Similar to stack overflow and other forums out there, it would be cool to have the functionality to allow the person who created the GH topic seeking help, the choice to accept the answer(s) that’s most helpful to them from the topic responses.

It could potentially benefit both the site and users in a few ways:

1) provides another metric to track General Help engagement
2) helpers can know whether their input was what the original poster found most useful
3) helpers are able to track how many topics they were chosen as providing the most helpful response
4) sets an example of what the format or content of a chosen answer looks like
5) display a rank of top helpers on GH based on this metric (this would be a site suggestion on its own)
6) could work an as incentive to encourage future helpers to participate
7) reduce spam

Stack Overflow example:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/33212939/how-to-wrap-a-c-hello-world-with-argv-using-cgo

This post was edited by r4f on Aug 5 2021 06:22am

Good idea, but, with the amount of people who already guard the General Help forum with their life the last thing it needs is an ePeen system. I think it works fine the way it is, people ask, people answer, and once it goes off topic or a staff member posts the thread is normally closed.

Generally accepted method of feedback for receiving support, but probably not applicable here.

Most questions are answered by copy and pasting, and for anything else, it gets responded to quickly enough if it isn't some weirdly specific circumstance.

I don't think it'll reduce spam of any kind because unless the topic is closed once an answer is chosen, its still prone to having people put their thoughts in.

I see what you're saying though.

This post was edited by Rws on Aug 5 2021 10:19am

4 - That shouldn't need an example.
5 - The topic creator can just mark his friend's post as the most helpful. Yes, they would bother doing that.
6 - People who want a trusted tag post there. What other encouragement is needed?
7 - It wouldn't reduce spam. People can still post in the topic.

This forum's PHP code is now crying because you compared it to such a cancerous, and irrelevant website