How to "clean up" answers.atlassian.com and notify users of incorrect use?

[Gary Weaver]

Ok, this is a bit of a rant in the form of a question, so I apologize, but...

I keep noticing that users of answers.atlassian.com ask questions or add comments as answers rather than comment or ask new questions, don't mark answers as answers, and don't upvote people that provided information.

I understand that many users don't understand the way to use answers.atlassian.com properly, and to some extent, non of the karma, organization, etc. really matters, but at some point this site needs to have tougher moderation.

Now I know that this is a touchy subject, because customers and partners could be offended, and of course to some extent rules are made to be broken in the name of better service. However, is there anything that can be done about this problem? For example, what levels are karma does it take to start moving answers to comments, and when that is done, can an email be sent to the user that added a comment as a question to tell them they are doing it wrong?

[Jeremy Largman · Accepted solution]

Thanks for these comments Gary. I'm really glad you raised this. Of course, I'm not sure whether to answer or comment :).

I think we'll need a two-pronged approach. Or maybe three:

1. We've got some features we need to build, that'll improve this. For example:
   Create better indicators for accepted answer and self-answered
   Create a better user experience around add comment vs answer my own question
   Clean up AAC tags
2. We should take responsibility for moderation at Atlassian. We're in the process of working on specific staffing. I'm glad to hear you would appreciate it.
3. We could increase karma for grooming? Answers should be part Atlassian part community, so where it makes sense to reward people for cleanup effort, that seems good. Some communities are entirely community run and it can work out.

[Gary Weaver]

Thanks, Jeremy!