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What is the meaning of a question which has many alternates?
Alternates are another way to ask the question. If a question has a lot of alternates, it means that the question can be worded in many different ways. An exception to this would be Catch-all questions, which are completely different.
Why are only 100 First Tier alternates in a question allowed?
The first tier is alternates is meant to be for all of the different wordings of the question that have correct grammar and spelling. The second tier can contain an unlimited number of alternates that are variations of the alternates in the first tier.
Which question on WikiAnswers has the most alternates?
Through 2010, there were "Catch All Questions" that had tens of thousands of alternates. But these were broken up and now exist as categories instead.As alternates are just rephrasings or misspellings of the same question, the number of alternates will be higher where there are1) many ways to phrase the question,2) many synonyms for the words in a question, and/or3) many ways to misspell the words in a question.Anything more than a few dozen will usually mean some of the alternates are there by mistake.However, due to the large number of askers, games questions can accumulate many alternates. To see two examples of how spelling contributes to the growth of alternates, see the two "Poptropica" in the related questions below.
How do you batch merge in WikiAnswers?
Sadly, there is no supervisor power to batch merge questions yet. There is something similar to this, which is the split and merge feature in the 'Edit Alternates' section of any question. You can click that button to split and merge all selected alternates and move them to another question, all at once; however, the question must already be in the alternates to do so.
What questions have alternates?
Almost all questions, except for ones that have very recently been asked, have alternates. Alternates are questions that are worded a little differently than the question you see, but they ask the very same thing. Alternates help avoid having a lot of questions that ask the same thing, yet whichever way the question is worded, people still get their answers.
How does a Supervisor perform a Batch Split?
A supervisor looks at the 'edit alternates' option on the blue bar while viewing the question. There should show blank boxes on each alternate. Check as many as you want and select 'split'. Be sure to batch split alternates that need to be split, and select the 'split & merge' option for alternates that need to be split from the original question but need to be merged together. (note: all alternates checked while 'split & merging' will be merged together into a question, you can't pick and choose, so be sure that all the alternates selected go together)
How many alternates can a question hold in total on WikiAnswers?
50,000 is about the maximum alternates any question can hold, we once had a few questions that we called catch all's, and any bad or inappropriate questions were added as an alternate to the primary catch all Q, we started to experience problems once a catch all held 50,000 alternates, so we have a new system of catch all's now. Regular questions are extremely unlikely to get such a large number of alternates asking exactly the same question so this should not present any problems on site.
What is the Bad Spelling and Grammar Tier of WikiAnswers?
The " Bad Spelling/Grammar Tier" of a question's alternates includes all of the alternates that are misspelled or have incorrect grammar. This tier enables us to find more ways of asking a question, directing the user to the correct question format. The tier can hold an unlimited amount of alternates, unlike the first tier.
Why are there alternates for questions on WikiAnswers?
Alternates are so that there is one answer for a question, regardless of the wording of which it is asked with. For example, the question 'What color is the sky' can also be asked as 'What is the sky's color'. It's the same question meaning, but with different wording. With alternates, all the different wordings are collected into one group, and a primary wording is chosen that is the same as all of the questions and has correct spelling/grammar. Then, when another user asks the question, no matter what wording they use, they will always arrive at the same answer.
What is the deal with the changes to the trash feature?
When a question has multiple alternates, it cannot be merged into a Catch-All (but it can be completely trashed). This feature has been this way for quite some time, and it is to prevent correct and legitimate alternates that could be a good question from being merged into a Catch-All where it doesn't belong.
What can you do to get rid of the 'Edit Alternates' on WikiAnswers?
First, you don't want to get rid of the 'Edit Alternates' button on WikiAnswers. However, if you are asking how to get rid of the alternates of a questions that do not belong, simply click the check mark box (once you clicked the 'Edit Alternates' link) for all alternate wordings that do not apply to the main question, then go up to the top and select 'Split'. Do not remove any alternate wordings that are a reworded form of the main question or are basically asking the same thing as the question.
If you come across a question with literally thousands of alternates what is the best approach to sorting them out?
From the drop-down menu in the upper right corner of the alternates page, select to display 250 alternates at a time. One strategy is to pick out the ones that are so unusual that there are likely no other alternates which are asking the same thing. Then you can split all of those out into separate questions first. Then go back through the list and split out the ones that are different than the primary question, but are asking the same thing. Then those groups of questions can be merged together.
