StackOverflow - The Answer to "-site:ExpertsExchange"?
So, the collaboration between Atwood and Spolsky titled StackOverflow has come to (beta) fruition. The buzz is finally starting to come in. I have seen both good and bad and decided to see for myself what the hype was about. I'm going to walk you through my experience and give you some of my reactions.
The UI is welcoming, and I say that as a developer. Well, maybe not so much a developer as much as just someone who likes a "no frills" UI. I'm more of a reddit girl than a digg girl, I don't like extra bells and whistles and even special colors. Let me rephrase that, I like a high functioning skeleton without all the distracting "Look at me! Look at me!". In other words I like plain webpages. Why was that so hard to say?
So, naked UI, check. How does this thing work? I figured I would play around... so I did the obvious and asked a question. This is a problem I am really having with my Visual Studio. I think it has something to do with Installing and Uninstalling both Refactor Pro and Resharper. It comes and goes, but regardless it's an annoying problem and I figured I would check to see if anyone else had it. I was able to post a question without registering. I gave myself the moniker "Kevin Lee." I often hear that being a female I get my questions answered a little faster than the average nerd. Something about a "Geek to the Rescue" fantasy. I figured if I just pretended to be the average programmer I could see an unbiased response time. My question was answered quickly (I notice you can't see exactly but it took about 20 mins) and the integral goal of StackOverflow was fulfilled. I was impressed, only because my first question about StackOverflow was "Well, I mean, don't we have forums for that?" However, it takes me a lot longer to get an answer on the ASP.NET forums. Was it answered correctly? Yes, after a few. There were some answers that were a little off the path for my question, though I could see why a programmer would go to them, they didn't apply. The same experience as if I was in a forum, answered a little faster. So, I mark the answer as "accepted" and go to rate up the answer as well (may as well throw around some points).
What's this? Hmm, apparently I can't rate answers up if I don't have at least 15 points. Well, that's clever, I need a rep in order to decide what question rates. What about if I want to vote an answer down? I need 100 points, so if I'm some kind of jerk who likes to go spreading bad web vibes I have to work REEEALY hard to get there. I guess that adds to the Wiki-ish flavor. A lot of the feedback I have read in the "sphere" points to the idea that everyone that answers questions isn't necessarily going to answer correctly. I found that the correct answers tended to be indicated and rated high, possibly this algorithm for voting is to thank for that.
Ok, now let me go answer some questions. Mmmm, I had a little trouble including multiple tags when searching questions, now I'm not going to jump on the "THIS IS A BUG" wagon, but if it isn't then the UI could be a little more explanatory. I entered the names of multiple tags I saw on the list, but when I entered C# and then .NET (with a space in between as instructed) nothing was returned. I was able to answer questions with ease... nothing too exciting (though the level of most of the questions being asked was impressive).
What are some of the other features I noticed? Well, you can earn badges based on performance. I was really excited to see that
I had earned the "Autobiographer" badge, but then I realized it was simply because I had filled out my profile. I sincerely hope I get a "Kiss Ass Blogger" badge for this post. Some other fun things were the ways you can filter questions by what is unanswered, or what is popular, and other nifty filters to make browsing more interesting. I'm sure I will discover more in time.
What didn't I like? Well, the amount of information all at once was kind of daunting. I supposed this could be partially remedied by the use of multiple tags. I would also recommend giving users the option to not see a preview of each post and just view titles. There were many times I wanted to rate an answer or question and I can't yet which was frustrating. I suppose that's the price you pay to keep the community clean.
So, the question remains, is StackOverflow THE new resource for all your coding needs? Is it going to put Experts Exchange and other pay-for-your-answer sites out of business? My answer is: no one knows and don't pretend you do, blaggers, because you don't. If I were to design a perfect UX for a one-stop-shopping coding resource this is pretty dang close. However, it's really up to us as a community to put in the effort. It seems to have a huge following already in beta, so Joel and Jeff as developers may have hit on something big (is this possible for people not named Scott?). I'll be interested where this thing goes and what changes are made for the first official release (may I suggest a NY release party?).
Similar Posts
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to Refactoring: Why, Where, When and How
- O'Reilly Web 2.0 Expo
- Yeah, you know that whole Microsoft/Apple war? We made that up.
Comments
Jon Limjap on on 9.02.2008 at 4:40 AM
LOL @ "is this possible for people not named Scott?"
If one of them were indeed named Scott, I would've asked for my name to be changed as well.
James van Leuvaan on on 9.02.2008 at 9:34 AM
pay answer sites :\
um. well... hmmm.... taking the consulting advise for cash to an entirely new level.
I have never, will never, and do not respect the pay for answer websites.
Lets take a look at the profession of "consulting."
Joe Consultant walks in and says, "hey! why don't you give me a few million and I'll analyze your organization. Find all the flaws and problems, then recommend what you should do to rectify and streamline your business. (Now, keep in mind I'm a general knowledge individual without any real skill in any of the aforementioned general knowledge). Then, after you pay me, I'll leave. Then, if what i suggested was implemented and your problems were not solved, well then obviously YOU didn't implement them properly. If you didn't implement them and your problems still exist, well you should have taken my advise to which you paid so dearly for - vis a vis - my consulting fee. However - either way. You are free to again pay me a few million and I can come in again and analyze that!"
I've had my fair share of run ins with consultants. I do not like them. I do not respect them. I believe that all consultants should pass rigorous testing in all the area's which they feel they are qualified to consult upon - so as to discover how little they actually know regarding the fundamentals of the most basic intrinsics of each of the disciplines - especially within IT - since most IT consultants are like professors. They speak because they can not do....
Now this gets me to the point of "pay for answer" websites. This is the consultant, who now - realizing they do not have the answers, sits down with a marketing and sales rep. The sales rep says, "hey! why don't we get those in the industry to answer the question, and charge them for it? They're going to answer anyway, and as a result it is only right that you - the consultant who's profession is being undermined by free information - and me, who really is only a peddler desiring to make a living off of the avails of the productions of one to sell to the desires of the other - can both reap a great reward - while doing absolutely nothing! What a formidable business model!"
I hope that pay for answer sites vanish. Just like spam. Which in and of itself explains that the odds of pay for answer sites will likely not vanish... and be as prolific as spam.
There is a plethora of wondrous information communication sites online with professionals helping professionals, since there is nothing that one person has come across to stymie them, to which another - at one time or another - has also not suffered.
And of course... there are always newsgroups...
And I am not a curious bird :P
Ben on on 9.02.2008 at 10:46 AM
It's interesting and, at the moment, the quality of information is pretty high but then it is in beta for people who like Joel and Jeff.
I wonder what it'll be like when it opens up and you start getting all the inane questions flooding in.
guy who knows sara on on 9.02.2008 at 4:45 PM
"I like a high functioning skeleton without all the distracting "Look at me! Look at me!". In other words I like plain webpages."
hmmmmmmmmmmm.
Slackmaster K on on 9.02.2008 at 7:24 PM
I've been looking forward to the launch so I could see what all the fuss was about. Sounds nice, I'll take a look. **Referral Bonus Badge**
BTW, as far as Experts Exchange is concerned... Just give it a few extra seconds to load and scroll way to the bottom. I believe they display the plaintext answers for Googlebot's benefit.
Josh on on 9.02.2008 at 7:43 PM
You should totally dress up like the Ting Tings for halloween.
www.youtube.com/.../watch
nico5038 on on 9.03.2008 at 7:06 PM
Here the link to the opinion of a paying customer about the "value for money" Experts Exchange offers and the moderating "qualities" of the site: community.zdnet.co.uk/.../0,1000000567,10
You're correct that the site has a nice look, but the price is "high", according to www.alexa.com/.../experts-exchang
Speed: Very Slow 86% of (sites are faster), Avg LoadTime: 5.47Seconds
Not to mention the cloaking that's used to "trick" google to select the questions. Without subscription the comments are not visible and every original comment is changed into a "Pay to see the answer" comment.
I was an Access expert for six years, but suspended as I tried to lift the quality of the comments of a particular "amateur expert". Singling out an expert and adding additional information isn't allowed. So I'm now active at Bytes.com where everything is for free and a lot of other "old" Expert Exchange experts took their refuge.
The interface isn't as pretty, but for me it's the quality of the answers (and the cooperation between the experts) that's more valuable as a nice facade with experts caring more for "worthless" expert points.
You did answer some Q's I see, but failed to discover that the gained "expert points" can't be used to post Q's for in return. You'll have to wait for days as you'll get 5 "question points" per day with a topped at a max of 500. Only these can be used for posting questions.
Nic;o)
mike_f1 on on 9.04.2008 at 8:38 AM
I've not a huge opinion on experts-exchange but for those of you who say its frustrating that they use cloaking to tease you in to visiting the page, only to find you cannot see the answers or comments... Have you tried just scrolling down right to the bottom of the page?
Hmmm... whats that? Is it the comments and answers to the question!? Why yes, it is.
So that's how they get round the cloaking thing...
Minh on on 9.07.2008 at 11:07 PM
Hey, did you know you made Scott & Joel's latest podcast?
Minh on on 9.07.2008 at 11:08 PM
Whoops, forgot the link to Stack Overflow # 20
itc.conversationsnetwork.org/.../detail3812.html
Maggie Longshore on on 9.10.2008 at 7:24 AM
Thanks for sharing your experience with StackOverflow. I have been very curious about it.
BTW are you still using a boy name, or did you sign up as yourself?
schipps on on 9.10.2008 at 5:47 PM
@Maggie - I am signed up as myself now :) I'm up to 657 points! It's really so addicting, looking forward to seeing how it changes as it goes public.