no.stupid.answers

I love the ‘R’ word. That’s right: release. There’s just nothing like waking up in the morning, stretching, opening a browser to WikiAnswers and noticing that the WikiAnswers team has put out a release of new features and site updates while I was sleeping.

• The WikiAnswers homepage got a minor face lift with this new release, including a listing of recent questions with their category and time of asking.
• Check out the holiday-themed tag cloud on the homepage and Browse Categories.
• More reasons to log in! The blue Tools Menu has been completely revamped in a more organized style.
• Think you’ve reached the limit of contributor-level badges? They no longer top out at Platinum: start working towards becoming a Ruby contributor.



• There is now a spell checker in the answer form; before you post your answer, click the ABC button at the end of the menu and make your answer even more perfect.
• Feel the love, share the love: Join the Community Outreach program and reach a whole new level of participation.
• Cleaning up clearly: A new warning feature for Supervisors allows for organized and effective vandal patrol.

WikiAnswers takes its communities very seriously. That’s right, I said communities - plural. That’s because there are tons of different sub communities on WikiAnswers.

To start, check out the growing list of different types of community members. WikiAnswers contributors have a wide variety of ways they can choose to participate, fulfilling a diverse rainbow of roles.

Of course, you can be a plain old contributor if you like… Or if obsessive editing is your thing, you can jazz up your experience by joining as a Premier Editor; same goes for Premier Answerers.

If you like to change it up, consider becoming a Special Projects Assistant and working on what needs to be done most.

If you enjoy the nit picking type of activity, the Exterminators‘ hunt for site bugs and irregularities could be your calling.

Or, join a program:

The Supervisor Community is the group of hundreds of Supervisors whose job it is to keep watch of categories, and make sure the site stays clean and organized. Supervisors come in all different sizes, shapes and colors… Or, at least their badges do. Learn more about Floating Supervisors, Category Supervisors and Senior Supervisors.

The Community Outreach Program hosts several kinds of opportunities for being involved in community efforts. Join and become a WikiGuide, Talent Scout or Forum Fanatic. Welcome and interact with new members.

The Mentoring Program is designed to offer guidance and support for brand new Supervisors (or those who want a brush up on WikiAnswers protocol). Mentors are friendly WikiAnswers folks who have been around the wiki-block quite a few times.

Wiki Influential Teens, or WIT, is a fairly new initiative to give teens on WikiAnswers their own group with which to come up wit ideas, create new projects and participate in contests for prizes.

The Vandal Patrol is a sector of Supers who keep watch for vandals, spammers and general no-good doers. The goal of the patrol is to clean up the vandalism as fast as possible, while swiftly taking care to make sure the perps don’t try it again.

And now, a word from Apryl - or An8thg - yesterday’s Contributor corner spotlight and the leader of the upcoming WikiAnswersVandal Patrol:

Imagine this moment:

You sit perched over your keyboard, rapidly entering search terms, seeking the answer to your latest conundrum when all of a sudden you receive the glorious message…

Is this your question?

‘Yes, that’s it!’ you shout as you jump up, nearly knocking your obnoxiously large drink clear across the room.

The page loads…

And the answer is: HAHAHAHA! LOL! U R STUPID!

At this point, you smash your face into your keyboard and now wear the ‘ASDF’ badge on your forehead for the next fifteen minutes.

Who will save you from these senseless acts of frustration and vandalism?

We will!
We are the Vandal Patrol.

The Vandal Patrol Program is the defense and attack strategy being implemented for WikiAnswers. The program consists of three different divisions, Site Guardians, Alternates Specialists and Site Investigators and each division will focus on a specific task.

Site Guardians will serve as our first line of site defense through the constant monitoring of the Recent Contributions page. Guard the door!

Alternates Specialists will work specifically on the mountain of alternates that require splitting and merging, as well as maintaining and updating site catch-alls. Heal our wounds!

Site Investigators will specialize in searching for and correcting answers containing vandalism and incorrect information. This will be accomplished through keyword searches in option two of the Advanced Search page. Detect and destroy!

Site Generalists can assist the various divisions of the Vandal Patrol or simply ‘keep an eye out’ on a more casual basis.

The members of the Vandal Patrol Program hope to rid the site of vandalized answers and to save the foreheads of all our users from ever wearing the ‘ASDF’ badge again!

Supervisors interested in volunteering for a specific division, please contact Apryl at an8thg @ wikianswers.com or leave a note on her message board.