Which WikiAnswers questions should be trashed?

Answer 1

Any number of things could be a reason to trash a question.

In your toolbox to the left, there is a button marked "trash." This button will activate a pop up with menu options. These menu options are the latest ways to "trash" questions that we need to keep because of their nature. Pornography, adds no value, cyberbullying, inappropriate subject matter, and not enough information to answer are some of the options.

Then of course, there is "trash completely." This option sends the question directly to Harmful questions to be deleted. For our purposes, these questions have no earthly value and can be deleted from the data base with no harmful effects. Some of the things that go into the HQTD are cyberbullying questions with complete names, gibberish, alternates that contain profanity in an otherwise clean question, and questions that, by the nature of their existence, will never be asked again. One other type of question that needs to go into this bin are three word questions that are not questions. People frequently try to use WikiAnswers as a search engine, and these types of questions are the results of that type of search.

Others of the options are there because we feel that these questions will be asked over and over and over again. Such as "Is Mary fat?", a cyberbullying question, needs to be put into the cyberbullying catch all...the pop up option marked "cyberbullying". This question will get asked over and over again, so please put these into the proper category.

Unfortunately there will always be people who try to shock and disgust us with dirty questions or answers. However, if a question has more than about 10 alternates, think carefully before you discard the question. Does one of the alternates ask the question properly? If so, make that alternate a primary and send the offending alternate to the HQTD. Does the question have a repulsive answer? Revert the answer and leave the question for someone else to answer...or answer it yourself.

Bad spelling is NOT grounds for trashing. Unfortunately, there are many users here and they do not always spell correctly, nor do they use a spell checker. In fact, the badly spelled versions frequently attract more alternates than the correctly spelled ones do. the goal of alternates in questions are to keep the same question with variations together. Bad spelling will come over and over again, so it is best to keep the badly spelled alternate providing it asks the same thing as the primary question.

Sexual questions are not grounds for trashing in and of themselves. We have several categories that are sexual in nature, including oral sex, masturbation, sexual intercourse, sex education, and puberty. Bear in mind that the raw, possibly offensive questions are honest questions and they need to be answered...and rephrased. Yes, these questions can be offensive to some, but they need to be categorized, phrased properly using the correct terminology, and answered. If these questions offend you, consider that if they offend you..you understand them and can rephrase them to get an answer. If you do not understand them, then you are blessed to have been sheltered from street language.

It is best to remember to leave your personal morality at the door. We have many, many questions that are valid, but are offensive to some religions, sexes, or strata of culture. We do not judge the morals of others, just the question. Is it a valid question? Can it become a valid question? Can there be a reasonable answer, and can you make sense of the question? If not, or in doubt, contact your mentor or a Community Assistant, or a senior supervisor.