bound together by one thing: humanity, and the ability to endure. And in times like these, it’s important to remember that, and to help others persevere.  As Filipinos, we’ve recently gone through a similar experience and we were blessed to receive an overflowing support from the international community.  Now it’s our turn to help.

According to the Associated Press, “it was clear from a tour of the capital that tens of thousands of people had lost their homes and that many had perished. Many buildings in Haiti are flimsy and dangerous even under normal conditions.”

To learn more about how you can send your support to help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti please follow the links below.

Unicef – Efforts in Haiti – Donate

American Red Cross – Blog – Donate

View more photos of the quake through Flickr. WARNING: photos contain images that may not be suitable for children.

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Happy New Year everyone!

Ok, the title of the post is not just for me but I hope for all of us in Yahoo! Answers.  Did you know that on average, 10% of questions are in tie-breaker status at any given time on Answers? And, at any given moment, there are literally millions of questions open on Answers?

For many members, it’s easy to get swept up in the “Ask” and “Answer” flow as you watch the steady stream of answers that come in when you ask a great question. But then the tough part comes: picking a Best Answer! How do you choose?

If you’re looking for a few tips on how to pick your next Best Answer, here are a few taken straight from our community:

• “To put it simply, I go with the one that is the most useful or the least useless. I do notice the number of thumbs-ups and downs the answer gets, and I use that and the level/BA percentage of an answerer to determine whether or not I should trust the answerer, but the main deciding factor is what I think of the answer itself. A concise but comprehensive explanation beats a long drawn-out half off topic lecture.” – Luigi
• However, “According to the specification of the question I read carefully and I compare it to the other questions, I make sure their answers make sense and have more clear explanations. Not always the thumbs up are right and this person can be wrong, So I read & understand before I give my best answer…8)” – “Evo_Raptor”
• “[…] If there are two equally good answers, I choose the one with better grammar, punctuation, and spelling.” – *Sombra*
• “I pick Best Answer by re-reading through all the answers again from my question. Then pick the one that was the most helpful, informative, and the answerer was polite while giving me the information I needed.” – Future Pet Vet
• “Whoever has clearly spent the most time answering the question and not just put silly 1 word answers or sarcastic comments. Also, if i believe the answer is 100% true.” – Craig and Charlie

Even with tips like these, picking a best answer can be tough—and for many Answers community members, it becomes so tough, questions go unresolved and end up in tie-breaker status.

But for those of you who enjoy helping the undecided pick a Best Answer, be sure to check out the Answers TieBusters group—a group dedicated to clearing the backlog of undecided questions found on Answers: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Yah00AnswersTieBusters/

All in all, remember: If you asked a question, choose a Best Answer! Otherwise your question may end up getting a best answer from a troll and you may never give someone from the community the joy of earning a Best Answer!

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This year, Yahoo! Answers has seen its fair share of questions and answers that covered everything under the sun, from questions about current events such as “Typhoon Ondoy” to the death of former Pres. Cory Aquino to everyday questions about culture to tackling tough questions about politics in our country.

We’ve gone through some of the best (and quirkiest) content on Answers to create this year’s highlight book. (Review last year’s here) This year’s e-book contains content that showcase some of the unique questions and answers you’ll find on Yahoo! Answers – as well as a few outstanding community members you might come across while visiting the site.

So view the book 2009 Highlights and explore some of the content found on Answers (this will prompt you to download a small PDF file).

If this inspired you to come up with your own highlights of 2009 and want to share your fave questions to everyone, please feel free to post it in the comments below.

Download the e-book here: 2009 Highlights

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Back in October we announced that with your help, Yahoo! Answers hit the 1 billion question and answers mark.  At this point, we also reached an astounding 179 million users around the world!

Just when we thought our community couldn’t grow any faster, a mere two months later, we’ve tackled the 200 million-worldwide visitor mark!

When you break it down, on average, that’s:

• 350,000 new  visitors a day
• 243 new visitors a minute

So here’s a big thanks to you, the Answers community for spreading the word about Answers, and sharing with your friends, family, and anyone you meet on the internet about what you’ve learned (and what you want to learn!) on Answers

At this rate, we’ll hit 300 million in no time!

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We know that when visiting Yahoo! Answers you’re here either to ask a question or answer a question. For many of you, your main objective is to lend a hand and answer as many questions about your area of expertise as possible, but oftentimes, you’re unable to easily find the right types of questions.

While a basic search (using the top search bar) will produce quick search results, the advanced search function will help you pinpoint specific terms within targeted categories.

Answers community member, Calimecita who is well known across the community for her expertise in Biology/Zoology, is also a savvy Answers member and has worked with us to provide useful Answers tips from Answers users.

Using Advanced Search you can:

• Find questions that match specific words or phrases, and/or exclude specific terms.
• Search questions or best answers only
• Search by category or subcategory
• Choose to search among all English vs only your home portal questions
• Filter by question status (open, resolved, undecided)
• Restrict by question time frame

You also have the option of saving this search and making it your default “advanced search” for the future by checking the “Make this my default search” box.

“With Advanced Search, I can locate open questions about specific topics quickly and efficiently, without restricting myself to a single category. I’ve even set up a few Yahoo! Alerts based on the RSS feeds from these Search results, so that I receive those questions as emails.”

Cali also says, “when I need an Answer, I restrict my search to Resolved Questions only and use some of the other options, such as “search for exact phrase” and “none of these words”, to find very specific content (for example, information about turkeys that doesn’t involve Thanksgiving recipes, or a question about vampires – not the Twilight kind ).

I see lots of comments and requests in the Suggestion Board for ways to do these things – and many users don’t know that Advanced Search is the answer,”

For an even more in-depth look at what the advanced search feature can do for you, stop by Calimecita’s Unofficial Answers Tutorial, found here: http://calitorial.webs.com/searchsort.htm.

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(Flickr photo by Glorius)

It’s amazing to witness history happen before your very eyes.  Yesterday afternoon, November 15 Manila time, Philippine boxing icon Manny Pacquiao gave the most compelling performance of his life by beating Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto for the WBO welterweight championship and an unprecedented seventh world title in different weight classes.

I can safely say that every Filipino right now, whether living in the Philippines or elsewhere around the globe believes that Pacquiao is the greatest boxer of our generation.  And it’s not just us Pinoys who believe this sincerely.  This recent win cemented Manny’s place in history and people like Bob Arum and various sports historians, analysts and reporters are in agreement that Pacquiao is a cut above the rest.  As Martin Rogers of Yahoo! Sports said, “It’s been a while since current fighters were talked about in historical terms, but that’s the level to which Pacquiao is taking his performances…”

But ever the humble sportsman, Pacquiao amidst all the success and glory he received, shared the honor to his country and countrymen, saying we were all part of that historical moment.  He thanked everyone who prayed for him and thanked God for the strength and the blessing he received.

Miguel Cotto was a tough match and as I remember someone tweeting about this immediately after the fight, it’s not that Cotto did something wrong because his boxing skills and sense were top notch, but it’s just that he didn’t have a solution for Pacman’s speed and power.

A few days before the fight I asked the Answers community how they think the fight between the Pacman and Cotto will end and 121 of you shared your thoughts, analysis and predictions on the fight.  Sean G had the closes answer, he predicted an 11th round TKO and he explained that Cotto won’t be knocked out but will probably be too badly bruised to finish the fight.  Now that we know already how that ended, many people are asking who Manny should fight next.  Different names have come up like Juan Marquez, Shane Mosley and of course, Floyd Mayweather Jr.  That’s why I posted this next question to the community, “Who do you think Manny Pacquiao should fight next and why?” Share your thoughts and let’s see who gets to face the Pac-man in his next bout.

But whoever it is, that will have to wait because right now it’s time to celebrate!  Congratulations again Manny Pacquiao!  You are truly the pride of the Philippines.  Mabuhay si Manny, mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

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Ok, this is obviously a rhetorical question.  My point here is have you registered to vote in the upcoming 2010 elections?  Voter registration ended last October 31 and if you are a citizen of the Philippines and at least 18 years of age, I am hoping we all had our thumbs “purplized”.

We live in a country that gives us the right to vote and this means we get a say in who will run our country.  Unfortunately, there are those who have decided to take a “I don’t care” kind of attitude about elections because they have lost hope in the system or just find it too difficult or tedious to line up and register.  But if you look at the bigger picture, these are just small prices to pay for the right to vote.

Remember, election issues directly affect all of us and by not voting we are actually saying goodbye to our ability to have any influence on important national issues like Charter Change, education, health, the economy, etc.  Also, by not voting in a way we negate our right to complain about government decisions that we don’t agree with, regardless how bad it might be.  By not voting, it’s like saying we don’t care who leads our country and how it will be run.  Finally, we all should vote because we can.  To be able to cast our vote is a huge gift and responsibility, and if we look back at our history, our ancestors have actually fought and died for this right, a right that we should never take for granted.

If you need more information about the upcoming 2010 elections, then check out Yahoo! Philippines online coverage of the elections called Purple Thumb.  Just right now I’m seeing people in the Answers community asking questions about the upcoming automated elections, since this will be new to all of us.

Vandrew asked how computerizing the elections will help solve the issue of cheating while Doctor J asked if automating the elections will do the country good.  Mrs. C shared that it will be good to have automated elections now because it can avoid human error and we can get results in the soonest time possible and not have to wait for months.

To get a better view of how the automated elections will be done, check out this video prepared by the Yahoo! Philippines Editorial Team in partnership with Comelec.  Please feel free to spread the word as well about Purple Thumb because we certainly need to be informed in order to vote responsibly in the coming 2010 elections.

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As we strive for high quality content on Answers, we also encourage freedom of expression and discussions on any topic.  However, you can sometimes stumble upon questions or answers that seem to blur the line between strong opinions and a violation of the community guidelines,  plagiarism or copyright infringement.

Strong opinion vs. violation

Everyone has opinions, and these are what makes Answers vibrant and fun.  Respectfully expressed opinions that contribute to useful knowledge for the community are accepted on Yahoo! Answers.  However, anyone who promotes hate speech, uses slurs to refer to groups of people, insults other members, and act in a belligerent manner towards others should be reported.

What is considered offensive?

It is not ok to report someone because you disagree with that person’s opinion.  If you see something that is personally offensive to you but does not violate Community Guidelines, please do not report it.  Their opinions may contradict your own, but please consider whether or not they are actually in violation.  Do you think it contains slurs?  Do they insult other participants?  Do you think it is obscene or illegal?  Remember that people are entitled to their own opinions, and it is up to everyone to express them in a respectful and constructive manner.

To be responsible, report only those opinions that violate the rules of our community.  (Click here for the Community Guidelines)  In fact, you will become less empowered to remove abuse from the site in the future if it is determined that the people you report are not in violation.

What is plagiarism?

Intellectual property infringement is a reportable offense on Yahoo! Answers, but the process is a little different from ordinary community guidelines violations.  If you believe your intellectual property has been infringed upon and would like to file a complaint, please see our Copyright/IP policy.

Have more questions? Let us know!

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First of all, this is not an elections-related post, at least not yet.  I definitely encourage everyone to go out and register and make that commitment to vote in the upcoming 2010 elections, and stay tuned for what we have in store to cover the elections for the Pinoy Answers Community.  For now, this blog post about voting is really about voting here in Answers.

Recently, many of you wrote to us about unresolved questions and questions that are in tie-breaker status on the site.  The best way to make sure no question remains undecided, is to resolve it either by picking a best answer, or putting it up for voting.  Here is an overview of how the voting process works

Vote as best answer

When a question is asked, it initially remains open for 4 days, but it can be extended at any time to remain open for a total of 8 days.

• If two or more answers are collected, you can either pick the best answer or let the community vote to choose the best answer. If you take no action to resolve the question, the answers are automatically put to a vote by the community.
• If your question receives only one answer, you can extend the open period for four additional days to allow more time for answers to be posted or you can pick ‘No Best Answer’.  When your question expires with only one answer, the question automatically goes to a vote, with No Best Answer as the second option.  If an answer is chosen as the best, your question becomes resolved. However, if the No Best Answer option is chosen as best, the question is automatically deleted and you get five points credited back to your Answers account.
• If a question doesn’t receive any answers, the question expires and is deleted.

A question becomes a Resolved Question when a Best Answer is chosen.  After a question becomes Resolved it stays in Yahoo! Answers and is available for searching and browsing.  The Best Answer remains open to receive comments and ratings from the community.

How do I put my question up for voting?

If you take no action and the question expires, it automatically goes to a vote.  Or:

1. Wait at least four hours after posting the question.
2. Go to the question within the open period, before it expires.
3. Click Edit in the action bar below the question.
4. Select Ask for a Vote in the edit menu.

How do I find questions up for voting?

1. Go to the category of your choice.
2. Select the In Voting tab.
3. Sort the unresolved questions as you like.

What’s a tiebreaker?

If the vote ends as a tie, your question remains in voting as a tiebreaker.  Once a vote has been cast, the question is checked shortly afterwards to determine if there is a best answer.  There are tons of questions out there waiting to be voted on because they’re in tiebreaker status.  Vote so you can get these questions resolved.

As you can see, voting makes a huge difference (both here in Answers and in the upcoming elections as well, hehehe).  If you choose an area you are expert in, you can easily vote for the best answer.  If you choose a category you don’t know much about, you end up learning a lot by reading the answers.  You can pick the best answer, based on detail, helpful tone and general quality, without having to be an expert in the subject area.

Vote now, it’s just one of the many things we can do to make Answers a better and more relevant community.

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