Frequently Asked Questions
Registering
Asking Questions
Answering Questions
Voting on Answers
General
Member Levels & Earning Points
Registering
Fill out our registration form here.
You should receive an email from BookRags
immediately after you register. Sign in to the email account you used to
register with BookRags. You'll see an email from qasystem@bookrags.com. Simply
click on the link provided within that email to validate your account. If you
don't see an email from BookRags, check your junk mail folder. Make sure to add
qasystem@bookrags.com to your safe list.
No. We use your birthday information to ensure that you are
at least 13 years old and thus eligible to participate in the Q&A, but we
do not store or display this information, so there's no need to edit it.
Asking Questions
When asking a question you should be as
straightforward as possible. Provide any necessary background information in
the description of your question. Inappropriate questions (including, but not
limited to illicit, pornographic or illegal material) will be removed at our
discretion.
In order to ask a question you must be registered
and logged
in. You must also have a minimum of 5 points in your account, since it
costs 5 points to ask a question. You can earn more points by answering
questions and voting on questions. Once you're logged in, just visit the Q&A
homepage, type your question into the box provided and click "Ask
Question."
After you have posted a question or answer,
it cannot be edited or deleted. You have the option to review your question
before posting it, so take advantage of this feature to make sure your question
is correct before you post it.
BookRags users are teachers and students
looking for information about a variety of research topics. You can ask
questions and request advice about any of the topics on BookRags. The more
specific your question is, the more likely you are to get a good response.
Questions that are vulgar, inane or pornographic and any spam messages will be
deleted immediately. We reserve the right to delete any questions or answers
that are deemed inappropriate.
In order for your question to be seen by the
members who are most qualified to answer it, you need to categorize your
question appropriately. Click through the category tree until you find the
sub-category that best fits your question's subject matter. If you don't see a
category that directly relates to your question, please select the most
relevant category that is available.
Offering extra points is an incentive for
other members to answer your question. If there's a question you've been dying
to have answered or you're in a real time crunch, offering more points will
help get your question answered more quickly and thoroughly.
We add five points to each question that you ask. These additional
points will be awarded, along with the points you offer, to the member with the
best answer. We do this to encourage members to answer your questions in a
detailed, useful way and to work a little harder to be awarded best answer.
As soon as a question that you've asked has
closed to answers, you can vote for the best answer. Determine which answer you
feel is the most relevant and useful response to your question. Vote for that
answer by clicking on the "Vote as Best Answer" button.
Best answers are selected by a community
vote. As the Asker, your vote has more influence than that of a regular
community member. However, if enough community members vote for a different
best answer, that answer will be awarded "Best Answer" and get the
corresponding points. This also applies to “No Best Answer” votes – the
majority vote wins.
If nobody answers your question within the
open period, your points will be refunded.
If you receive two good answers to your
question, you'll need to decide which answer is indeed the best. Is one answer
more thorough or succinct than the other? Does one go into more detail than the
other? Ultimately you (and the community) must decide which single answer
deserves to be awarded the "Best Answer" title.
There is an option to vote for "No Best
Answer." When you read through all the answers, you'll see the "No
Best Answer" button at the bottom of the list. Voting for "No Best
Answer" works like any other vote, so if the majority of voters choose
this option, then the question Asker will have his/her points refunded and the
question will be automatically removed from Q&A.
Answering Questions
When answering a question, you should be as
detailed as possible. Stick to the subject matter of the question and ensure
that your answer is complete and thorough. Best answers will be chosen based on
a combination of the community vote and the answer that the Asker selects as
the best answer. We reserve the right to remove any answers that are irrelevant
to the question, obscene, pornographic or otherwise inappropriate.
A “Best Answer” is the response selected by
the Asker and/or the BookRags community as the most relevant (or
"best") answer to any given question. Since questions are only open
for a limited amount of time, “Best Answers” represent the best response given
in a set period of time as selected by BookRags Q&A members.
A “Best Answer” will not be selected until
the question has closed to answers and the community has voted on the
answers. Voting will remain open for a minimum of seven days. It will remain
open until a “majority” vote (as determined by BookRags) has been reached. This
ensures that the Asker and the community get an opportunity to cast their
votes. If your answer is selected as best answer, the points will be awarded to
you at the time the community voting officially closes.
The “Best Answer” to a question is selected
by a combination of community votes and the answer chosen by the member who
asked the question. Although the Asker's vote has more weight than that of an
individual community member, it is possible for community votes to overturn the
“Best Answer” chosen by the Asker.
Questions are open to answers for 7 days.
A question closes to answers after 7 days. If
this time period has expired, you will not be able to answer the question. You
are also not able to answer a question that you asked, or to answer a question
multiple times. You may have also hit your daily limit for answers. See the Member Levels for more information.
Are you logged in? You can contribute an
answer to any question by viewing the question and clicking the "Answer"
button. Make sure you "Review" and "Post" each answer you
give. You must click "Post" in order for your answer to be submitted.
No, you may only post one answer to each
question.
No, after you post a question or answer it
cannot be edited or deleted.
Voting on Answers
Members can vote on the "Best Answer"
to a question for a minimum of one week (7 days) after the answering period closes.
The voting period will close after seven days if one answer has received a
majority vote. However, the voting period is flexible, so it will stay open
longer if none of the answers have received a majority vote after seven days.
You must be logged in and answer at least one
question in order to vote on the best answer to a question. You will accrue the
ability to vote by answering questions (see answer:
vote ratio below). To vote, simply click on the "Vote as Best Answer"
button next to the answer you think provides the most useful response to the
question.
The answer to vote ratio lets you vote a
certain number of times for each question you answer. A 1:2 ratio means that
every time you submit an answer, you earn the ability to vote two more times. If
your answer is selected as the best answer, the number of votes you earn
doubles. So if you answer a question as a Level 1 member (with a 1:2 answer:
vote ratio) you get to cast two more votes; then if your answer is selected as
"Best Answer," you’ll be able to cast two additional votes (for a
total of four).
Have you registered for BookRags Q&A and
are you logged in? Have you answered any questions? You have to earn the
ability to vote by answering questions. For each question you answer as a Level
1 Member, you earn the ability to vote twice. If your answer (as a Level 1
member) is selected as the best answer, you'll earn the ability to vote four
times. These votes continue to build up as you continue to answer questions.
However, based on your member status, you're also limited by how many times you
can vote each day. See the Member Levels for more
details.
There is a daily limit on how many votes you
can cast, based on your member level. Please review the Member
Levels chart for more details. The number of votes you can cast will also
be accrued based on your member level and the number of questions you have
answered.
The voting period begins when the answering
period closes. Voting is open for a minimum of 7 days and stays open until one
question receives a majority of votes.
If the majority of voters determine a
question has "No Best Answer", the points will be returned to the
Asker and the question will be removed from the system.
Yes. You can vote on the best answer to any
question that you asked, regardless of your member level or status.
Sometimes. If you vote for a best answer to a
question that you asked and the community selects that answer as the best
answer, you will receive 1/3 of your points back. So, if you offered the minimum
5 points, you will receive 2 points back. If you offered 15 points, you will
receive 5 points back. If the community disagrees with your choice and selects
a different best answer, you will not be awarded points.
Yes. The "No Best Answer" option
counts as a regular vote.
No. Once your vote has been cast you cannot
change it.
General
If you feel someone has posted inappropriate
content in BookRags Q&A, you can click on the "Report Abuse" link
to alert us to the problem. Posts with enough "abuse" votes will be
automatically removed. You can only report abuse on a post once.
No. The only way to communicate with other
BookRags members is via the public Q&A system or Forums.
The Q&A homepage automatically shows you
questions that are open to answers. You can use the drop down box to sort by
the most recent questions, questions that are worth the most points, questions
that are open the longest and questions with the most or fewest answers. You
can also click through the category tree to find questions in a certain
category.
Navigate to the "Public
Profile" tab of the "My Account" page. You can edit your
personal information here. If you want the information to be displayed
publicly, make sure to click on the check box to the right of each field.
You can change your avatar at any time by
clicking on "My Account," then "Public
Profile." From here you can "change" or "remove"
your avatar. Don't forget to save your changes.
You advance through the member levels by
earning points. You can earn points by answering questions, voting on answers
and inviting
friends to join BookRags Q&A.
The easiest way to earn points is by
answering questions well. If your answer is selected by the BookRags community
as the best answer, you will be awarded at least 10 points. You can also earn
points by voting and by inviting friends who ultimately register.
You can redeem your points for discounts on individual
study guides, study packs or other material (other than subscriptions) at the
time of purchase. On the credit card information page you'll see an option to
apply your Q&A credit. Simply check the box next to your Q&A credit and
the discount will be applied to your order.
The red box to the right of each question
tells you how many total points the best answer to that question will receive.
The clock icon indicates that a question was
asked less than an hour ago, and that you will receive one additional point if
you answer the question within that first hour.
Member Levels & Earning Points
|
Ask: (-5)
|
It costs at least 5 points to ask a question.
|
|
Ask: (-)
|
You have the option to offer any additional points that you have
accrued in order to entice others to answer your question more thoroughly or
sooner.
|
|
Ask: (+)
|
If you select a best answer and the community agrees with your
choice, you will be refunded 1/3 of the points you offered. If you offered 15
points, you will get 5 points back for voting on a best answer.
|
|
Answer: (+1)
|
You get one point for answering a question.
|
|
Answer: (+1)
|
You get one point for answering a question within one hour of it
being posted.
|
|
Answer: (+10)
|
If your answer is voted as “Best Answer,” you get at least 10 points:
the points the asker offered (at least 5), plus another 5 points from us.
|
|
Vote: (+1)
|
You get one point for voting on the answers to a question.
|
|
Register: (+25)
|
Everyone gets 25 points upon registering. (NOTE: You can use these
starter points to ask questions, but they won’t count towards discounts on
products.)
|
|
Level
|
Points
|
Questions/Day
|
Answers/Day
|
Votes/Day
|
Votes/Answer
|
Add’l Bonus
|
|
1
|
0-149
|
2
|
5
|
10
|
2
|
None
|
|
2
|
150-499
|
5
|
25
|
15
|
3
|
Redeem Points
|
|
3
|
500-999
|
10
|
50
|
20
|
4
|
Redeem Points
|
|
4
|
1,000-2,499
|
25
|
75
|
30
|
5
|
Redeem Points & each vote cast counts
as 2 votes
|
|
5
|
2,500+
|
50
|
100
|
50
|
10
|
Redeem Coupons & each vote cast counts
as 3 votes
|
