Why do people ask questions that have been answered before, don't they know they can search already answered questions?

Almost didn't have enough space for that question. Another thing that bugs me. I'm sure this question has been asked before, but I thought it might be helpful for people to see it once in a while.

To answer my question I would request that you provide a useful solution to this issue. Asked by gregjehl 61 months ago Similar Questions: people questions answered search Recent Questions About: people questions answered search Amazon > Askville.

Similar Questions: people questions answered search Recent Questions About: people questions answered search.

Repeated questions Well, I don't really think that it is so easy to search already answered questions, especially if you are a newbie who really doesn't understand how the whole place works in general. Currently the only way to check for previously posted questions and answers is to search the topic that it MIGHT be listed under; there is no way to just search for "what are questcoins for? ", for example.

If you understand the system, you might search under the topics of Questville or coins, but the average newbie doesn't know that or maybe doesn't want to take the time. And I don't always think it's a bad thing for some questions, like especially the Askville ones, to be asked repeatedly, as there are always new people coming here who want to know the same thing. I know that when I first came here I had no idea that I could look through previously asked questions to see if it had been asked (and it didn't occur to me to even worry about repeating a question, actually!

) The best solution to this situation has also been repeated many many times--we need a better search program for the site rather than just one for topics. *Poppet*'s Recommendations I'm Sorry, Can You Repeat That? Amazon List Price: $29.95 .

In your "Details" part of your question, your wrote "I'm sure this question has been asked before, but... I thought it might be helpful for people to see it once in a while. " I question one part of your sentence: "I’m sure this question has been asked before". This leads me to ask, why, if you believe you are sure about the question being asked, why didn’t you do a search for similar questions?

Since repeated questions is right at the heart of your question. Okay, now I’ll stop being a joker! On to answering your question, my guess is some newbies may not know how to search for a previous question.

Or, as an example, I recently asked a question about John Edwards. Before asking the question, I used the "search" option and typed in "John Edwards" and no questions appeared with John Edwards in the search. But, after posting my question, I received a message on the Discussion Page letting me know that a similar question had been asked 5 hours before my question appeared.

So, that may be one reason people seem to ask questions which have been asked before. Another could be, maybe they saw the Q & A and just didn’t find the answers helpful. Or, more likely, some people are just lazy and don’t want to bother with a search.

As to how to prevent people from asking questions which have been asked before. I really don’t see any harm in asking repeat questions. After all, with only 5 answers allowed for one question, I see it as an opportunity to get a wider point of view on a subject.

My solution, if a question appears which has been asked before, simply ignore it, and move on to a question which grabs ones attention. This may not have been the "solution" you may have been looking for. To me, it’s simply live and let live.

Or, even better, live and learn! After all, that’s, hopefully, what one gets from Askville. Sources: my opinion, amazon.com?

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Placement of the Search button is in a bad position plus very little references are there for it In my opinion most people don’t even have a clue that they can search for answers. Part of this is the placement of the search button. When designing web sites one the most critical things impressed upon us was that a large majority of the people do not like to scroll down, which is why a lot of web sites are designed in 800x600 resolution.

This leads to many pages, but increased functionality. At present the search button is after all the topics, which puts it more than 50% down the page. And how many people when thinking about a question will scroll down that far?

Very few in my opinion. And the most popular topics are listed and if you select see more topics you see more of them but you do not see all of them. Ie.

I answered a few questions about the avid editing systems and that topic only shows up when you search. Also there is no Help Button and the FAQ’s can only be found at the bottom of the page. So basically it is very hard to find help before you ask the questions.

To maybe fix this I would add help up at the top menu bar, and move search maybe to the side of topics, I assume that they want people to first look at topics, so to the side instead of the bottom might help, but definately a paragraph in help would make it much easier for people to use the search button. And reference it and voting more promomently wherever it is placed. And I have used help like only 4 times because I keep forgetting about it Sources: just my opinions .

No, they probably don't Searching for past answers is very hard on Askville, especially if you're a new user who isn't even entirely sure what you're doing on here in the first place. You've probably noticed that many of the repeat questions are Amazon customer service questions - the people who ask these questions, in many cases, honestly believe that they are sending the question to Amazon customer service. There are a couple ways I can think of that Askville could address this issue, one simpler than the other.

Firstly, by implementing a full text search, rather than the current topic-only search they've got. Considering that Amazon already has the A9 search engine it's developed this should not be an overly complex task. But honestly, how many people are gonna search first anyways?

Another, slightly trickier solution may be to have some sort of "artificial intelligence" that can parse a question when it's asked and show similar questions. This is commonly done with the Customer Service/Help systems used by some online stores/services. Essentially, if you ask a question, it tries to match your question with others that have already been asked and answered.

Then, before your question is submitted, you're invited to review these previous questions and your question is only submitted if you didn't find what you were looking for elsewhere. This might be slightly more effective, but not always. Some people just like to have their own questions answered.

I guess for now you can simply not answer those repeat questions. Or do what I do - keep a stock of canned responses for the most frequently asked ones.

Currently,this is a monumental task. A community memory would help. Yes,you can go to a topic and search for questions that have been asked before.

For the newbies,who this question may have been asked for,let’s say that you have a question about Questville or quest coins. You should first check the FAQ regarding any askville related question. It looks like this at the bottom of the page | FAQ | or the shortcut right here askville.amazon.com/askville/faq.html .

Now,questions regarding questville will be here askville.amazon.com/askville/view/ViewTa... or here askville.amazon.com/askville/view/ViewTa... All you do is click the tab that says questions with answers,in the center. You can also watch these topics by visiting that page and clich on this Then it will appear in your watchlists under "my account",click topics. Askville currently doesn’t have a community memory,but I’m sure that it will at some time.

This could prevent redundancy by showing you similar questions. You can see the latest news about Askville on the home page,by linking to the blog here. askville-blog.amazon.com/ Sources: Askville BrainBuilder_is_gone's Recommendations Stop Sign Die-Cut Photographic Magnet Asking the same questions.

This will soon pass.

How do I know that my questions has been answered already. " "Do you think some people post mindless questions here on Askville because they have nothing else to do? " "yes,ASKVILLE,I have a QUESTION.

WHY is it that I ASKED 2 QUESTIONS, as well as ANSWERED a QUESTION..WHERE are THEY?

When you vote on askville questions you've answered, do you purposefully give other answers a lower score in hopes of.

Why are people on askville asking stupid questions.

How do I know that my questions has been answered already.

Yes,ASKVILLE,I have a QUESTION. WHY is it that I ASKED 2 QUESTIONS, as well as ANSWERED a QUESTION..WHERE are THEY?

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.