Small Upgrade On The Way

[AB Editor]

We're just adding some links to the AB social profiles (for those interested) and adding a "related question" feature.

The latter is a bit "dumb" at the moment, and runs a direct title search to produce results. We will tweak this in the future to produce more nuanced results.

Let me know if anything is on fire over the next couple of hours.

All the best,

Ed

[albaqwerty]

Afternoon Mamya, I too, wondered about the 3 below.

[bibblebub]

Bazile - i don't bother with with facebook or google+ and only use twitter to search for up-to-the-minute info, so those 3 buttons are of no use to me

[AB Editor]

"but may I politely ask how are the three threads below related to this one?"

I must say, I'm a little stumped on that myself. We're looking at it.

As I mentioned, the system is a little "dumb" at the moment.

[emmie]

Mr Ed, i don't think people actually like it, at least going on the many posts relating to it.

[woofgang]

I still have not got all my best answers showing in the best answer list, its stuck at 96 and I am now on 103.

[AB Editor]

What happens is, the system searches the title of the question on the site and produces these as the related questions.

i.e. http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/search/?q1=Small+Upgrade+On+The+Way

A question like this:

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Quizzes-and-Puzzles/Question1205590.html

(or its equivalent) might have some very useful related questions below it over the weekend.

[AB Editor]

"Mr Ed, i don't think people actually like it, at least going on the many posts relating to it."

Where? Or you mean here? If it's here, I must say this is a fairly minor ripple compared to some of the Tsunami's of outrage we've weathered previously :)

[jno]

people don't like anything new. I've still got my buggy whip standing by for when the petrol runs out.

What's the actual idea here, to get more people responding to old questions, or just to give them related threads where they can seek more information?

If the latter, there might not be much point in linking to old CB threads, for instance, or to anything very old.

[DTCwordfan]

True, Ed but I could put up an argument where it hurts and that the extra material serves to camouflage the ads and your sponsors won't like that. I had an old boss, who when it came to presentation of material worked on the surgeon's first adage "If in doubt, rip it out"...... I have worked, design-wise, with that "rule" ever since.

[emmie]

not outrage surely, but a small squeak of disapproval - changing something that essentially doesn't make it better.

[AB Editor]

"has the ftg+ at top right only just appeared? (that's something else i'll be getting rid of)"

Yep, I can't see why you're all that offended by it though!

[AB Editor]

"True, Ed but I could put up an argument where it hurts and that the extra material serves to camouflage the ads and your sponsors won't like that."

Sure you're off the gin? That doesn't make any sense.

[jno]

btw, a quote from Douglas Adams on the problems of coming up with anything new:

"Anything that is in the world when you're born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that's invented between when you're 15 and 35 is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you're 35 is against the natural order of things."

[mccfluff]

ooooo i quite like ftg, very modern looking

cheers hadn;t spotted that

[shoota]

I think it only right to 'suck it and see' - it is still at the developement stage; it may become the new sliced bread.

[AB Editor]

"What's the actual idea here, to get more people responding to old questions, or just to give them related threads where they can seek more information?"

The latter. Or, in cases where there are no answers, an alternative avenue.

"If the latter, there might not be much point in linking to old CB threads, for instance, or to anything very old."

See, old posts might be useful in law, especially when it's a rare question - I wouldn't want useful information excluded from users.

Excluding CB is a pretty good idea however.

[emmie]

new can be good, this isn't, it doesn't add anything of worth to a good site.

[AB Editor]

"ooooo i quite like ftg, very modern looking"

AND it lines up the red bars nicely.

[bibblebub]

ed - as i said in a later posting, i steer clear of 2 of those sites and use the other in a way totally disconnected from AB so those 3 buttons are just a waste of screen space for me.

[ummmm]

I've used it already. It did relate to one of AOG's ongoing threads though.

I wish people would stop moaning.