Yahoo! Answers

On Yahoo! Answers, there are lots of ways to receive recognition for hard work, quality Answers, and interesting Questions—they take can take the shape of thumbs up, stars, or Best Answers– these are all controlled by you, the Answers community.

In addition to this, Yahoo! Answers also has something called the “Best of Answers” module. This rotating module featured on the Answers homepage showcases some of the quirky and interesting content that we come across on the Answers site. Typically this content is handpicked by a combination of Yahoo! Answers team members and editorial team members who surf the site looking for interesting questions that might pique your interest.

In addition to the “Best of Answers” module, every so often, a question from Answers is also featured on the Front Page of Yahoo—visible to literally millions of Yahoo! users in a single day.

We know that each day, each of you, come across potentially hundreds of interesting, quirky, and fantastic questions that YOU consider “the best of Answers”—so we want to see them!

What’s the catch, and what are the rules?

• Questions must have been asked and answered within the last 3 months – freshness matters!
• No questions containing profanity, obscenity, relating to sex, alcohol, etc.
• Questions must follow the Community Guidelines
• Answers should be thorough and complete and should NOT be plagiarized. Here’s an example of a good question and answer: Is eating the inside of an orange peel good for you?
  
• Question and answer should be relatively free from typos and grammatical errors

What do I get if my question is picked?

If we select your question and feature it on either the Yahoo! Front Page or in the “Best of Answers” module, we’ll award whoever suggested the question to us, 100 extra points on Answers.

Ok, so where do I submit my questions?

Think you have a winner on your hands? Submit your questions to us via email at: y_answrs_favorites@yahoo.com

If we select your question, we’ll send you an email notifying you that your question has been selected and you should see the bonus points in your account shortly.

We can’t wait to see what types of questions you send our way, so start searching the site, scouring your watchlist, and sharing your favorites with the team!

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As a part of the changes to the Answers homepage, we’re also rolling out a few changes to the search experience on Answers over the next few days. We’ve taken the feedback you’ve provided through the blogs, email accounts, Customer Care, as well as through the feedback links and the Suggestion Board and have incorporated your comments to improve the current search experience.

Through the new search experience, you’ll notice a new, re-designed layout on your search results page, making it easier to refine your search without having to leave the page.

The new answers search page

1- We’ve  taken all of the options which were previously available in Advanced Search and moved them to the left-hand-side of this page to make it easier to customize your search queries.

2 - The category dropdown has been re-structured to fit this new design.

3- For those of you who perform the same search regularly, we’ve also thought of you: : we’ve replaced the “Make this my default search option” with the “My Saved Search” feature.  “My Saved Search” allows you to save your favorite search so you can easily access the results from anywhere on Yahoo! Answers.  By checking this box Answers will store your most frequent searches.  You can then click on the “My Saved Search” link next to the “Search Answers” button to access your saved search from wherever you are on the site.

You can find out more about making the most of `My Saved Search` by checking out this help article.

As with all of the changes we’re making at the moment we’d love to hear your feedback.  Leave us a comment here on the blog or on the feedback thread on the Suggestion board.

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Boo! Don’t be scared! Answers will be down this Friday, October 30, starting at 9 p.m. PDT for scheduled maintenance.

During this time, you’ll be unable to access the Answers site, but will be able to:

-          Catch up on old posts on the Answers blog

-          Stop by the Answers Suggestion Board

-          Take part (if you dare) in a Halloween-themed Answers competition (details below)

Additionally, please be aware that the Yamster will be setting back his clocks at 2 a.m. PST on November 1, 2009. During this time, no new questions will show on the Answers pages, but things will be back to normal after one hour.

Answers Halloween Costume Contest

If you’re feeling festive, download the Yamster avatar and dress him up for Halloween! Feel free to add hats, clothing, or whatever you’d like—just be sure to keep it friendly, clean, and compliant with the Answers Community Guidelines.

Sites like Picnik (which is built directly into Yahoo’s own Flickr) offer a full arsenal of Halloween accouterments like masks, spiders, and spooky scenes that would make any Yamster squeal. Be sure to check them out here: http://www.picnik.com/app#/create/seasonal

Or, you can use something like Microsoft Paint, Photoshop, SumoPaint, or any other paint program on the market to edit or enhance an image.

Not a fan of the Yamster? That’s OK, too! You’re welcome to dress up your own personal Avatars in their finest Halloween looks for the competition.

Once you’re through dressing up your Yamster or Avatar, save the image (right click and “save as”) and upload it to your Flickr account. Then, add the image to the Answers Halloween pool—found here: http://flickr.com/groups/answershalloween.

Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. PST on Sunday, November 1. Winner(s) will be posted on the Yahoo! Answers Blog and will receive 100 bonus points on Yahoo! Answers.

The Rules

-          Avatars and/or Yamsters must be submitted to Flickr by 5 p.m. PST on November 1

-          All images must be in compliance with Yahoo’s TOS, Yahoo! Answers Community Guidelines, Flickr’s Community Guidelines, and must not contain mature or adult content

-          Submitted images may only be that of Avatars or of the Yamster—no actual photographs will be accepted or considered

-          No real value is given to this prize: winner(s) will receive 100 bonus points on Yahoo! Answers

Good luck, everyone!

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UPDATE: Maintenance was finished overnight and Answers is fully working again. Thanks for your patience!

We have some planned maintenance scheduled on Tuesday, August 4, 2009, from 1:00 a.m. PST (Pacific Standard Time).

Don’t worry though, there are heaps of other things to do on Yahoo! to fill your time! Here are a few ideas:

• Check out the all-new Yahoo! Frontpage.
• Watch a video on how the Yahoo! Frontpage was built at the Yahoo! Anecdotal blog.
• Want to know what your future holds? Get your August horoscope.
• Book a summer getaway through Yahoo! Travel.

We appreciate your patience while we complete this vital maintenance.

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