It doesn’t mean anything, really. It is a popularity contest, in which people vote for “best answer” whether or not the answer is actually true and correct. Consequently it is, I fear, terribly vulnerable to abuse.

[URL removed] someone might ask how best to write their titles and descriptions so as to appear well in Google generic search. And someone might answer, saying that our listings are SUBMITTED to Google search. In fact, our listing may be (or may not be) submitted to Google “shopping,” but are NOT submitted to Google generic. Yet, if the incorrect advice receives the most votes, it may be taken as true by folks who have no advice to the contrary.

This is not terribly different than the situation in the old forums, where “votes” were expressed in terms of “I agree with . . . so and so.” But the key difference, now, is [URL removed] once you have answered a question, you may not post additional material to the same thread. You may EDIT what you had previously responded, but you may not ADD another response. Therefore, it becomes difficult for people to follow the discussion.

I don’t know that this means the new way of doing things is dead in the water. We’ll have to see, about that. But it certainly DOES mean that people who were accustomed to a developing discussion will need to understand that once they have answered, they can’t jump in, again, later on.

In the end, people will need to do NOW what they have done in the [URL removed] look at everything, take nothing at face value, and decide what makes the most sense, to you.

And while the “votes” may be worth attention, they should at the same time be understood for what they [URL removed] a popularity contest. Many of the voters are really not possessed of the knowledge to evaluate the material; they vote from their gut. And don’t we all?

None of what I have said should be taken as a condemnation of the new community. To the contrary, I think we should all jump in and make of it what we can; lets give it a chance – and then see where the chips fall.

From the Roundtable FAQ "when answering that accuracy counts; the community votes for the best answer. If your response gets the most votes, Bonanza’s system remembers you as an excellent reference for a particular category of items. As a trusted resource, your response will get priority over others when a similar question arises. "

“The reputation will fluctuate depending on how many awesome or not so awesome answers you give.”

On the right hand side, near the posters advatar it shows how many minutes ago the question was asked and other information as well.

The reputation score was based on round table discussions and answers, when this forum was used solely to identify a product. I would imagine that aspect would be retired when forums are fully integrated.

What does the number inside the up and down arrows mean?
This is partially an experiment to see what will happen when I hit submit, to see if we can actually have a discussion in this area.

[URL removed] Ok, so I can ask a question, then have only one response. I see what JS was saying.

Testing also.