How BookRags Q&A Works
At BookRags, you can research anything, but you may still
have specific questions on a topic that research alone cannot answer. That’s
why we’ve created BookRags Q&A. With our Q&A system you can ask, answer
and collaborate with other members to enhance your knowledge on any subject!
Here’s how it works:
It’s easy to join BookRags Q&A. Just click
here to register as a BookRags member. Once you’ve validated
your email address and logged in, you can ask and answer questions, vote and
earn points towards discounts on study guides, study packs and other BookRags
products.
You can make changes to your account at any time by clicking
the “My Account” link in the upper right-hand corner of each page.
Once you’re logged in, you can ask any question on any
research topic (as long as it’s within our Member
Guidelines). There are many ways to ask a question:
Visit the Q&A
Homepage and type your question directly into the “Ask a Question” field at
the top of the page.
Click the “Ask a Question” button found on a variety of
pages throughout the Q&A system.
Ask a question directly from any topic page by clicking “Ask
a Question.”
To answer a question from a topic page or the Q&A
homepage, just click on the question title.
You’ll have the option to enter any additional information
about your question. Tip: clarify or elaborate on your question to get the
best and most useful answers.
Enter the number of points your question is worth. You must
offer at least 5 points, which is the default point value for every question –
but you may want to offer additional points to convince other members to work
harder to answer your question. You can offer any amount of points that you
have in your account. Enter the total number of points you’d like to offer into
the field provided.
Next, select the appropriate category for your question.
Please choose the category that best suits your question.
Now click “Review” to see an example of what your question
will look like.
From the review page you can choose to “Post” or “Edit” your
question.
Once your question has been posted, it will remain open to
answers for 7 days. After that period closes, you can return to your question
and vote for a best answer (see Choosing
a Best Answer and Voting for more details). In the meantime, you
can follow your question’s status in your Q&A
dashboard.
Answer a Question
When you’re logged in, you can answer a question by visiting
the Q&A
homepage and browsing through open questions, or by answering a question
directly from a topic page.
To answer a question from a topic page or the Q&A
homepage, just click on the question title.
or
You’ll see the full question and all the current answers.
Click on “Answer” to respond to the question.
Answer the question in the field provided, review your
answer and post it to Q&A. You will immediately be awarded one point.
If you answer a question within one hour of when it’s
posted, you will immediately receive an additional point. Look for the clock
icon next to the point box. This indicates that a question has been asked
within the hour.
When a question’s answer period closes, the voting period
will open (see Choosing a Best
Answer and Voting below). Once both of these periods have
closed, the best answer will be awarded based on votes from the question asker
and the Q&A community. The remaining points will then be awarded to the
member who receives the most votes for best answer.
Note: BookRags reserves the right to revoke points at any
time if your answers are found to be inappropriate in any way (this includes
but is not limited to spamming, illicit content, irrelevant comments, etc.).
Choosing a Best Answer and Voting
A best answer is selected based on community votes. The vote
of the person asking the question has more weight than that of a general
community member. However, if enough of the community agrees that an alternate
answer is indeed better, that answer will ultimately be awarded “Best Answer”.
So, while the question asker has more influence on which answer is selected, he
or she does not totally dictate which answer is best – the community has input
as well.
If you’re the Question Asker – If you’re the
question asker, all you need to do is check your Q&A
dashboard during the voting period, click on your question, review the
answers and vote for a best answer.
You’ll find all your questions listed on your Q&A
dashboard. Each question will indicate whether it’s open for answers, open for
voting or closed.
You may also find an alert message reminding you to vote on
questions you’ve asked. Remember, you can earn points for voting, so it pays to
come back and vote on a best answer to your questions.
To vote, simply click on the question title, read through
all of the answers and vote for the one that you think answers the question in
the best way. You can only choose one answer and vote once on each question.
When you vote, you will be refunded 1/3 of the points you
offered for the question as long as the community agrees with your choice. For
example, if you only offered the minimum 5 points, you will receive 2 points
back. If you offered 15 points, you will receive 5 points back.
Since the Q&A community also has the opportunity to vote
on the answers to your question, it’s possible the question you select as “Best
Answer” will not win. However, voting on a question that you asked will not be
counted towards your daily voting limit. There’s no downside to voting on the
best answer of a question you asked; you may even get points back!
If you’re not satisfied with any of the answers you receive,
you also have the option to vote “No Best Answer.” If the majority of voters
determine that there is no best answer, then you’ll get all of your
points back (whether or not you also voted “No Best Answer”).
If you vote “No Best Answer” and the community selects one
of the answers as “Best Answer”, your vote will be overruled and the winner
will receive the points you offered.
In general, members have limits to how many votes they can
cast, but as the question asker you can always vote for the Best Answer
of a question that you’ve posted. So if you encounter a “Vote as Best Answer”
button that is grayed out, it means you have already voted on this question.
If you’re a Community Member – If
you’re a registered community member, voting is simple. As long as you’ve
accrued enough votes (see Membership Levels and Earning Points),
you can vote for the “Best Answer” of any question as long as the voting period
is open.
Visit the Q&A
homepage and select the “Open for Voting” tab. Then browse through the
questions until you find one you’re interested in voting on. You can also
filter the questions by category. Just click on the category tree on the left
and you can view questions in only that category.
When you see a question you want to vote on, click on the
question, review the answers and click “Best Answer” for whichever answer you
think is the most informative, thorough and useful. Keep in mind you can also
select “No Best Answer” if you are not satisfied with any of the responses.
(See the Q&A
Guidelines if you’re unsure what constitutes a “Best Answer”).
You will earn one point for each vote you cast. Remember
that you earn the ability to vote by answering questions and advancing to
higher levels. See Membership
Levels & Earning Points to review how you can earn points
and advance through the ranks. If you encounter a “Vote as Best Answer” button
that is grayed out, this means that you are not eligible to vote for this
question either because you have already voted, you have not earned enough
votes or you have reached your daily voting limit.
Membership Levels and Earning Points
Members can earn points that they can use to get discounted
or even free products on BookRags.com!
The BookRags Q&A system has 5 levels, and each level
gives you additional perks. In order to advance through the levels, you’ll need
to earn points. The easiest way to earn points is by answering questions and
being awarded the “Best Answer”.
In the table below you can see the member levels, the points
needed to achieve each level and the perks associated with each level. (Note
the question, answer and vote daily maximums).
|
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
|
Example of how to read the table: If
you have between 500 and 999 points, you’re a Level 3 member. As a Level 3
member you can ask up to 10 questions a day, answer up to 50 questions a day,
vote up to 20 times a day, earn 4 additional votes each time you answer a
question, and redeem your points for discounts on study guides.
It’s easy to earn points. Below is a table of what
activities award or cost 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 you, 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.)
|
Each point is worth one cent and you must be at least a Level 2 member
in order to redeem points.
First you’ll need to select the study guide, study pack, or
subscription plan you wish to purchase. Do this by searching for the topic or
work that you’re interested in and clicking on the “Order Study Pack” or “Order
PDF” link. Then choose which product you’d like to order:
If you’re ordering a subscription plan, you can click on the
“Join BookRags” link found throughout the site, or any study guide or PDF
“Order” links (please verify that you’re purchasing the subscription you want
as there are multiple subscription options).
Next you’ll be asked to enter your login and billing
information. Here you’ll see the option to apply your Q&A points. Check the
box to indicate you’d like these funds to apply.
Then complete the purchase as you normally would. You’ll see
the discount applied upon checkout.
