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When entering a new question - or clicking on "Edit Categories" for an existing one - WikiAnswers looks for questions and answers that have similar words to that question. It polls the assigned categories of these questions and answers, and the categories that get the maximal weight are listed in the "Suggested Categories" list, for the user to choose from.
When a question has slipped through the cracks and is uncategorized - despite the process described above - the Topicana bot may be called upon and will automatically assign a category from the "Suggested Categories."
For example, if a question regarding "Ron Weasley" is asked, the bot will search for all questions regarding "Ron" and "Weasley," and then assign the correct category - "Harry Potter" - to the new question. This is the big picture, while glossing over some of the technical details.
Sometimes the suggested categories are quite appropriate, but sometimes they are not accurate. So, when posting questions, you should always check that the "Suggested Categories" are OK. If they are not, it would be best to search for more suitable categories by using the "Search categories" box provided. The same goes for questions you think Topicana put in weird categories.
If you find any questions that are misplaced, you can help Topicana correctly identify and categorize such questions in the future by placing each of them in correct or more appropriate categories.
As part of the 93 experience that WikiAnswers ran on 9/9/09, this question was answered by one of the WikiAnswers Software Engineers, Yuval, by video response. Please visit the Related Links to see this video.
What else can I help you with?
What categories has Techie2013 suggested and gotten for WikiAnswers?
Supervisors: Please do not delete or trash this question. This is used for me to track what categories I have founded.
How often are new categories added on WikiAnswers?
New categories are added as they are suggested and approved; it can take a few days for email requests for categories to be added.
How many main categories are in WikiAnswers?
There are 22 Main Categories on WikiAnswers.
Where on the web can you find someone to answer a history question?
There are plenty of historians using WikiAnswers - just make sure your question goes into the right category, in order for it to get attention from a knowledgeable person. Remember - you don't have to accept the suggested categories, and can choose up to three of your own.
When you ask a question on WikiAnswers why are the suggested categories sometimes completely ridiculous?
The system isn't perfect. I don't know the details, but it probably looks for keywords in your question and stuff.
Why does WikiAnswers not always suggest categories when you ask a question?
WikiAnswers suggests categories for a new question based on the categories of existing similar questions (and answers). Sometimes, WikiAnswers does not find enough similar questions to form an opinion about the suggested category.Possible reasons for this are:The question is about a subject new to WikiAnswers.The question only contains "stop" words (e.g., "the," "of," "what"), for example "Who should ask to be or not to be?"The question is gibberish.If none of the above applies, this may be a bug, and you are welcome to report it to WikiAnswers' support team.
Who sets up the actual categories on WikiAnswers?
Various members of the Community Development team create new categories on WikiAnswers.
Is the database of questions and their categories and answers available for download from WikiAnswers?
No, you cannot download WikiAnswers' questions, categories, and answers from WikiAnswers. WikiAnswers is solely on the internet, and cannot be downloaded. The WikiAnswers database will always remain on the internet, and for a good reason.
What is the reason for 'Suggested Categories' when you ask a question on WikiAnswers?
First, the reasons we have categories on WikiAnswers:-- To improve the chance that a question gets answered:Some members of the WikiAnswers community only care for questions about, say, Panda bears, and answer these questions with delight. Categorize a question in the "Pandas" sub-category and you get the attention of such members.-- To enable browsing for questions on similar subjects:Suppose you are answering a question about the tires of your Porsche Boxter. You may want to answer other questions about the Porsche Boxter, or learn from the answers of others on similar subjects. The "Porsche Boxter" category, and its parent categories, are your friends.Having established that categories are a good thing, we want to make categorizing a question as painless as possible. Going through a list of over 5,500 categories is not fun. Therefore, we have added the ability to search through categories, as well as the automatically suggested categories.We hope that this feature makes it easy to ask questions that will get their proper answer.
How can you search the categories on WikiAnswers?
Click on the "Browse Categories" link under "site tools"
How many new categories are requested on WikiAnswers a day?
On average, about two to three categories are requested every day on WikiAnswers. Categories are usually reviewed weekly by Community Assistants. See related questions for more information on requesting categories.
Who supervises the most categories on WikiAnswers?
The Supervisor overseeing the most categories is probably Jason. He supervises around 605 categories!
