Yahoo! Answers

We’re always working on improvements and new features to ensure that you get the most out of Yahoo! Answers. Today we are introducing a new “Suggested Questions” module on the Answers homepage.

Some of you have told us that it can be time-consuming to find questions that match your interests. We’ve also heard that one of the things you love about Yahoo! Answers is when an expert in the field finds your question and gives you an amazing answer. So now we’ve got a great way to present questions to the most relevant answerers.

With this new feature, Answers users will be able to see questions that are better suited to their interests and areas of expertise, rather than just those most recently posted. And while it will only appear for some of our most active members, we think it can positively impact our whole community by helping improve both the quality and speed of answers on the site.

The suggestions are based on your most recent activity on Answers. For example, if you recently answered many questions related to a specific make or model of mobile phone, it is most likely that you will get more Suggested Questions related to this subject matter.

You’ll find Suggested Questions displayed on the homepage of Yahoo! Answers, as well as on the confirmation page you see after you have asked or answered a question.

If you aren’t seeing the module, don’t fret. For now, only Answers users with a significant amount of activity around a topic will receive Suggested Questions, but the more active you are on Yahoo! Answers, the easier it will be for us to know what you are passionate and knowledgeable about. Once we know this, we’ll be able to present you with questions that best match your interests, too.

As always, we want to give you as much control as possible, so you can modify your profile settings if you want to receive a different number of Suggested Questions. Alternatively, if you prefer to see only the most recent questions, you can opt out of Suggested Questions completely (if you change your mind, you can reactivate this feature). Simply edit your profile and uncheck the “Show me suggested questions based upon my activity on Answers ” option.

Please keep in mind that we need you to be active on a topic for a while before we can start offering you Suggested Questions. And, of course, these questions are private-only you will see the questions related to your activity.

So what are you waiting for? Check out your Yahoo! Answers homepage and enjoy this new shortcut for sharing your knowledge.

Please visit our help pages for more information on Suggested Questions.

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Following last week’s announcement, the transition to the new Yahoo! profiles is now taking place on Answers. You will start noticing changes in your image display options. What does this mean? From now on, instead of importing your displayed image from Yahoo! 360, Answers will use the image from your new Yahoo! profile.

For those who like to display multiple images, keep in mind that only one image can now be displayed in all of Yahoo! Services. Yahoo! 360 users should make sure that the image displaying there is the one they want to show throughout the Yahoo! network, and update it if necessary.

To ensure that your Answers display image is the one you want, we recommend you go to http://profiles.yahoo.com now and activate your new profile. Once you’re there, you’ll be asked to verify some information that you’ve previously shared with Yahoo!, and to select the image you’d like to share with the Answers community.

If you have never used other Yahoo! services and haven’t activated your profile yet, your image will show up as the “Gray Face.”

For those of you who display an Avatar on Answers – don’t worry. This won’t change. Both Avatars and nicknames will continue to remain the same on Answers.

Have more questions? Leave us a comment and let us know!

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Know someone who shares your interests? Fascinated by a relationship guru or a physics expert? Let your favorite users become part of your very own personal network on Yahoo! Answers.

How does it work?

Adding people to the Answers Network is just a few clicks away! It can be as simple as clicking the “Add to My Contacts” link on any profile page or Avatar rollover. You can also invite friends from outside of Answers to join your network. Your friends can even be Contacts from your Yahoo! Address Book.

Visit our “Invite a Friend” page to start sending out invitations to your friends. By adding people to your network, you will have direct access to their Q&A. Their most recent content will appear on your Answers homepage and on your profile page. You will also be able to see which questions your friends have starred. If you want to look at more Q&A, click “My Network’s Q&A,” which is located at the top of your profile page.

Users who have added you to their network are called “Fans.” You can view your Fans by clicking the “Fans” tab on your profile page. When you add someone as a “Contact,” you will appear in their “Fans” tab as well.

What if I don’t want Fans?

Easy-you can always opt out of the Answers Network:

1.      Go to your profile and click “Edit My Info.”

2.      Uncheck the box that says “Allow other people to be my Fan” under the “Yahoo! Answers Network” preferences.

What about you? Do you already have a contact network? Any interesting stories about your friends on Answers? Leave us a comment and share your story.

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Back in October, Yahoo! redesigned its core profile pages, giving them a fresh new look and feel, and additional functionality. Your new profile will allow you to manage your image and establish connections with your friends and family, as well as share what you’re up to on third-party sites like YouTube and Twitter. All of this can be done right from your new profile on Yahoo! at: http://profiles.yahoo.com.

So how does this relate to Yahoo! Answers? Currently, the image that displays in Answers is imported from your Yahoo! 360 profile. In the coming weeks, Answers will start using your Yahoo! profile to display your image rather than 360.

Many of you use other Yahoo! services on a regular basis, and we want to make it easier for you to manage your display image across our entire network. You’ll be able to update your profile image in one place and it will display wherever you go on the Yahoo! network.

We understand some of you opt to use images on Answers that are different from those you use on other Yahoo! services. To confirm that the image that we will soon be displaying on Answers is the one you want, we recommend you go to http://profiles.yahoo.com now and activate your new profile. Once you’re there, you’ll be asked to verify some information that you’ve previously shared with Yahoo!, and to select the image you’d like to share with the Answers community.

If you have never used other Yahoo! services and haven’t activated your profile yet, your image will show up as the “Gray Face.”

For those of you who display an Avatar on Answers – don’t worry. This won’t change.

Both Avatars and nicknames will continue to remain the same on Answers.

We want to make the transition to your new profile on Yahoo! as straightforward as possible for you. So go to http://profiles.yahoo.com now and let us know what you think of it.

Have more questions? Leave us a comment and let us know!

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We are excited to announce that the Category Leaderboards are now accurate and updated. We are working on a fix for the “overall” and “weekly” Leaderboards as well, and we’ll let you know as soon as it has been completed. As part of this update, we are also correcting how we calculate Best Answer percentages, so deleted Best Answers are ignored in the calculation. We know this is long overdue-many thanks for being so patient.

These changes may affect you in different ways. The Category Leaderboards will now be more accurate, reflecting recent points and deleted questions and answers. As a consequence, some of you will be promoted up the boards-similarly, others might slip down a little. Remember that inclusion in the Leaderboards is based on which country’s Yahoo! Terms of Service agreement you sign. For example, only users who signed Yahoo! France’s Terms of Service agreement will be seen in the French Leaderboards.

Thanks for your patience with us on this. The fix was not as straightforward as we had anticipated. We hope this helps to make your time on Answers a little more enjoyable.

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