Mark As Solved Button

This is really tempting, because threads can sometimes go on forever even after a definitive answer has been given. However, who should have the authority to pronounce a question as solved? Perhaps the OP might be satisfied, but others might not be. It is hard to tell where to draw the line.

True, if the Original Poster can think it qualifies to be "Marked as Solved", maybe there could be a notice at the top saying OP Marked as Solved, but still be open to other replies?

I've noticed that occasionally the Mods will close a thread for discussion, pretty much because the OP's question has been answered.

I suspect that the Mods like to cull "boring" threads this way.

Stop us "lurkers" from hijacking it or "Guests" from trolling on them

But the idea does have merit, just need some "what ifs" sorted.

Most of the more technical threads end fairly soon after the question is answered.

One possible problem with a solved button, is that in many instances there is more than one way to tackle a particular problem and it may merit further discussion. It does happen sometimes, that the answer thought to be the best........even by the OP, turns out not to be, and the solved button would dissuade others from commenting. Had the OP pushed the solved button prematurely, the only way to restart the discussion, would be to start a new thread.

As always, it's helpful when the OP goes and tries the ideas mentioned, and then reports back as to the one idea that worked the best. It's difficult to label a problem solved until a solution is put into practical use............sometimes that could take weeks, depending on the situation.

I stay subscribed to threads, and always encourage the OP's to come back and let us know how everything worked out. The members almost always do. Not so often with the guests.

Cheers, have you ever been on Techguy forums? On their forum they have a mark as solved button, but once pressed, it can be undone by pressing again which seems like quite a good idea.

If that's the case, there could well be copyright or other legal issues to consider. A specific, "Solved Button", could very well fall within their intellectual property domain.

I doubt the Techguy forum would be happy about CR4 taking ideas from their forum.

I'll bet they have something like this of their own:

©2005-2010 GlobalSpec. All rights reserved.
GlobalSpec, the GlobalSpec logo, SpecSearch, The Engineering Search Engine
and The Engineering Web are registered trademarks of GlobalSpec, Inc.
CR4 and Conference Room 4 are registered trademarks of GlobalSpec, Inc.
No portion of this site may be copied, retransmitted, reposted, duplicated or
otherwise used without the express written permission of GlobalSpec Inc.
30 Tech Valley Dr. Suite 102, East Greenbush, NY, 12061

I mean use that sort of idea, not going and taking the coding.

Yeah, I know what you're saying. I don't know if I'm even correct. But, I do know, that using someone else's idea, even in the digital domain, can bring the lawyers knocking. People tend to get very touchy when it comes to intellectual property.

Even though these sites are free for us, it's ultimately about web traffic, # of visitors, advertisers, and in the end, money.

For example, if another engineering site was to set up their forums with something very similar to CR4's GA and OT system, I suspect that CR4/GLOBALSPEC would have a problem with that...............understandably.

As said by others, no one person has the right except the mods. I don't want to cede that authority ~ look at the number of stupid GAs that are handed out, admittedly for clever, but nevertheless, off topic answers. I think a post must be on topic to get a GA, others disagree.

We would then have thread a week on the wrongful use of the "Answered Button"; until somebody hit the button, of course.

So you mean a thread that starts off with "I have a Cast Iron bath tub that I want to get rid of. It would be difficult to carry out in one piece, so I intend to break it into smaller pieces in-situ." does not go on for 22,300 comments and more than three years?

Perish the thought!

There are so many acronyms used on this forum that I'd like to see an ACRONYM button that list them in alphabetical order with their meanings.

I know this is off topic… but I used the work button.

Some of the best responses come after the OPs question has been given an answer. Sometimes they are better on topic responses, sometimes they are off topic or in the bathtub responses. But they are often worth having.

Once change that would be good is to have a 24 hour time limit on the ability to declare a response off topic. Having someone get into a bit of a spat in a thread should not be followed by one person going back through time and marking OTs on the other persons threads to cause a loss of GAs. Being able to GA after 24 hours is still good.

As there are attempts to "clean up" CR4 we may want to consider this: As more and more of the postings are homework and car repair questions the off topic postings can be an important part of what helps to keep the members interested and coming back to the CR4 community. I never spent quite enough time reading old threads to understand why Blinkey left and we suspect that something bad may have happened to Sparkstation. But, Endigan, Brickman, Steve and a lot of the other daily members of CR4 seem to be missing. We don't even get as many fur-ball comments from Del as we used to. As the ratio of great postings to homework/car-repair postings drops we need to value anything that keeps registered members coming back. Often the "after the answer" postings are where registered members do the most interacting with each other.

It might not be consistent with the mission statement of CR4, but some of the most important parts of CR4 are knowing that Del makes obsolete weapons, Steve cuts his fingers a lot, Brickman has a lot of really neat old junk in the back room, LynLynch seems to have a barn somewhere cold and I think Endigan gets transferred from state to state every couple of years. Strict "on topic" rules would be good for guests but I suspect not for the rest of us.

I don't recall exactly what my spud gun question was, but the string of responses and one or two mailbox messages I got were great. I am grateful that we did not have a "DONE" button on that thread.

And yes, the cast iron bathtub thread is a classic. Actually, the cast iron bathtub thread is "THE CLASSIC".