"Mark as answer" Etiquette / Can't Mark User's Reply as Answer

[Tom Chien]

1. a. Should users "Mark as answer" only posts by Telerik that show how to use an existing feature to address the issue posted? b. Also, include ones that "work around" the lack of a commonly desired feature via "non-tivial" code solutions especially those that also involve Handling Telerik Events or even Overriding Methods (which are usually undocumented)?  c. Also, include ones where Telerik promises or even will just "consider" fixing / adding a feature in a future release (or wait until it has been released and users have verified it to solve the issue)?
2. For threads where Telerik's suggested solution was verified by a user to not actually solve the issue posted or solve it to the extent and/or in the exact way the user requested in his prior posting(s) (and/or (this probably doesn't happen often) Telerik hasn't posted a reply at all) and a user actually posts the final, verified solution (possibly based on Telerik's solution), there's no way to mark a user's reply as the "answer".

[Vassil Petev]

Hi Tom Chien,

Thank you for your feedback. Up to your questions:

1. "Mark as answer":
   
   • Should users "Mark as answer" only posts by Telerik?
     No - "Mark as answer" means exactly that - that the question has been answered, regardless of who replied/addressed it. Although we are very active in our Forums, we still consider them to be community forums, rather than support forums.
   • Also, include ones that "work around" the lack of a commonly desired feature
     Usually when the solution is provided we clearly note that this is a work-around. If this is not mentioned, then the solution is the proper way to handle things.
   • Handling Telerik Events or even Overriding Methods (which are usually undocumented)
     Please, provide us with with a list of such methods and we will duly update the documentation
   • Also, include ones where Telerik promises or even will just "consider" fixing / adding a feature in a future release (or wait until it has been released and users have verified it to solve the issue)?
     Features and bug fixes should not be part of the Forums, rather it should be a different system. We have started working on such (called Public Issue Tracking System, or PITS) and it will be live in the upcoming months. Of course, links to PITS issues will be provided in the Forums.
2. Although we understand your logic, we tend to disagree with you on this one. Marking a reply as answer should be done by another person, not by the person who posted the question AND the solution. We may be wrong here, but would marking your own reply as answer defy the logic of a community Forum? We haven't seen such implementation(s) in the biggest community forums such as stackoverflow and windowsclient. Still, we consider this topic open until we get more feedback on the question at hand.

Regards,
Vassil
the Telerik team

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[Tom Chien]

1. Re. 1.a: I was not asking about they type of solution poster determining whether a post should be answered but rather the type of answer, that type being only ones where there is an existing "feature" that solves the issue.  An existing "feature" to me means a simple Telerik Text, Enumerated or Class Property setting or Method Call inside user-defined Procedures.  If it requires handling a Telerik Event or worse, overriding a Telerik Class (which are usually not documented), then I would not consider that an existing "feature". 
2. Re. 1.b: I wasn't asking how to determine if a solution is a "work around".  I was asking whether cases, where the solution is a "work around" and Telerik either has not mentioned whether they will or flatly refused to consider turning it into a "feature", should qualify for the "Mark as answer" option?  This question intermingles with my question # 1.d also.
3. Re. 1.c: Examples of undocumented items include, the BaseGridBehavior (and its override-able Methods such as ProcessKey, ProcessPageDownKey and ProcessPageUpKey), GridDetailViewCellElement, GridGroupExpanderCellElement, GridRowHeaderCellElement and GridDataRowElement Classes and the ChildTableElement Properties.  See Forum threads: http://www.telerik.com/community/forums/winforms/gridview/top-bottom-of-grid-keyboard-shortcuts-in-gridview.aspx, http://www.telerik.com/community/forums/winforms/gridview/expand-colllapse-master-parent-childgridviewtemplates-programmatically-in-radgridview.aspx and http://www.telerik.com/community/forums/winforms/gridview/hard-to-distinguish-current-tab-using-default-color-theme-in-a-2-tab-sibling-childtemplateview-in-2009q3beta.aspx.  Regardless, my question #1.c was not primarily a complaint about missing documentation, but rather asking if solutions that require Handling Events and Overriding Telerik Methods (which I don't consider an existing "feature") should qualify for the "Mark as answer" option.
4. Re. 1.d:"(New) Features (requests) and bug fixes" might not "should" be part of the Forums, but they have been, are and will be at least until PITS is released.  Even then, it's a gray line separating "work arounds" from "new feature requests".  Any ""work around" which solves the issue in a Forum thread could potentially be implemented as a future "feature".  Even an existing "feature" could be improved so that it doesn't generate so many Forum posts / look-ups from users wandering how to use it or whether it even exists.  So, until PITS is released, should feature addition / fix requests qualify for the "Mark as answer" option?
5. Re. 2: Who is better to verify that a solution works than the person who posted the issue that needs a solution?  Sometimes, he finds the solution himself after posting the issue but before Telerik or another user provides it.  Or, he fixes / enhances the solution provided by Telerik or another user.  Since it is a "community" Forum, I would still allow other users and/or Telerik to "Unmark as an Answer" if they they post a corrected, "easier" and / or more "efficient" solution.

[Vassil Petev]

Thank you for sharing your opinion with us, Tom, this indeed an interesting topic we would like to get more feedback on.

How does the community feel about these improvements? Would you like to see them implemented, and if yes, what is your take on each proposal? We will be happy to make our forums more usable, so all feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Tom, I have upped your points for your feedback.


Greetings,
Vassil
the Telerik team

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[Kerry]

I cannot believe this is STILL sitting stale. I definitely believe the posting user should be able to mark his/her own reply as an answer. I just finished replying to a post that had gone back and forth with no definitive solution from anyone. I ended up making my OWN solution and posting that. MY reply is the answer. But I can't mark it as answered.

[Lyubo]

Hello Kerry,

This may seems like normal case for you, but we decided that marking a reply as answer should be done by another person, not by the person who posted the question AND the solution.
We are not considering implementing such functionality for the forums at this point.
 
Regards,

Lyubo
Telerik