'Solution' Etiquette

[JackDunaway]

I can't find a central repository thread for discussing etiquette for 'Accept as Solution'. Further, I'm not sure if post best belongs in Breakpoint, Feedback, or LabVIEW, so I'm defaulting to Breakpoint.

I'll begin with a few questions:

1. When it is appropriate to ask the original poster to 'Accept as Solution', whether you are asking the poster to accept your Solution, someone else's Solution, or maybe even asking the poster to mark his or her own subsequent post as the Solution?
2. A hypothetical "post collision" occurs where two correct answers are just minutes apart. They both correctly and accurately answer the question, but the first answer is very brief and gives no background information. The second post, let's say, has a screenshot, some background information on the root cause of the problem and maybe some helpful tips on how to avoid future related problems. Which post should be marked as the Accepted Solution, the first correct answer, or the "better" answer that came minutes later?
3. Should all posts that are clearly asked in a question form result in a 'Solution' once the question is answered? Is it proper etiquette to simply say "Thanks" or give Kudos, or it 'required' etiquette to 'Accept as Solution'?
4. What says "Thank you" more... Kudos, or Accepted Solution? When is it appropriate to give only one, or both?
5. Is it proper to retroactively mark 'Not a Solution' in favor of a 'Accepting a Better Solution' that came significantly later (hours, days) than the original Solution?
6. What would be the best method of informing new users of this etiquette?

[elset191]

I'll go ahead and list my personal etiquitte rules, which of course may not be universal

1. As a rule, I never say "Unmark your own post, and give me the solution" because...I'm not sure why not.  Seems rude to me. I would not have a problem with saying "Unmark your post and give the solution to soandso", though I haven't yet I don't think.  Usually Saverio or someone else is already bustin chops.

2.  Here is a post I made where I gave the solution to the first responder, and doled out kudos to the others who offered up additional information, and warned me of future roadblocks. Here is a post where another user marked the first responder, and I offered up some additional advice.  I got a kudo though, so same situation as my thread.

3. I try to mark a solution if I have a specific programming question.  More generic design and other kinds of questions I try to say thaks and give kudos since there is so much good information posted by so many people.

4.Not sure what says more, but I think I give kudos with solutions, when I mark them

5. I think I have done this in the past, so I'd say it's acceptable.  If I needed to ask the question later, and stumbled on a solved thread, I would want the best solution marked.  Looking out for future generations of LVers.

A situation you didn't bring up, but I illustrate in this thread, is when there is more than one question asked.  Arguably this maybe shouldn't happen, but it does.  Here I gave the solution to the first person who answered one of my questions, and the rest get kudos (a little late...).

[tbob]

I agree that it is somewhat rude to ask the OP to mark your solution as the accepted one.  It seems to be rather egotistical to me.  So I never ask anyone to mark my solution or to give me kudos.  Kudos and marked solutions buy you nothing but an inflated ego.  That is one side of the coin.

Other side:  However, it is nice to get kudos and accepted solution marks, and it is satisfying to know that your efforts are well received and appreciated.  I think the best solution is for all of us stand up for our peers.  If LVABC give the correct solution and the OP doesn't mark it, someone should step up and tell the OP to mark LVABC's solution as the correct one so that he can get credit for his work.  Same for Kudos, don't be afraid to ask anyone to give kudos to your peers.  Then you would not have to ask for yourself, and appear to be egotistical.  And you would be telling your buddy that he deserves a pat on the back.

[jcarmody]

---

@tbob wrote:

I agree that it is somewhat rude to ask the OP to mark your solution as the accepted one.  It seems to be rather egotistical to me.  So I never ask anyone to mark my solution or to give me kudos.  Kudos and marked solutions buy you nothing but an inflated ego. 

[...] 

---

Here's a thread where I did quite a bit of work while the scope continued to expand so I asked for the solution (twice) before finally getting it.  I wouldn't say it inflated my ego, but it sure did give it a boost. 🙂  Here's one where I didn't ask for the solution mark, but felt I should have gotten it.  The OP posted Rube Goldberg's code, marked it as the solution and I snapped (a bit).  His response was that his solution matched requirements that he had never mentioned in the post.

I often see the wrong post marked as a solution and want to step in and tell the OP, but I don't.

Kudos I'd never ask for, but I love 'em.

[elset191]

Here, tbob jokes with a user after he marks his own solution.  Generally, I agree with that it shouldn't be done, but I have done it in the past.  I worked pretty hard to figure it out though, so I figure it's fair. 

I guess if I'm to not sound contradictory I should say, mark your own solution if you worked for it, that way people know where to look in the future.

[tbob]

I'm saying that if we all asked the OP to give kudos and mark the accepted solution for our peers, then they will do the same for us, and we would not have to ask for our own kudos.  If jack gives the solution, and I ask the OP to mark Jack's solution and give him a kudo, then when I come up with a solution, Jack might just be inclinded to ask the OP to mark my solution and give me a kudo.  That way I don't have to ask for myself. 

If we stick together as a group and we stand up for our peers, no one will have to ask to be recognized.  We should receive the recognition from our peers without having to ask.  Then no one can be considered rude or egotistical or whatever.  There would not have to be any debate as to etiquette.  Proper etiquette is to stand up for your peers and get the OP to give kudos to them.

[bobholmgren]

I think the basic criteria should be if a user goes to that thread looking for the solution to the topic, that's the post that should be marked as the solution, the one directly addressing the topic.

[JackDunaway]

Going back to this mystical "Board FAQ" that is several years in discussion, yet to blossom into fruition...

...it would be a good idea to have a section titled "What to do if I want to mark another post as the Solution?" This would briefly describe the simple process of changing the Accepted Solution. When you read a thread that someone else has been helping on that has the incorrect post marked as the Solution, kindly jump in and kindly stand up for the forum regular who should get the Accepted Solution, and kindly link to this section in the FAQ.

Since there's no FAQ just yet, maybe we can get a head start by editing Wiki/community-style a brief paragraph that will occupy a single post, and once it's refined, you can link to it in your "Corrective Action Request". (Maybe, a new thread called Board FAQ can be started, and posts to that thread can only be placed by a single delegate after a "community review"). Here's a first shot - don't be shy, feel free to revise:

Generally, when choosing an "Accepted Solution" for your post, you should choose the post which gives the best answer (sometimes, but not necessarily, the first answer). The best answer may be a combination of but is not limited to: elegance, efficiency, ___. It's good to remember that only a small portion of the benefit of the Accepted Solution goes to you - people reading your archived post for years to come will benefit from being able to jump to the best Solution. If you have marked a post as the Accepted Solution and wish to change the Solution to another post, choose "Options > Not the Solution" from the menu on the post you originally marked as the Solution. This will reactivate the "Accept as Solution" button on each post on the thread, at which point you can change your selection for the Accepted Solution.

By the way, my intention here is to address a root problem Laura pointed out: people generally aren't good at "Accepting a Solution", and the ones who get the short end of the stick are the good guys. That's not to mention, those perusing the archives are at a disadvantage since wrong posts are marked as Solutions. The goal is to make "Solutions" a more meaningful statistic.

[JackDunaway]

---

@jcarmody wrote:

... I snapped (a bit).

---

No, I disagree, you kept cool. Well, for what it's worth, I came in a few days late, stuck up for one of the guys who sticks up for the regex, and maybe made a case for code simplicity.

[Intaris]

Kudos, marked solutions, hugs and kisses.

None of them really bother me one way or the other except for the fact that kodos from people I respect highly tend to give me feedback that I'm on the right track.  It's more of an encouragement that the direction I am thinking is correct than "Look how cool I am".

Once I'm on the right track, I don't care who's in love with me or not (so to speak, please don't tell my Wife I said that )

Spoiler

Actually, I'll take hugs and kisses above kudos and solutions marked any day of the week.

Spoiler

But givent he heat here at the moment, hugs can only be accepted if you've showered int he last hour