July 1, 2009 at 11:58 am
Hey everyone,
Yahoo! Answers is experiencing some unexpected down time. We’re currently working hard to fix the problem and apologize for the inconvenience. We appreciate your patience while we work things out.
The Yahoo! Answers Team
If you’re looking for something to do during the downtime, why not try some of these:
See you all on the other side!
– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers Team
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Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team
July 1, 2009 at 11:11 am
The Yahoo! Answers Team are excited to announce a small but significant change to the site. As of today, any links posted by Level 1 Answers users will not be hyperlinked.
It may seem like a trivial change but it is an important step to limit the impact of spam on Answers. The site has had a points and levels system since its inception, which aims to promote activity and trust. Only hyperlinking http URLs from users who are Level 2 and above is a new way to reward and protect our core contributors.
The lack of hyperlinking applies to any link that begins http:// - links that are posted that begin www. are already not hyperlinked for all users regardless of level. We appreciate that removing hyperlinking for level 1 users is not a final or a perfect solution. For example long URLs are currently being truncated but we are working on further updates to improve this.
We’ve taken this action in response to clear user feedback, from you the Answers community. And rest assured that this is just one of a number of initiatives we are implementing to limit the impact of spam on Answers. We hope it’s a small step towards making Answers a better place. We’d welcome your feedback on this change.
– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers Team
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Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team
June 26, 2009 at 4:52 pm
As you all know, the web is a vast place and just like in the real world, you can encounter all sorts of people. Here at Yahoo! Answers, as we strive to improve your experience on Answers, we are also committed to your online security with resources like our Online Safey Help Pages. That’s why we offer many ways to control the personal information you want to display and who can contact you.
Since the amount of information you display on social networks is completely up to you, we wanted to remind you how to control these settings on Answers.
Want privacy?
- Don’t display your real name. Pick a nickname or a screen name. A nickname without any personally identifiable information is best.
- Don’t post your real photo. Pick an image or go for an avatar or no image at all.
- Don’t reveal personal information in your profile.If you don’t want the community to see your questions and answers, make them private.
Want to control who contacts you?
- Limit your network of friends. Your contacts can view your activity on Answers. Controlling your network allows you to add or remove friends, and also block users.
- Activate or deactivate contact options. We never display your email address, but through this feature you can control whether other people can contact you or not.
And now, a question for you: Do you feel too much personal information is shared in the online world? How do you feel about it?
Let us know…
– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team
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Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team
June 22, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Over the years since it launched, Answers has grown and grown. In March ‘09 we had 177.8 million monthly unique visitors worldwide according to comScore. We have 680 million answers live globally and 100 million questions.
We receive an average of 173,000 questions a day globally. This breaks down to 7,200 questions an hour, 120 questions a minute or 2 questions a second, globally – which isn’t doing to badly, even if we say so ourselves.
The thing is, everyone can always do better and we’re no exception. So this month we’re reaching out to you guys, the contributors to UK & Ireland Answers for your feedback.
The short survey that you can find here or linked to from the UK & Ireland Answers Homepage will let us know what we’re doing well and where we can improve.
We’re all ears here…
– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team
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Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team
June 22, 2009 at 12:37 pm
There are many reasons to love Answers. Some thrive on providing helpful answers that benefit the community. Others enjoy being able to benefit from so much knowledge by a simple click. If you’re an expert in a specific area, why not use that knowledge and become a Top Contributor? A Top Contributor is a member of the community who has shown that they are knowledgeable in a particular category.
How can I become a Top contributor?
With a little dedication a top contributor badge can be yours too. Check out Answers and pick categories you have the most expertise in. Answer questions in the most informative way if you want to increase your chances at getting the best answer.
You can be a top contributor in up to three categories. Remember that the top contributor badge is dynamic, which means that you earn it or lose it depending on your recent participation in a particular category. In other words, the more you participate, the more likely you will earn a badge and but if you stop participating, you will lose your badge. To recover your badge, you have to increase your activity in a specific category again.
Also, most of the users on the Answers Leaderboard happen to be top contributors. The leaderboard allows you to see who’s in the lead and check out their stats. It’s updated every week. Who knows, with a little work, you might make it there too!
Keep in mind that while sharing what you know is encouraged, it is also important to make sure you don’t share anything that puts your answer in violation of the Community Guidelines.
Got any more questions? Leave us a comment and let us know!
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Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team