Should Mahalo Answers dedicate the top 5 Slots for the highest Tipped Questions available at the time?

I think that it may be a better idea to have a 'sort by' feature, where users can choose to display current questions by amount of tip, or time elapsed, or number of views/answers, or username by alphabet, etc.

Yes, or at least offer "sort by tip" as an option.

Personally I just like seeing the questions people are asking and answer if I can..it's not so much about the tips. To me it wouldn't really be a big deal either way but I am interested in seeing what other users may think.

I think it should be a "sticky tax" instead, where even if he chooses "no best answer", some amount of money will still remain in the system (like 10 mahalo dollars or so).

Yes, but a "no best answer" should require the asker to distribute 50% of the tip among all of those the asker feels tried the hardest, and he should only get 50% back. He should only get 100% back if no one has yet responded. Another possibility is for mahalo.Com to charge $1 for a premium listing, just like e-bay does.

$1 buys you to the top of the list for 1 day, up to 7 days maximum... You were really asking how to make the most money, right?

I like the idea of having a "sort by" feature. It requires less monitoring than having to review best answers or put any kind of policing in place.

This is a great idea and we have two things in the works: 1. You will be able to sort open questions by tip amount. There will be an RSS feed for this and email alerts, so you'll be able to really camp on the questions.2.

We are going to sell the top three slots to people for M$200 and require a minimum tip. Premium listings will be a large part of how Answers makes money. So, features that will cost Mahalo Dollars will include: a) Featured Questions (top three slots, priced per day) b) Anonymous Questions (like really anonymous... we won't even know) c) Anonymous Answers (like really anonymous... we won't even know) d) Extending your question beyond three days (i.e.

M$3 for three extra days open). If you can think of any other ways for us to provide premium features do let us know. In order for us to keep investing a dozen developers and six editors to this project we need to bring in serious bank!

:-) Note: Photo for effect.

I'd be all for that, or some version of it. A special tab for the high end questions (whatever the bar is set at), or even just a way to sort by tip. I mean, you know what will happen, any high tip question will get flooded with people fighting over the best answer, which isn't necessarily a good thing.

We've already seen people whining about how they didn't get best answer even though theirs certainly was best, blah blah blah. Once real money is on the line and more people are jumping in it will only get expotentially worse.

I second, third, forth, etc. The motion for a "sort by" feature. And I really like the idea of a "sticky tax".

I really think a 'sort by' feature would be a better option, though in the end I don't think there should be any changes to how things are done. My concern is those answering questions will start 'sorting' or only reading the top tipped post and answering those. We already have seen some people make a major focus on the tips available (or tips required for private questions).

While I understand that some people want to make this site a place for extra income I still believe, at the end of the day, this needs to be an ANSWER site and not a make money site.

Yes, but with restrictions. To avoid having people "broadcast" their question and then award "no best answer," I think they should agree to a review process. In other words, their answers will be reviewed by 1 or more guides before they will be allowed to select that answer.

That way, people don't try to abuse the system.

Yes this would be a great idea. It would allow people to quickly see questions which they would more likely want to answer because they are worth more. Mahalo should also have sorting options.E.g.

Sort by Date or Sort by Tip.

I think sort by tip is a good compromise. Otherwise it will end up that you can't get a good answer without offering large tips, which may get expensive. I no Mahalo needs to make money but it shouldn't take over completely.

No, because spammers might flood it and never pick an answer, also the questions might not be ones that will benefit the rest of the community.

Definitely not, because it descriminates against those who can afford only a buck. But it would be great if there were a feature that we could sort the questions by tip amount. And by number of answers.

That's an interesting suggestion. Maybe not exactly dedicating the top 5, but having a separate section that comes before/above the normal area that contains the top five tipped questions currently active would be an interesting idea.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.