The standard behavior for Q+A in most systems is that you never a view an answer separate from the question. However, in commons Answers are their own nodes (I assume this is for voting?) and get their own listings and links on a group page and in the activity stream, i.e. "Tom created [Node Title] in [Group Title]." There is no clarity that this is an answer to a question in the link.
Once clicked the answer is shown on it's own and "Related Question" is listed below the answer, but without a link to the answer.
Finally, if you are viewing the answer on its own, or while viewing the question, it is very confusing which flags to use. The Question has like and follow flags, the Answer has like, follow and vote up and vote down. Is a user supposed to like an answer? Vote it up?
My suggestion is that clicking an answer should always take you to that answer viewed on the same page as the question. Answers should only have vote up and down flags or like flags, but not both. Answers should not have "follow" flags. Only Questions should.
| Comment | File | Size | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| #11 | 1935312-11-remove-like-answers.patch | 900 bytes | ezra-g |
| #1 | QandA-recent-additions.png | 115.26 KB | rosemeria |
Comments
Comment #1
rosemeria commentedI agree - question page only; answers should behave more like "comments" on the Question page.
Links to question page only - see image of possible link format.
Comment #2
Anonymous (not verified) commentedThe answers should stay nodes, but the relationship between answers and originating question should be more obvious.
If you go to an answer node directly, e.g. through a link in activity streams, you'll only see the related question as normal text. Maybe it should be a bit more emphasized? Or at least be a link?
Comment #3
jasonwhat commented@taraluktus I don't know enough about the benefits of answers being nodes or comments within the voting system. There are still two issues here:
1. An answer node apart from a question won't make sense and does not foster the kind of community interaction desired from having a Q+A feature. The ideal is users adding answers to a question and voting the best to the top so a user in the future can search and find that answer -- similar to Quora or Yahoo! Answers. Answers on their own are confusing, and especially without even a link as you note.
2. The user has too many options when viewing questions or answers. They can like the Question node and follow it. They can also like the answer, follow the answer and vote thumps up and thumbs down on the answer. If viewing the answer node, they can also comment on the answer. This might be okay since an answer might lead to a discussion, but is confusing for the user.
Comment #4
Topcheese commentedI've not messed with the Q&A section, but I would think that a question should be answered and not commented on as pointed out in #3 point 2. A comment would be an answer in that case.
Doesn't the thumbs up/ thumps down cover like, so why use them both?
Comment #5
ezra-g commentedRe-titling with the main action item here.
I think the other concerns in this issue are captured in #1946120: 'Answer added' activity stream message should link to the Answer node as displayed on the question, but let me know if I've missed anything.
Comment #6
ezra-g commentedAdding to 3.3 radar.
Comment #7
japerryComment #8
jasonwhat commentedI still say a Yahoo! and Quora approach is best. I expect to see the Question at top with answers below (sorted by most voted/liked answer). The goal of a Q+A section is to get the most accurate answer information to an end user as quickly as possible.
Comment #9
ezra-g commentedUnassigning from japerry under the assumption that he's not planning to work on this during his wedding, which is this week :).
Comment #10
ezra-g commentedComment #11
ezra-g commentedComment #12
devin carlson commentedThe patch in #11 applied cleanly and removed the like widget from answer nodes.
Comment #13
ezra-g commentedThanks for the review.
I corrected some tab indentation and committed.
http://drupalcode.org/project/commons_q_a.git/commitdiff/c0b47b3?hp=818b...