General Information FAQs

Yahoo! Answers is a place for people to ask and answer questions in order to share knowledge.

Unlike a chat room, Yahoo! Answers is not a place for people to ask each other how they're doing or "talk" when they're bored.

Unlike a message board, the questions in Yahoo! Answers are resolved when a best answer is picked, and the community can then rate the best answer. On a message board, threaded messages can continue without a resolution.

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No one can contact you unless you explicitly allow it. Contact permissions are controlled by you in your Answers profile. You choose if you would like users to be able to contact you via email, Yahoo! Instant Messenger, or Yahoo! 360. You can add these communications permissions to your profile by selecting Edit My Info on your My Q&A page.

Your email address is never shown to the recipient, either on the email or your profile page, and the only way to reply is by clicking the link in the email and sending the message through Yahoo! Answers. If a person does not have email communications enabled, you will not be able to send any messages. Your instant message ID will be seen publicly on your profile page if you enable IM communications.

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Depending on permission settings, users can contact each other via email or via the messenger ID if it is made public on the profile page.

Answers does facilitate contact by email unless you explicitly allow it. When you set up your answers profile, you tell us what contact information you'd like other users to see. You choose whether or not you'd like users to be able to contact you via Answers email, Yahoo! Instant Messenger, or Yahoo! 360.

When setting up your Answers profile, you to choose a setting for the following options:

• Nickname: if you choose to use your Yahoo messenger ID as your Answers nickname, Answers users may use it to contact you via messenger.
• Communications:
  • Email Setting: Selecting this box allows Answers to facilitate email communications with other Answers users (all email addresses are kept confidential.)
  • Yahoo! Messenger Settings: Selecting this box allows Answers users to see your instant message ID and contact you via Yahoo! Messenger.
• Sharing:
  • Yahoo! 360 Settings: Selecting this box allows Answers users to see your 360 page.
• About me: This field is optional. Anything you enter into the text box will be visible to the public.

Contact permissions are always controlled by you in your Answers profile. To make changes to your profile and contact permission settings, go to My Q&A and select the Edit My Info link.

Email: When you enable email communications, Answers never shows your email address to the recipient (neither on the email nor on your profile page.) The only way to reply to Answers email is by clicking the reply link within the email and sending the message through Yahoo! Answers. If a person doesn't have their email communications enabled, you won't be able to send them an email message.

Messenger: Your instant message ID will be seen publicly on your profile page if you enable IM communications.

Please remember that chatting and posting your email address in your questions or answers are violations of Answers community guidelines, so please communicate to each other through the IM and email features instead.

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It's the place to ask questions and get real answers from real people. It's fun and educational because you get to ask questions on any topic-from the serious to the not so serious. You can also help people out by answering others' questions. It's all about sharing-what you know and what you want to know-so don't keep those questions and answers to yourself...jump in and start sharing!

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Nope, that's one of the best things about Yahoo! Answers--it's absolutely free. All you have to do is log in to your Yahoo! account to share in the wealth of knowledge generated by the Yahoo! Answers community.

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To thank the Yahoo! Answers community for great answers, we give points for various actions. The points help you build your reputation on Yahoo! Answers and show the world what you have to offer. You need points to ask a question but you can quickly earn the points back by resolving your question and by giving an answer that is picked as best. The points table linked below summarizes how many points you get for each of the different actions you take. The points allow the community to recognize how active and helpful you've been, and they give you another excuse to brag to your friends.

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No. Using multiple accounts to participate at Yahoo! Answers is a violation of Community Guidelines and may result in the suspension of your accounts. Please refer to our Community Guidelines for guidance on acceptable behavior.

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It's easy. Once you've logged in, just:

• Click on the Ask button at the top-left corner of any page.
• Type in your question. Similar questions will appear underneath as you type, so if someone's asked the same question, you might not have to.
• Add any details that will help people answer it.
• Select a category for your question.
• Decide whether you want an email sent to you whenever someone answers your question. If not, uncheck the Yes, email me answers as they are posted box.
• Click on the Preview button. If it looks ok to you, click Submit.

Remember: the clearer your question, the more likely you'll get really good answers. Use the Details section to provide additional information and further clarify your question.

Taking the time to choose the right category will also help ensure your question is seen by the group of people most able to answer your question.

For guidelines on what types of questions are acceptable, please refer to our community guidelines.

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You cannot edit your question once you submit it. However, you can add details to augment or clarify your question by clicking Add Details on the question page.

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If you checked the Email notification checkbox when you asked your question, you'll automatically get an email when your question is answered.

If you unchecked the Email notification box when you posted your question, you'll need to log in to Yahoo! Answers and click on the My Q&A link. In your question list, you can see how many answers your question has gotten. To read the posted answers, simply click on the question.

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Once your question has been posted for at least 24 hours, you can:

• Choose the best answer (must have at least one answer): Click the Choose as Best Answer button next to your chosen answer. Once a best answer has been chosen, your question is considered "resolved".
• Let the Answers community choose the best answer (must have at least two answers): Click on Put to a Vote in the top-right module.

If you're not satisfied with any of the answers, you can also extend your question's expiration date and wait for more answers. To do this, simply click on your question and click on the Extend Expiration link.

If you don't take any actions, the question automatically goes to a vote after 4 days.

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No. Once you have chosen a best answer you can't change it.

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Questions have a 7-day open period. If your question doesn't receive any answers within this timeframe, it will expire and be deleted. However, you have the option to extend the open period to 14 days before the question expires. To do this, click Extend Expiration in the top-right module on the question page.

Of course, if you still receive no answers you can ask your question again, or search Yahoo! Answers to see if anyone else has gotten an answer to the same question.

You can extend the expiration date of a question only once

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Each question has a 7-day "open" period during which you can post an answer. Just go to any question in the Open Questions section and click on the Answer this Question button to start. Enter your answer in the Your Answer field and include the URLs of any sources you want to reference in the Source(s) field.

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You can modify your answer as long as the question is still open. To do this, go back to the question and click the Edit link below your answer. To remove your answer, click Delete.

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Each question has a 7-day open period during which people can post answers. A question is closed to additional answers when a best answer is selected or when it is put to a community vote. Once a best answer is determined, an Open Question becomes a Resolved Question. Even after the question is resolved you can continue to contribute to answers by commenting on and rate the best answer.

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You can put a question up for a vote when there are two or more answers to your question. To put a question up for vote, click on Put to a Vote in the top-right module on the question page. You can only do this after the question has been up for at least 4 hours, and before the question expires in 4 days. If you take no action and the question expires, it automatically goes to a vote.

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No. Once you've cast your vote for a Best Answer, you can't change it.

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The voting period is 2 days.

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The voting period is extended by periods of 12 hours until the tie is broken.

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Sometimes, there just isn't a good answer. So when a question goes to vote, No Best Answer appears along with the list of candidates.

When a question expires with only one answer, the question automatically goes to a vote, with No Best Answer as the second option. If any of the original answers is chosen as the best, the question simply becomes resolved. However, if No Best Answer is chosen as the best, the question is automatically deleted, and the asker of the question gets five points credited back.

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A question is "resolved" when a best answer is chosen, either by the asker of the question, or by the community through a vote. After a question becomes Resolved it stays in Yahoo! Answers and is available for searching and browsing. The Best Answer remains open to receive comments and ratings from the community. It is important to remember that all answers and Best Answers to questions are written by Yahoo! users, not experts hired by Yahoo!. (Please see our disclaimer.) A Best Answer represents only the asker's opinion or the community's vote on what the best answer was during the 4-day open period. The answer may not be complete or accurate.

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Once a best answer is determined and an Open Question becomes a Resolved Question, users can add comments to evaluate the best answer. Ratings on answers are always available to users who are Level 2 or above. Adding comments and ratings on Best Answers lets the Answers community continue to share and give their opinions even after questions are resolved.

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Resolved questions are never deleted. Once a question becomes a Resolved Question, it stays in Yahoo! Answers, available for searching and browsing. You can continue to share what you know by evaluating the Best Answer.

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Please refer to the Yahoo! Answers Community Guidelines for information on community conduct standards and appropriate uses of Yahoo! Answers.

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No. Each abuse report is reviewed by a customer care agent, who determines the appropriate action. It is not possible to "attack" someone by repeatedly reporting them for abuse, because deletions are not automatic.

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Yahoo! Answers adheres to the Yahoo! Privacy Policy.

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Yahoo! Answers adheres to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. Please refer to the Yahoo! Answers Community Guidelines and Yahoo! Community Guidelines for information on appropriate uses of Yahoo! Answers.

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Yahoo! does not edit the content of questions, answers, or comments in Yahoo! Answers. However, we reserve the right to remove content that we determine, in our sole discretion, to be inappropriate and/or in violation of the Yahoo! Answers Community Guidelines or the Yahoo! Terms of Service. Depending on the level of offense, the offender risks deactivation of their Yahoo! ID and consequently everything associated with it, including email accounts, groups, posts, homepages, and profiles. If you are unsure whether your content is appropriate or consistent with these policies, please err on the side of caution and do not post it on Yahoo! Answers.

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If you discover objectionable content, you can report it to Yahoo! Answers by clicking on the Report Abuse link next to the question, answer, or comment. You'll be asked to fill out a short form describing the problem. Customer Care reviews each report and takes the appropriate action. Please check the Yahoo! Answers Community Guidelines for complete content and usage terms.

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Once you reach level 2 or above, if you see an interesting or high-quality question, click the star button in the action bar below the question. You can see all the questions you.ve starred by going to your profile page and clicking the My Starred Questions tab.

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Once you reach Level 2, you can rate answers via the action bar. If you think an answer is good, click the thumbs-up button in the action bar below the answer. If you think an answer is not good, click the thumbs-down button. When you give an answer a thumbs-down rating we will hide it. Click show to display it again.

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Use the Report Abuse link to report questions and answers that violate the Community Guidelines. Each abuse report is reviewed by customer care, and the content will be deleted if it violates the Community Guidelines.

Give an answer a thumbs-down rating when you feel the answer is not helpful to the person who asked the question.

Hide a question when you feel it doesn't quite violate the Community Guidelines, but it belongs more on a chat board, and not on a Q&A site like Answers.

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When you rate an answer negatively, you'll see that the answer disappears from your view. You can make it appear again by clicking the Show link. The answer is only hidden in your view. It remains on Answers and is viewable by other users.

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Currently, negative ratings don't actually hide answers from anyone else's view. Your negative ratings will hide those answers only from your view.

It's important for Answers to continue to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas. We don't intend the ratings to be a method of censorship. Ratings let people share their viewpoint and allows for differences of opinions.

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Ratings are a powerful way for you to voice your opinion on the content of Answers, and determine the direction of the product. By waiting until you reach Level 2 to exercise this privilege, we discourage abuse of the privilege.

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Yes, you still receive up to 50 points for positive ratings on your best answers.

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To mark a question with a star:

• From the question page, click the star button in the action bar below the question.
• From the Answers home page or a Category page, click the star icon below the question.

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Marking good questions with a star helps Answers surface the best content on the site. When a question gets a star, it's automatically nominated to appear in the "Popular" list on the Answers home page. Answers' Popular list gives insight into what the community thinks are the most interesting questions at any given point in time.

Answers' Popular list is similar to Flickr's "Interestingness" feature and the "Hotlist" on del.icio.us where sharing popular content enriches the experience for the entire community.

Note: You can see the nicknames of people who gave a question a star. Listing other answerers who found a question interesting:

• Helps the community learn about each other's common interests.
• Helps you connect to answerers with interests similar to yours.

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On the question page, you can view the full list of people who starred the question. Click the See who starred link located beneath the question on the question and answer page.

Note: You can learn more about a fellow answerer by exploring their starred question list. When someone marks a question with a star, their nickname is added to the list people who also added a star to the question.

To view the questions another answerer starred, from the question page:

• Click a nickname in the See who starred list for any question to open that person.s public profile page.
• Click their Starred Questions tab.

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You can see questions you marked with a star on your profile page by clicking on the My Starred Questions tab.

When you mark a question with a star, your nickname is added to the list of users who also added a star to the question.

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You can see the questions someone else has starred by clicking their nickname to go to their profile page and clicking their Starred Questions tab.

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Yes, simply clicking the active star icon again will deactivate it and remove your star from a question.

To remove you star from a question:

1. From your profile page, click the My Starred Questions tab. Go to the starred question and click the star icon below the question.
2. From the question list on the Answers home page, or a Category page, click the star icon button below the question.

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Even though the option to give a thumbs-down to a question is gone, the Report Abuse link is available for reporting questions that violate the Community Guidelines.

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The Yahoo! Answers Network allows you to connect to people whose knowledge you trust, in topics you care about. By connecting to existing Answers users and inviting non-Answers users to join, you can easily tap into all their knowledge. It's your own network of knowledge advisors, right at your fingertips.

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A Contact is a person you've chosen to add into your Answers Network, and you can add up to 200 people to your Contacts list. By adding a person as a Contact, you'll be able to easily check out their questions, answers and what they've starred, right from the Answers homepage and your My Profile page.

There are two ways to add a person as a Contact:

• Adding an existing Answers user - Rollover the picture (or avatar) of the person you've chosen to add as your Contact, and click on the link "Add to My Contacts".
• Adding someone you know outside of Answers - Click here to enter your friend's name, email address and a brief message (optional), and we'll do the rest. You friend will receive an email from us, with a link to connect to you as a Contact on Answers.

There are also two ways to remove a Contact:

• From your Contact's Answers ID card - Rollover the picture (or avatar) of the person you've chosen to remove from your Contacts list, and click on the link "Remove Contact".
• From your My Profile page - Scroll down to the Contacts section of the page, find the person you've chosen to remove from your Contacts list and click "Remove Contact".

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When someone adds you to their Contact list, that person is your Fan. The best way to grow your fan base is to ask, answer and star really interesting questions.

If you'd prefer not to have Fans, you can opt out of this feature. To do so, go to My Profile, and click on "Edit My Info". Then, scroll down to the Sharing section and un-check the box "Allow other users to be my Fan". Make sure you submit this new setting when you are done. Please note that if you opt out of this feature, all your existing Fans will be removed at once and will not be accessible again.

Even if you opt out of the Fans feature, you can still become other people's fan by adding them to your Contact list.

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There is a limit of 200 Contacts. If you'd like to add more Contacts into your Answers Network, you'll need to first remove existing ones to make room for the new Contacts.

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Each time a person chooses to add you to their Contacts list, the system will send you a notification email with a link to your latest Fan's profile page. If you choose to not receive these emails, simply go to your My Profile page, and click "Edit My Info". Then, scroll down to the Sharing section, and un-check the box "Notify me via email when someone becomes my Fan". Make sure you submit your new setting when you are done.

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A blue icon next to someone's nickname indicates that this particular user is a member of your Contact network.

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You can access the questions your Contacts have asked, the questions your Contacts have answered, and the questions your Contacts have starred by clicking on "My Network's Q&A" tab on your My Profile page.

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A Top Contributor is someone who is knowledgeable in a particular category. Each Answers user can be a top contributor in up to three categories.

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You can invite a friend from the homepage, your My Profile page, or by clicking here.

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The My Q&A page has been renamed to My Profile.

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A Blocked User is person who cannot add you to their Contacts list. You can add up to 200 people to your Blocked Users list. Blocked Users will not have access to your Network or your Q&A via your public profile page. Additionally, Blocked Users will not be able to view any questions that you have asked.

There are two ways to add a person to your Blocked Users list:

• Answers ID Card - Rollover the picture (or avatar) of the person you've chosen to block, and click on the link "Block User."
• Profile Page - Goto the user's profile page and click on the link "Block User".

There are also two ways to remove a person from your Blocked Users list:

• Answers ID card - Rollover the picture (or avatar) of the person you've chosen to remove from your Blocked Users list, and click on the link "Do Not Block User."
• From your My Network Page - Go to your Blocked Users tab. Then, find the person you've chosen to remove from your Blocked User list and click "Do Not Block User."

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Users who are Contacts cannot be Blocked Users. If you want to add one of your Contacts to your Blocked Users list, you must remove this person from your Contacts list and then add this person to your Blocked Users list.

Similarly, Blocked Users cannot be Contacts. If you want to add one of your Blocked Users to your Contacts list, you must remove this person from your Blocked Users list and then add this person to your Contacts list.

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There is a limit of 200 Blocked Users. If you'd like to add more Blocked Users, you'll need to first remove existing ones to make room.

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