Related Questions should appear in preview

June 16, 2008 9:57 AM

I'd like to suggest that the "related questions" feature of Ask appear in the preview stage of posting a question. It may cause the asker to find their answer pre-posting (great for people who suck at searching, like me!) or rephrase their question in a manner that's more helpful and therefore cut down on the asker having to clarify repeatedly in the thread.
posted by dobbs to Feature Requests at 9:57 AM (30 comments total)

Or it could make searches seem unnecessary, which they aren't.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:08 AM on June 16, 2008

But then we don't get the benefit of your related question.
posted by iamkimiam at 10:10 AM on June 16, 2008

I'd like to suggest that the "related questions" feature of Ask appear in the preview stage of posting a question.

I like this idea. It sounds similar to the box on the preview page when posting a new thread to the blue (the one that tells you if any of your links have appeared before, and if there are any recent posts with the same tags).

It would be useful, and contribute to a feel of consistency across the site.

See, I can be a non-asshole sometimes!
posted by dersins at 10:17 AM on June 16, 2008

I second this notion.
posted by ardgedee at 10:23 AM on June 16, 2008

Yeah, I'd use this.

I just searched-before-posting today, and I'm glad that I did, but easier is nicer, and more likely to get done.
posted by SlyBevel at 10:28 AM on June 16, 2008

Hear. Hear.
posted by Ivana Shtup de Naparino at 10:29 AM on June 16, 2008

What all does the relatedness depend on, again? For an unanswered question it would seem to rely heavily on tags supplied by the user, which seems likely to mostly help those who already have a nifty built-in tool for finding related questions.

In conclusion, I cannot find the Metatalk thread that explained how the feature in question actually works, even though I know it's there, so possibly I'm entirely wrong and we need related threads everywhere.
posted by Tehanu at 10:37 AM on June 16, 2008

I, too, would like this pony.
posted by sveskemus at 10:37 AM on June 16, 2008

I like this idea, because for some reason I utterly and completely fail at searching anything on this site.
posted by Grither at 11:40 AM on June 16, 2008

Sounds... non-stupid as an idea.
posted by Artw at 12:02 PM on June 16, 2008

Related question
posted by burnmp3s at 12:14 PM on June 16, 2008

A++++ WOULD USE THIS FEATURE!!!!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:14 PM on June 16, 2008

Related Suggestions
I would like a pony May 3, 2007
The pony should not be overly small May 4, 2007
Stout is probably not the right word, though May 6, 2007
'Lean, but well-fed' is probably the right ballpark May 14, 2007
Also, a small man to scoop up after it June 11, 2007
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:23 PM on June 16, 2008 [10 favorites]

I still think the powers that be should really just defuckify the whole search dealy once and for all.

(See two threads down.)
posted by Sys Rq at 12:54 PM on June 16, 2008

Great idea!
posted by OmieWise at 1:26 PM on June 16, 2008

I'm giving myself a new mission. I'm going to try to fit the word 'defuckify' into at least three conversations today.
posted by quin at 1:53 PM on June 16, 2008

Please tell me you're a highschool guidance counselor.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:07 PM on June 16, 2008 [4 favorites]

I've been meaning to ask for this as well. Of course, if I understand how relatedness is arrived at, it would require that you write your question first and then find out that it has already been asked and answered. That doesn't mean that showing related on-preview shouldn't happen, but by the time someone's invested their time in a well-composed question they may be inclined to go full-speed ahead regardless.

Also, having just posed a question earlier, I noted that the on-preview copy tells you to click back if you wish to edit your entry, when in fact the editing space is just below the preview.
posted by mumkin at 2:11 PM on June 16, 2008

Hey! "Two threads down" is now just one thread down. No fair.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:22 PM on June 16, 2008

We have altered the index. Pray we don't alter it further.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:26 PM on June 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

DAMMIT!!!! I wanted to piss on a pony request! But this is a great one, so thanks, dobbs, thanks a whole freakin' lot for ruining my fun.

I'll do this instead:

Hey! I thought of that! I was just coming here to post that!
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 5:55 PM on June 16, 2008

I'd like to also see a "Related Responses" based on category. For example:

Health: "See a doctor"
Food: "Throw it out"
Legal: "Get a lawyer"
Shopping: "Get a lawyer"
Relationships: Randomly chosen from "DTMFA" and "Get a lawyer"
posted by mkultra at 8:13 PM on June 16, 2008

I demand more unreasonable pony requests. This rational tendency is killing the site.
posted by Jofus at 11:00 PM on June 16, 2008

"We have altered the index. Pray we don't alter it further."

This index is getting worse all the time!
posted by nthdegx at 6:24 AM on June 17, 2008

the tivo community website does this and it rocks so, so hard.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 7:13 AM on June 17, 2008

YES!!!!
posted by serazin at 7:33 AM on June 17, 2008

Related questions are now at the top of the post preview page. Finding related questions requires some tags to work from, so if the question doesn't have any tags during preview there won't be any related questions.
posted by pb (staff) at 10:01 AM on June 17, 2008

Cool! If there aren't tags, will it throw a "Please tag your question" message?
posted by dersins at 10:42 AM on June 17, 2008

Yep, there's a note about tagging to get related questions.
posted by pb (staff) at 10:48 AM on June 17, 2008

I suppose I could've bided my time for a more appropriate moment, but this'll do:
OMG PONIES!!11!
posted by juv3nal at 10:53 AM on June 17, 2008