How do I mark my post "solved" so I don't get ...

[BGiffin2004]

How do I mark my post "solved" so I don't still keep getting people spending thier time trying to help me? How can I help them by telling them my question already got answered? (I could not find this answer in the FAQ's. - Why?)

 

[jeffreybrown]

You don't mark your thread as "solved" on this forum. Just simply posting a, "I've found my answer" or a thank you to those who have helped will suffice.

 

[BGiffin2004]

Ok. Thanks Jeff Brown.
I got my answer.

 

[Gerald Higgins]

Yes but probably best to do it in that thread

 

[BGiffin2004]

Roger that, Gerald.

 

[BigC]

How does that help??

To me this is the one thing lacking on this forum.
I would be willing to look at threads with a number of replies with a view to helping IF it has not yet been solved, but I don't now as I would waste a lot of time opening threads only to find that they've been solved.

Surely it can't be difficult to ask the thread originator whenever they are posting to that thread whether or not their problem as been solved, and if so, flagging the thread accordingly.

 

[Joe4]

Surely it can't be difficult to ask the thread originator whenever they are posting to that thread whether or not their problem as been solved, and if so, flagging the thread accordingly.

It sure can!

When you have a forum this big, getting everyone to something the exact same way is next to impossible, and we do not have the Moderator man-power to police it all (nor do we have the desire to make this forum a police state!). I would say about half of the posts that I answer never receive a follow-up from the OP acknowldeging if it works or not. Many people quit posting once they get an answer that works.

However, there is a bigger reason why we do not do this, that has been discussed in many, many posts like this over the years. Just because a person gets an answer that works does not mean that it is the only answer or even the best answer . Some of the best threads over the years have been threads that receive posts after the thread has been supposedly solved with alternative solutions. It is a great learning tool to see how different people solve questions different ways.

 

[RoryA]

To echo what Joe said, my experience of forums that do have a facility to mark threads solved is that it happens probably about 20-30% of the time, if that. The amount of work that would be involved for Mods to chase that up here would be enormous.

 

[BGiffin2004]

Ok, thanks; Rorya, Joe, & BigC. All great answers.
I just think it is the polite thing to do if I got my answer to post that. I don't mind any other answers that might be posted late.

In fact you are right. I have gotten better answers several times after I initially thought I had what I needed.

Enjoy your Thanksgivings.

BGiffin2004

 

[BigC]

I wasn't suggesting that the Moderators "manually" review all posts and/or follow up those that are not marked as solved - that would be crazy in this electronic world. Nor do I deny that better solutions may be offered at a later date. I also wasn't suggesting the thread be locked, so interested users could still post to it even if the thread was marked as Solved. Remember that users can see the date of the last post, so can get an idea as to whether or not the thread is "current".

Instead, I was thinking that this issue could be solved (pardon the pun) programatically with a question ("Problem solved?") in a pop-up dialogue box (rather than a checkbox on the Post Reply form - which relies on the user seeing & going to it) presented to the OP when they submit any subsequent post to that thread. If they answer Yes then SOLVED could be added to the thread subject line. As this would force the OP to respond, I would expect a much higher strike rate with this method than anything else, and little - if any - downside.